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I smiled, thinking about Emily’s return and how badly I wanted to see her. “Tell Mom thanks.”
“Will do, Lucas.”
My dad hung up, and I realized how very different Emily’s family and my family were. We didn’t express love much by words, more actions, and sometimes those were hard to come by, too, because we were all going in a million different directions.
I thought back to the love oozing out of Mimi’s hospital room. They weren’t shy in expressing their emotions, which I craved, and I never knew it until Emily.
Walking over to my condo window, I looked out and saw the beautiful city skyline. It had always brought me a sense of satisfaction, and I never imagined wanting to leave it behind.
But I wanted nothing more than to be on Marigold Island, surrounded by friends and family.
I fully understood what made James move to the small island. I also knew I was getting ahead of myself. At this point, I had to convince Emily to even talk to me again.
Obviously, I hadn’t given my actions much thought when I kept getting pestered by Clara, and now I was paying the price.
I glanced at my phone on the bed and resisted the temptation to text Emily.
It didn’t help that my professional life was also imploding. This morning at the job site, I was slammed with one piece of bad news after another.
The plumber Todd found fell through. The drywall company had to be rescheduled, but now their schedule was booked really far out, which jeopardized our entire timeline. Tobe safe, we shoved off the Grand Opening, and it all boiled down to costing a lot of money.
I’d always prided myself on never touching my inheritance, but this project worried me.
Then I went to my truck, only to drive about fifty feet and realize I had a flat. I changed it to the spare, but the tire store didn’t have the tire in my size, so I had to order it.
I finally got to my condo, only to find out that I had to move out for a week while maintenance did something to the heating system.
And all I could think about was how much I wanted to hold Emily close and wipe my stupid mistake away.
The phone buzzed, and I slowly made my way over because the only person I wanted to hear from wasn’t sending communication. I chuckled and shook my head at the irony of it all.
I’d pushed to get out of the platonic wasteland with Emily, and then I screwed things up and wasn’t even sure if we’d still be friends.
My heart skipped a beat when I realized that Emily had texted. I scooped my phone up and slid to the message.
I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless and forever indebted. I’m so exhausted from not being able to fall asleep at the cabin that I’m at the point of hallucinating. I owe you for this, Lucas.
I sucked on my bottom lip and debated what to text back. Her only priority right now needed to be this residency. None ofthis drama with Clara. Or worrying about some guy she’d just started dating.
But I didn’t want to be just some guy.
What I wanted to do was listen to my heart and fly out to Tennessee to tell her how much I loved her.
As the silence continued on her end, I braced myself for the other alternative. The one where she just couldn’t get over my past dating life.
I wanted to believe that wouldn’t happen, but the silence said otherwise.
Until now.
My jaw clenched, and I drew in a deep breath as I began a text that I poured my heart and mind into, hoping that I wasn’t too late.
***
Emily
If Lucas hadn’t arranged for the hotel and car, I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle the residency any longer. The nights had stretched into the days, and my poetry felt otherworldly, but only because I couldn’t make sense of it at times. But I wouldn’t admit any of that to myself.
I was turning my world upside down purely from lack of sleep.
