Page 228 of At First Catch

Every moment is still devastating no matter how many days pass.

“I hate this,” I whisper.

Bailey’s gaze turns gentle. “I know.”

And God, that makes everything hurt worse again.

Because everyone knows.

All my siblings. My parents. The whole town probably. Coral Bell Cove thrives on emotional awareness and secondhand heartbreak.

I glance toward the lighthouse windows overlooking Back Bay.

The marina is just off in the distance, the masts of the sailboats bobbing in the water beneath bright morning sun.

And my chest tightens painfully. I know he’s over there. Even from this far away, I know Nolan’s walk. The shape of his shoulders. The way he moves when he’s thinking too hard.

I still love him so much. The pain of it physically steals my breath.

Bailey notices where I’m looking. “Oh no,” she mutters.

I tear my gaze away. “He’s probably just working. Too focused on everything else around him.”

The lie sounds weak even to me.

I wonder if he’s standing at the western docks waiting for something. Or someone.

Before I can spiral further, the bookstore bell jingles, and suddenly, my entire body goes still. Not because I see him, but because I feel him.

I turn. And there he is.

Nolan stands just inside the bookstore entrance wearing jeans, a dark Henley, and an expression so openly emotional it nearly knocks the air from my lungs.

The whole world suddenly shrinks.

Grief and hope and love are written openly across his face

Neither of us moves at first.

The bookstore falls completely silent around us while morning sunlight spills across the floorboards between where we stand.

And abruptly every version of missing him crashes through me all at once. His laugh. The way he softened every time I touched him. The future I thought we lost.

I’m overwhelmed.

Nolan looks wrecked. Like the last few days hollowed him out completely, and a part of me wants to run straight into his arms anyway.

Bailey glances between us.

She vanishes into the café without a word because apparently, even she recognizes when a romance novel climax is happening in real time.

Nolan takes one slow step toward me, then stops. Like he’s afraid pushing too hard will send me running.

“Hads.”

My name breaks apart slightly in his voice. And just like that, tears burn behind my eyes again.

“What are you doing here?” I whisper.