Page 229 of That Rush

“You came back.”

“I did.” Paige hugs her tightly. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too. Friday was wrong.”

Paige’s eyes find mine over Josie’s head. “It was.”

I retrieve the abandoned bag and set it beside the stairs. When I return, Josie has climbed onto Paige’s lap, her arms tight around Paige’s neck as if she never plans to let go.

I catch Paige’s eye before looking back at Josie. “We need to tell you something.”

Josie looks between us. “Is it bad?”

“No.” I take the chair beside them. “Remember when I told you Paige and I had a disagreement?”

“You said the adults were working through it, but you weren’t working together because she wasn’t here.”

She’s not wrong, and it lands like a stone.

“I made a decision that hurt Paige,” I tell her. “I apologized, and we talked about how to do better.”

“Did she forgive you?”

Paige bites back a smile and fails.

“She did.”

Paige looks at Josie, her expression serious. “Because he understood what he did wrong. That part was important.”

Josie nods with the seriousness of someone recording a rule she may use against me later. “So you’re boyfriend and girlfriend again?”

“Yes,” I say.

Paige smooths Josie’s hair back from her face. “And partners.”

Josie’s face brightens. Then her eyes move to the stairs.

“Are you moving in now?”

The question hits the same place it did at the cookout, but this time I wait for Paige’s answer.

“No,” she says. “I still live at my cabin.”

Josie frowns. “But you’re together.”

“We are.” Paige smooths a strand of hair away from Josie’s cheek. “People can love each other and live in different houses.”

“Will you move here later?”

“Maybe. Your dad and I will keep talking about what we both want. If I move in someday, we’ll tell you after we decide together.”

Josie looks at me for confirmation.

I meet Josie’s gaze directly. “Paige doesn’t have to live here for us to be committed. Her cabin is important to her, and I support her keeping it.”

“For how long?”

“As long as she wants.”