They stood there for several minutes wrapped in each other’s arms until a call for her flight came out on the overhead speakers. They would board soon, and she still needed to go through security.
They pulled apart, and he gently tipped her head up, pressing his lips to hers. His lips were soft, and the kiss was entirely too brief, ending before she had a chance to react. He released her hands and took a step back, pushing them into his pockets.
Kelly smiled at him and stepped toward the short security line. “Bye.”
“See you later,” he said. “It’s never goodbye.”
Before she could convince herself to stay, she went through security and waved at Miles one last time before disappearing down her terminal. Once she was sure he couldn’t see her, she burst into tears.
How could she ever meet another man like him?
The flight home was long, and her heart yearned to go back to Wintervale with every passing minute. She arrived in Storyville late that night after a long layover in Denver. Ava pulled up to the curb to pick her up. She got out of the car and wrapped Kelly in a hug. Kelly immediately burst into tears.
“I know. I know,” Ava said. She held her for a moment until someone honked at them to move.
Once they were driving back through town toward their rental house, Kelly attempted to calm herself down. Kelly’s twin, Cole, shared a house with them, and the last thing she wanted was for him to see her in hysterics.
They parked in the driveway, and Ava helped Kelly with her suitcase. When they got inside, Kelly looked around. The place felt foreign. She half expected to find Emma coming around the corner squealing in delight and giving her a hug, but it was quiet.
A door down the hall opened, and Cole stepped out. “Oh, hey, sis. How was your trip?”
That was all it took for Kelly to burst into tears once more.
“Whoa, what’s going on and who do I need to fuck up?” Cole asked, rushing over to her.
Kelly shook her head. “No one.”
He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned into him. “So what’s going on?”
“I think I’m in love, and he lives in Montana.”
Cole stilled. He was contemplative—working things over in his head as he usually did. He rarely said anything on a whim. Cole was the level-headed one.
“Back up,” he said. “I need you to start at the beginning.”
He led her over to the couch and sat down. Ava disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water for Kelly and then sat on her other side.
“So what happened?”
Kelly went into how she met Miles and everything that followed. “And I’ve been keeping this secret about wanting to start my own event planning business, but I’ve been worried I’ll let you all down.”
Cole tilted his head. “Secret? What secret? We already knew that.”
“What do you mean?”
Cole gestured around the room as if their entire family was present. “All of us. We’ve known that for a while. We even had a family meeting while you were in Montana about how we need to kick you out of the family business.”
Kelly’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“You may think you’re secretive, but you are the most transparent person in the world,” Cole said.
“Am not.”
Ava raised an eyebrow. “Yes, you are.”
Cole sighed. “Kel, we know you aren’t happy working at the bookstore. You always want to plan bigger and better events, but it doesn’t work for the store. So go be you. Plan the biggest events you could dream of.”
“What if”—she sighed and rubbed her eyes—“it means leaving Storyville.”
