Page 61 of The Embers That Remain

I pulled my feet from the water and reached for my shoes.

“I should go,” I said.

“Yeah,” he answered quietly.

I stood, brushing my hands off on my jeans, and turned toward the end of the pier.

A small bouquet rested on the weathered boards. My breath caught. I hadn’t noticed them before, but I knew those flowers. He used to leave wild daisies for me when we were teenagers—little bouquets tucked where he knew I’d find them, as if they were some secret only the two of us understood. For a second, I just stared at them.

Then I stepped over them.

I walked past him without touching him. I sensed his eyes on me the entire time, but I didn’t look back.

Thirty

Lane

Lane: I saw Cali

Soren: Is that bad?

Lane: She heard what I said at the station.

Soren: All of it?

Lane: Yeah

Jonah: Damn

Lane: She thought I meant it

Soren: Did you tell her the truth?

Lane: Yeah. Didn’t change anything. I never told her then or now how bad things were with Bryant. She doesn’t understand and I’m not telling her just to make her feel sorry for me.

Jonah: Now what?

Lane: She wants nothing. No relationship