Page 15 of Until We Come Home

"Okay, I am officially obsessed," Mia says, turning to face me with a mischievous grin. "Mateo. If I stay out here for the summer, I'm uncovering his entire identity."

"Calvin's lived in Dark River his entire life and hasn't cracked it," I tell her.

"Calvin lacks my nosy instincts. I am world-class nosy."

The sun sinks behind the tree line, leaving the sky over the water a deep purple. With a couple of hours to kill before the official show, the crowd settles into the firelight. Jack trots up to the house and comes back with an acoustic guitar, and after some coaxing Lark starts to sing.

She opens with something upbeat, which has the whole circle clapping along. The heat off the coals warms my legs, the hum of conversation runs under the music, and my mind keeps drifting back to Mia’s suggestion. The whole summer out West. Barnes’s contract in Seattle.

I always go back to Boston. It's where I grew up, mostly, with a couple of trips to Spain thrown in whenever we could scrape the money together, since that’s where my mom’s whole family is from. Mom's still there, still working nights at the hospital, still expecting me home for visits.

After Lindsey died I wanted to leave, and every time I've tried, something pulls me back to Boston. The memories are there. When I'm away too long, I feel like I'm running from her. When I stay too long, it starts to hurt to be there, and I'm packing the duffel again. There hasn't been a version of it that works.

A whole summer in one place. I haven't done that in years.

Mia leans her shoulder into mine. "Penny for your thoughts?"

“Just thinking about earlier,” I say, turning a bottle cap over in my fingers. “Thanks for the save, by the way.”

“Anytime,” she says. “I saw your face when Betty said eligible bachelor and figured you had about ten seconds left in you.”

“Generous. It was closer to five,” I say, smiling at her.

She laughs and settles in against my shoulder, and for a while neither of us says anything. Lark’s moved on to something slower. Across the circle, one of the neighbor kids is doing card tricks for Chloe and Clara, and every time he pulls the right card there’s another round of squeals, and Emma keeps nudging Theo and telling him she wants to learn how to do that.

“I’ve been thinking about your idea,” I say, and shove the bottle cap in my pocket.

She turns her head to look at me. “And?”

“And I don’t know. You really think we should? Both of us, the whole summer?”

“Yes. I think it’d be good for you and good for me. And I think if we sit here and talk about it any longer, one of us is going to find a reason not to.” She pulls her phone out of her back pocket and holds it up. “So. Right now. You answer Barnes, I answer Meridian.”

I look at her for a second. Then I pull out my phone and open the text from Barnes, still sitting there unanswered from this afternoon. I type, with her leaning over my shoulder to make sure I’m really doing it.

Me: I’m in. I’ll take the contract for the season.

Sent. She lets out a breath like she’s the one who just did it, pulls up her own screen, types the message fast and hits send. We look at each other, both grinning like we got away with something.

“Okay,” she says. “Okay. Summer in Seattle.”

“Summer in Seattle,” I say.

“This is going to be so good, Mateo. I can feel it.”

CHAPTER 3

Mia

I extend my arms out wide to keep my balance, locking my eyes on the line stretched taut between two massive maples. It's only hovering a foot above the grass, but under the dark sky, it feels like I'm stepping across an endless abyss.

It looked easy earlier under the afternoon sun. Now the night has settled in, I'm several cups deep into Betty's deadly vodka-heavy punch, and the only light out here comes from the crackling fire pit and the faint glow of Maren's garden solar lamps. Hardly ideal illumination for a tightrope walk.

The official town fireworks wrapped up an hour back, sending most folks home, and the remaining crowd has formed a loose ring to see if I'm going to take an embarrassing tumble. Over by the fire, the Midnight crew is still going strong alongside a handful of local friends.

Theo's daughter, Chloe, stands by the destination tree acting as my dedicated coach, flanked by Lark, Jack, and a few locals I've befriended today. Among them is Marjorie, the postal worker who holds the keys to every secret in town. I've spent the last hour glued to her side, entirely incapable of turning down good gossip. Even she came up empty on the mystery man out on the point, though, which I’m choosing to find charming rather than suspicious.

“Keep going, Mia!” Chloe cheers, waving both hands at me. “Eyes on the tree, and don’t forget to breathe!”