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27
Harrison smiled at his device, the glow of it making a halo around his head and face.You’ll be home tomorrow, right?
He didn’t want to pressure Cass, but she’d extended her trip twice now.She was supposed to return to Hilton Head last Thursday, and then she’d moved it to Tuesday.Then her younger daughter had come back to Sweet Water Falls, and Cass had expected her to be in and out of town in a day or two.
Apparently, that was what Jane had done for West’s funeral, as well as for her brother’s graduation.She’d been backpacking and traveling across six continents for the past year and a half—after dropping out of college mid-semester—and Cass funded it all.
Harrison had spoken to her several times since she’d left Hilton Head three weeks ago.Every conversation they had where he could hear her voice, he heard the indecision.The regret.The guilt.The helplessness, and the unhappiness.
He simply didn’t know how to erase it for her.He’d gladly shoulder it…if he knew how.
How?he asked himself as Cass didn’t respond.
He knew what that meant.She wasn’t going to return to Hilton Head tomorrow.She’d pushed off her return another week last Tuesday, and Harrison had a long week in front of him too.He’d made it through Monday, but anyone who worked in construction knew every day was long and tiring, not just the first one back after a weekend.
His bedroom was too quiet.Just like his whole house.Like his life since Cass had left the island.He honestly didn’t know what would happen next.He really liked her, and he really wanted her to come back, but…
He wasn’t sure she would.
The longer she stayed in Sweet Water Falls, the more likely she was to never return to Hilton Head.Not only that, but she’d been threatening to list her house for sale, and she hadn’t done that either.And if she had a nice place to live there…why would she come back here?
He hated thinking like that, but it felt absolutely true down in his soul.
I’m sorry, Harrison.I won’t be coming back tomorrow.
He read her text a couple of times, hearing his name in her low, sexy voice.The one that told him she liked him and wanted him to kiss her once they were alone.He also noted she didn’t say she’d be coming “home” tomorrow the way he’d asked.She just wouldn’t be comingback.
I figured, he typed out.What can I do to help you?
His phone rang, despite the late hour.He didn’t bother to silence it or sit up as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t.Cass’s name sat there, and he almost didn’t answer the line.“You’ve just been texting with her.”
He swiped on the call and said, “Hey.”
“Sorry, I just remembered that you’re an hour ahead of me.”
“Yeah, it’s after midnight,” he said, smiling up to the ceiling.Just the sound of her voice soothed him.
She sighed, and he once again wished he lay at her side to hold her against his heartbeat and tell her everything would work out.He wasn’t, so he said nothing.She’d called him, after all.
“I think I’m going to stay for Supper Club next week,” she finally said.
“That’s ten more days,” he said.
“Yes.”
Harrison swallowed, as he hadn’t anticipated that.Why he hadn’t, he wasn’t sure.It definitely seemed like all signs were pointing to her staying in Texas…permanently.“Cass.”He cleared the worry and roughness from his voice.“Just be level with me.Are you coming back to Hilton Head or not?”
“Of course I am,” she said, her voice strong and vibrant.Cass tended to put on a show, though, and Harrison knew it.He’d seen this act, and by the end of it, she’d dissolve into tears and admit she didn’t know what to do next.
He certainly didn’t either.
“Okay,” he said anyway.“How about this, then?I have a credit card and a car.How about I fly into Sweet Water Falls this weekend?I’m dying to see you.”
“Would you?”she asked.
He couldn’t quite believe the hope in her voice.“Yeah, sure,” he said easily, as if taking the time off to fly to Texas would be easy for him.He could already think of a half-dozen reasons it wouldn’t be smart, one of which was that both of her daughters were at the house with her.
And not just her house.The house she’d shared with West.Where she’d raised her children.
