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“It’s not that simple.”
“Oh, but it is. Answer the question, but answer it thoughtfully, using both your heart and your brain. Take a minute.”
Did I love him?
Enough to move to Nashville and then to Vancouver or Tokyo or wherever life took us, no matter what it did to my career?
I didn’t have to think that hard.
I did love him that much.
I loved him more than anything.
And just because I was comfortable here, and I’d probably get comfortable wherever I landed next, the truth was I could be a scientist almost anywhere.
The lab experience I’d gotten during grad school and the papers I’d already published left me in a good position professionally. Nothing was guaranteed in life, but that was the whole point. Life could and most likely would throw me a lot of unexpected options, and the one thing that needed to be constant was the people in my life.
No matter where I went.
I could foster long-distance relationships if I made them a priority.
Friendships didn’t have to end because the current situation did.
And the same thing applied to Boone.
If he loved me, and that was still a big if, we could make it work.
No matter what else happened, he was the one I pictured myself getting through the bad times with.
Laughing with at breakfast every morning.
Working with to make a life together.
Having children with.
Loving for the rest of my life.
That was the only question now.
We’d never used the L word, though I’d felt it a few times. If I was honest, I’d held back emotionally because this was supposed to have been casual. If he’d been thinking the same thing, maybe he was as reluctant to put his heart on the line as I was. We both needed to be more open and honest, no matter what that looked like. He might still break my heart, but since we’d never talked about anything long term, I had no way of knowing what he was feeling.
And there was only one way for me to find out.
Grandma and I finished our conversation and I promised her I would think about everything she’d said, and then finally took my first sip of coffee.
I closed my eyes as the strong brew worked its way into my system.
It was time.
I had to reach out and find out whether I had a future with Boone.
My fingers shook a little as I typed out a text because I wasn’t quite brave enough to hear his voice yet.
Jolie: Hey. I know you’re busy with the playoffs, but if you’d still like to talk, I’m home. Or I can meet you somewhere. Let me know.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Boone
“I’m ready! Is it time to go yet?”
Joey was bouncing off the walls, dressed in a pair of Hawaiian-print swim trunks and wearing the water goggles and snorkel we’d picked up at the sporting goods store.
It was an off day and our team’s former goalie, Drew, and his wife, Nina, were taking their kids, Wes and Hadley’s two older kids and Joey, to an indoor water park for the day. Sawyer was picking Joey up and hanging with him at the water park since Joey wasn’t a strong swimmer and he needed one-on-one supervision.
I would have gone, too, but Jolie was coming over so we could talk. I was a wreck, though I was putting on a brave face for Joey.
She was either coming over here to try to work things out or to tell me it was over and she never wanted to see me again. I’d plead my case if it was the latter, but Jolie knew her own mind and I didn’t think I stood much of a chance.
I missed her. I hadn’t realized how much her texts throughout the day and our low-key movie nights with Joey meant to me until they were gone.
Jolie and I fit together perfectly. I just had to make her see it.
“Not yet, dude,” I told Joey. “What do you want for breakfast?”
“Bacon and toast with strawberry jelly.”
“You got it.”
I took out the dishes to make breakfast and he slid onto a stool at the kitchen island with his iPad. We’d found a rhythm in our time together, and I was going to miss it. I hoped Emma and Joey would live with me, at least for a while, once we were all in Nashville.
I’d just finished cooking and cleaning up when Sawyer rang the doorbell.
“Is that bacon?” he asked, sniffing.
“Yeah, I made you some sandwiches.”
He grinned. “Seriously?”
“Bacon, egg, and cheese. Two of ’em.”
“Bro, you’re the best wife ever.”
Joey put a hand over his mouth to stifle his laugh, which did no good. I flipped Sawyer off as I looked through the bag I’d packed for Joey.
“Towel, change of clothes, cash, goggles, and snorkel. Am I forgetting anything?”
“Nope!” Joey tried to snatch the bag, but I held on to it.
