Chapter Thirty-Nine
EMERY
“WHERE SHOULD WE even go?” I ask Reid as I shove a few overnight essentials into a duffel bag.
I have to admit, the excitement of getting away with him for a few days has my pulse racing.
We haven’t talked about what we’re doing—other than surviving—but traveling together is already a good next step in a relationship.
“I have a text out to a Navy buddy, Brian. He’s overseas now, but he has a cabin on the Magnolia River. It’s quiet, off grid. No neighbors, no cell service. You’ll like it—nobody can bother us out there.”
I nod, letting out a breath. “Okay. Good.”
Reid moves around the side of the bed, tugging me into him from behind, his fingers digging into my hips. “This will be good for us,” he murmurs in my ear. His breath tickles my neck, and it sends a shiver up my spine.
Just when I think things are heating up, his phone dings.
Reid steps away, picking up the phone. “It’s him.” He holds the phone up to me, a single text glows from the screen.
Brian: Sure thing. Key’s in the same place.
I smirk. “How very trusting of him.”
“We go way back,” he says, hammering out a reply before tossing his phone on the bed. He steps toward me, and I turn to him as his arms encircle my waist. “This will be good for us,” he says again and I know right then, there’s no way I’m telling him no.
“I don’t doubt it,” I reply. Then I melt into him.
WE LEAVE AT six a.m., thermoses full of coffee and a “Country Roads” playlist on the stereo.
The further west we drive, the quieter it gets and the denser the forest becomes.
The boats, the bait shacks, even the constant hum of the gulls are replaced with endless pine forests and dusty winding roads that seem to lead nowhere.
Reid keeps one steady hand on the wheel and the other on my thigh. I alternate between watching him drum his thumb on the steering wheel and the gorgeous scenery outside my window.
“Are you sure you aren’t taking me out here to kidnap and murder me?” I arch a brow.
He chuckles. “If I were bringing you out here to kidnap you, I’d have brought more snacks.”
I laugh, tension easing out of me for the first time since the window incident. The sound surprises me—like I’ve forgotten that laughter is normal.
The road narrows until the trees form a canopy overhead. Spanish moss dangles low enough to brush the windshield, sunlight flickering through it in patches. The air thickens with the scent of river water and earth.
The truck curves around a bend and I see it—my first glimpse of the Magnolia River. Its water is dark and still, like mirrored glass. Cypress trees jut up like ancient sentinels, and somewhere in the distance, I hear a bull frog.
“Wow,” I breathe. “It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, it is.” Reid slows the truck and we coast, taking in the scenery.
The cabin appears just beyond a stand of wide oak trees, small and weathered, but homey. A porch extending the length of the house holds two rocking chairs facing the water. It’s not all that different from Tidehaven. More remote but still surrounded by nature. It’s peaceful.
Reid parks and kills the engine, looking at me. His lips curve into a slow smile before he swings open his door.
I follow suit, climbing out and stretching. I tip my head back to take in the cloudless blue sky, and for the first time in weeks, I relax.
“This place is incredible. I feel so…at ease.” I move toward him, wrapping him in a hug from behind. “Thank you for bringing me here.” I plant a kiss between his shoulder blades.
“You’re welcome,” he murmurs, turning to face me. “I stayed here a few times when I first got back. It’s the perfect place to clear your head.” He hoists our bags from the bed of the truck.
“And you thought bringing your stressed-out, semi-traumatized girlfriend was a good way to ruin that peace?” I tease.
His mouth twitches into a grin. “You don’t ruin anything, Emery.”
The way he says it—quiet and certain—makes something tighten in my chest.
“I do like that you referred to yourself as my girlfriend though,” he admits, lacing his fingers through mine.
My heart does a little flip-flop.
He leads me up the cedar plank steps, crouching to get the key from under a long-deceased potted plant.
“If I remember correctly, this door sticks a little.” Reid leans his shoulder into it, bracing against it, and forces it open.
