Page 47 of View With Your Heart

“Just down the street.”

I nod, and Theo quickly struts to the end of my drive.

I turn back to Gavin. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what that’s all about.”

“He’s just worried about you.” Is it true? Why does Theo think he needs to protect me? Does he see something I don’t? I want to dismiss Theo as a kid, but I know he’s wiser than most despite his seventeen years. He’s so much like me, feeling like he’s all alone at his age.

“Is he dating one of my nieces?” Gavin asks, and I shrug. I have no idea about his young love life. I only know he’s social.

“Which one would he date?” I question.

“Meghan’s only fifteen, but soon to be a sophomore. Madison just graduated, so she’s off to college in a few weeks. It could be either one, I suppose.” Gavin narrows his eyes at the spot where Theo disappeared.

“Are you upset?”

Gavin shakes his head. “Nah, but I should be, right? I should know more about my nieces.” He sighs, swiping a hand through his hair. “I should know so much more about my entire family.” His head lowers, guilt filling his voice.

“Maybe you should visit more often,” I suggest, and his eyes slowly lift for mine.

“Maybe I should.” He weakly grins. “Would you like that if I visited again?” His smile grows, but something in his words doesn’t settle well. Still, I don’t wish to argue with him, so I tease him instead.

“Would I be your girl every time you returned?” A bit of curiosity exists in my jest. Would Gavin return here? Would I be his Michigan girl? Would I fill his time every visit? I don’t like that thought of being some secret across the country from his everyday life.

Gavin reaches out for my hair, brushing it back and pausing against my neck. His eyes follow the motion before he looks up at me.

“I wish we’d stayed in touch when we were younger. I could have seen you every summer.” The lie is sweet, but Gavin didn’t come back once he left. He stayed in California, and I know this because I returned the following summer to find him gone forever like he wanted to be.”

I sadly smile, recognizing we can’t turn back time, only move forward.

“Come to the party with me tomorrow?”

“Gavin,” I shake my head, tipping it forward, and he pulls me into him.

“I want to see you as much as I can while I’m here.”

And what about when you go? However, I know the truth. He’ll leave because he doesn’t want to be here. Adventure awaits his future once again, and my future is firmly planted right here.

Take 16

Scene: Emily and Jess’s Backyard

[Gavin]

When I went fishing with Gee, he opened up to me a bit more about his dad, telling me how he was closer to his mother because his dad was strict. To me, it sounded like something a typical kid at his age might say of a parent, but he mentioned again how his father was gone a lot before he was sick. My curiosity about Britton and her relationship with her husband continues.

Dinner hadn’t been my plan, but Gee and I were having a good time fishing. It’d been ages since I went. I remember doing it with my father when I was a kid, probably younger than Gee, but as I eventually had sports throughout the summer and there was always the farm to tend, I grew out of fishing. Gee didn’t have much patience and chattered away quite a bit. The day passed with jokes and stories. The rowboat wasn’t the same one Leo had owned, but it was almost as decrepit as that old one, and I didn’t like the seam of it, slowly seeping water.

Worried about Gee’s safety, I decide to buy Gee a new boat before I leave town.

The idea of leaving weighs heavy on my shoulders with each passing hour. I don’t want to like being back in my small town, but I do in some incremental ways. It’s been great to reconnect with Ethan and Jess, and the party at Jess’s house will be another reminder of all I’ve been missing in family and friends. Then there is Britton and my question as we stood in her driveway. Would she let me come visit her? Would she like to see me again? Could we stay in touch this time?

Britton finally agrees to attend the party at Jess’s house. Gee is invited, as well as the Carter and Scott clans share young cousins, and Holden will be in attendance. For now, Jess and Emily only have his daughter Katie. Jess’s first wife had been a bitch and undeserving of motherhood after what she did to her child. I haven’t interacted much with Emily, but Jess is smitten with her, and I’m so happy for every one of them.

Britton also says she’ll meet me at the party as Gee has baseball practice. Arriving at Jess and Emily’s house, hugs are passed out, and backs slapped as I greet Jess and his future wife. Tom and Karyn are already present with Holden, who immediately asks if Gee and he can go to town for the weekly street fair on Main Street once Gee arrives.

As if on cue, Britton and Gee turn the corner of Jess’s house and step into the backyard. My breath catches at the sight of Britton. In a yellow T-shirt and complementary patterned skirt with her blond hair, she’s a vision of sunshine. Her slight tan enhances her blue eyes, which land on me as soon as she sees me. Her smile is bright as well, and my knees almost give out. She’s breathtaking in such a natural way.

“Mom,” Holden drones, and I turn to my nephew, begging his mother for time.