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“I just don’t know if it’ll work out,” Elise admitted.
“You have some time to think about it before everything really kicks off,” Haley told her. “You know how much we would like you back in California. I mean, does anyone out on Mackin—whatever it’s called—really love you the way we love you?”
There’s so much I haven’t told you. About the island, about my family, about Wayne. They’re all so fresh, so new, and yet they feel a part of me in ways I can’t explain.
Haley had been Elise’s best friend and confidant since age eighteen.
Mia had been there since their early thirties.
Now, Elise’s tongue felt akin to cement, plastered across the base of her mouth. She didn’t have the will to explain it.
“Just promise us you’ll think about it,” Mia ordered.
Elise laughed nervously. “I promise.”
After a strange pause, Matt interjected again.
“I look forward to talking more about your work, Elise. And I want to hear more about that island of yours. Maybe we weren’t right, all this time. Maybe California really isn’t the only place in the world.”
When Elise finally managed to hang up, she smacked her computer closed and blinked into the hazy orange light from the lamp on the desk.
Was she an idiot to refuse the job she had just been offered?
She could leave the Swartz family to clean up their own messes. She could leave Wayne to his bachelor ways. She could leave the island to fold itself into winter, make peace with itself, and then prepare for another spring and summer.
No. You can’t give up on this. Not yet.
Elise slipped off her sweater, donned a flannel sleep-shirt she had just purchased at a nearby boutique, and slid herself beneath the covers.
A moment later, as she laid back, Brad texted her—another alert from her past life.
BRADLEY: Hey, Mom. Just checked on the house like you asked me to. Everything looks good. The housekeeper continues to come every week, and I checked with the neighbor to make sure she hasn’t seen anything suspicious. All things clear. When are you coming back again?
Elise burrowed her head deeper in the pillow.
When are you coming back?
After a long, thoughtful pause, she texted him.
ELISE: Thank you so much, Brad. I love you. I’ll see you soon.
Elise had no idea what “soon” meant and knew he wouldn’t be so happy with her very vague response.
