“That’s how it works when you’re scared,” CeCe says gently.
My shoulders hitch up, defensive. “I’m not scared. I’m practical.”
“Honey.” She stands, coming to join me at the window. “You organized a wedding with no team. You wrestled a tent in a storm. You tamed George.” She gestures at the goat, who’s now eating my laptop cord. “You’re the least scared person I know. Except when it comes to this.”
“This is different.”
“Why?”
Because this matters. Because he matters. Because I can handle losing clients and jobs and dignity, but I’m not sure I can handle losing something I never really had.
I turn away from the window, from the view of his house. “I have a brunch to get to,” I say instead.
CeCe sighs, long and disappointed. “Right. The farewell tour.”
“Ivy specifically requested—”
“I know. I’ll drive you.” She’s already grabbing her keys, resigned.
“You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do. Because you’re about to go pretend everything’s fine when we both know you’re dying inside.”
“Dramatic.”
“Accurate.”
She’s not wrong. But what’s the alternative? Sob into my croissant about feelings I shouldn’t have for a guy I barely know?
No. I’m going to that brunch. I’m going to smile and hug people and pretend my chest doesn’t feel like it’s caving in. Then I’m getting on a plane to Italy, where I’ll eat my feelings in pasta like a normal person.
“Besides,” I tell CeCe as we head out, grabbing my purse and avoiding looking at the main house again, “I haven’t taken a real vacation in three years. Every weekend’s been a wedding. I deserve this.”
“You deserve a lot of things,” she mutters, holding the door open.
“What?”
“Nothing. Get in the car.”
I turn back to George, who’s watching from the porch with what I swear is disappointment.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I tell him. “This is the right thing to do.”
He bleats.
“Your opinion is noted and ignored.”
But as we drive away, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m leaving more than just a guest house behind.
I’m leaving the first place that’s felt like home in years.
And the first person who’s made me want to stay.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Goodbye Tour
Poppy
