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I pointed to the photo while looking over my shoulder at him. “This is Allison, isn’t it?”
“We’re still friends, Ellie. As I told you, our breakup was amicable.” He pushed himself off the desk. “I can take them down.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Please don’t.” I gave him a tentative smile. “I’m not jealous of her.”
He flashed a wonky grin. “I’m not sure whether to be worried or relieved.”
I turned around so that I was facing him and stared into his anxious face. “Go with relieved. I know you want to be with me, so I’m not worried.” Although I still wondered if it was a good idea for me to keep him around. “Do we know anything about when we’re meeting her?”
“She texted earlier. She wants both of us to come over for dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“We parted friends, Ellie. She’s curious about what I’ve been up to in Manteo.” He hesitated. “But we’ll only do it if you’re okay with it.”
I didn’t want to, but David put up with so much crap involving Collin, how could I refuse him? I could tell he really wanted to go. “Of course. It’s fine.”
“Okay.” But he didn’t sound convinced. “She’d like us to come to her house at seven.”
“Okay.” I paused. “I still haven’t made arrangements to see Myra. I was waiting to see what happened with Allison. I’ll see if she can meet me tomorrow.”
“Let’s grab some lunch and head back to my place. I can pack up some of my personal things before we go over to Allison’s.”
David led me to the doorway of his office. Before walking out of the room, he surveyed it for a moment, releasing a sigh. Then he locked the door behind us without another word.
“You miss it,” I said softly. “Being here at the university.”
He looked down at me, his brow furrowed. “Ellie.”
“No, you do. I can tell.”
He lowered his head close to my ear. “Do you remember when I told you weeks ago that I thought you were my destiny? That I had been moving on a path toward you for years? I still believe that.”
“Maybe so, but you didn’t answer my question.”
He hesitated. “Yes, I miss it. I like teaching, and I miss the interaction with students.”
My heart ached and guilt flooded in.
“You just asked me a few minutes ago if I miss my family and I admitted that I do. But I still wouldn’t move back home.” I started to talk and he put a finger on my lips. “Even if you weren’t part of my life. I miss them, but it wouldn’t be the same if I went back. I’ve changed. They’ve changed. I can’t go back to that life even if that’s what I wanted, which it isn’t…” He took a breath. “This situation is exactly the same.”
“No, it’s not. You’ve only been gone about a month, not years.”
“Maybe so, butI’vechanged. I can’t just come back here and pretend like the last month haven’t happened.”
I started to respond and he leaned down to kiss me. When he lifted his head, he grinned. “I’m hungry. Let me take you to my favorite Italian restaurant.”
I nodded my agreement and we went to lunch, making sure to steer our conversation away from anything related to the curse. We spent so much time in Manteo talking about the curse that I worried our conversation would flounder, but David told me stories about teaching and some of his students. And I told him some horror stories about training new employees at the restaurant. By the time we left to go back to his house, our moods had lightened, even after David stopped at a hardware store to pick up a load of boxes and packing tape.
We spent the rest of the afternoon packing up David’s house. I expected it to be sad for both of us, but David seemed to enjoy showing me some of his favorite things from his travels in the States and in the UK. I wanted to take a shower before we went to meet Allison, so I stopped working at around five thirty to get cleaned up while David continued to pack.
When I got out, I dried off and looked around the bathroom for a hair dryer. I couldn’t find one, so I wrapped a towel around my body and opened the door, intent on asking David. As soon as the door was open, I could hear his voice in the living room.
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea, Allison.”
Curious, I stood in the bathroom doorway. David’s back was to me.
“Because I don’t want to overwhelm her.” He sensed me behind him and turned, pointing to the phone.