The door opens before us, revealing a single room with a stone fireplace, a small kitchen, and a king-sized bed that looks too inviting for two people who are falling in love.
Reid drops our bags by the door and turns to me, a grin spreading across his face. “A couple of days. No interruptions. Just you and me.”
“Oh yeah?” I step closer, tugging his hard body into mine. “Just what will we do with all our time?”
Reid tips my chin, bringing his lips to mine. “I’ve got a few ideas.”
“SHOULD WE HIT the grocery store?” Reid asks. He’s lying on the bed, watching me methodically unpack my duffel bag. I unpack wherever I go, no matter how long I’m staying. This seems to amuse him.
“Sure. How far is town?” I push the dresser drawer closed and sit on the end of the bed.
“About five miles. I figure we can make an afternoon of it. Get some lunch, explore the little shops, and then grab some groceries.” Reid opens his arms, and I crawl into them. He plants a soft kiss on my head.
“That sounds nice,” I murmur, nuzzling into the crook of his arm.
“Well, I’m a nice guy,” he teases.
“Could’ve fooled me when I first got here.” I tip my head to look at him.
He feigns offense. “What do you mean?”
I snort, unable to hold back my laughter. “Please. You were so unapproachable. I planned on staying out of your way.”
“For like a week,” he counters. “Then I warmed up.”
“Only because you had to.” I rest my head on his shoulder, and we sit in silence for a moment.
“I’m glad you didn’t though.” His voice cuts through the air, thick with emotion.
“Didn’t what?” I ask.
“Stay out of my way,” he murmurs, his eyes searching mine. “You’ve changed me.”
“You’ve changed me, too.”
WHEN WE REACH the downtown, I realize I haven’t a clue where we are. “What’s this place called?” I ask Reid as he expertly parallel parks his truck.
“Willowbend,” he says, killing the engine.
“Willowbend,” I repeat. “I like it.”
He smiles softly and it turns my insides molten. “Me too.”
“What should we do first?” I ask when we climb out of the truck.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.” Reid laces his fingers through mine. “There’s a great little diner on the corner.”
“Sounds good to me.”
We walk along the block, quietly taking in the sights. Reid points out a few places that he’s been to before and I listen intently. The sound of his voice soothes me, and the way he talks about this place makes me wonder why he doesn’t live here.
“You seem to love it up here,” I comment, glancing at him.
“I do. But it’s not home. Tidehaven is home. As much as he drives me crazy, Tate is home. Miss Rosie at the grocery store is home. Even Tess and Willie. I don’t know where I’d be without that place.” He looks my way, gauging my reaction.
“You’d figure it out. I had only ever thought of New Jersey as home because it’s all I knew. But I think home is what you make of it.” I shrug, dropping his hand when we reach the diner. He pulls open the door and gestures for me to walk in first.
A sign at the front of the restaurant reads, “Please Seat Yourself,” so Reid leads us to a booth along the windows. We slide in and a moment later, a server drops some menus, telling us he’ll be right back.
“So,” Reid starts, “is Tidehaven starting to feel like home?”
I suck in a breath. “It’s hard for me to say.” I bite my lip. “But my job, my life in New Jersey…it all feels so far away. It feels like it belongs to someone else.”
“And if you don’t go back?” he asks, not bothering to hide the hope crossing his sharp features.
I shrug. “I’m scared to want something new when so much of this feels temporary. The job is temporary. You…”
Reid’s gaze snaps to mine, intense and unflinching. “I’m not temporary, Emery.”
The way he is looking at me sends a ripple of warmth through my insides.
I swallow hard. “Okay…then what is this? What are we doing?”
He exhales slowly, reaching for my hand, our knees brush under the table.
“I can’t say for certain yet, but I know I’ve fallen for you.
That’s something I never expected to happen to me again.
And I liked the way it sounded earlier, when you called yourself my girlfriend.
I don’t have a perfect answer, but I do know I want to build something with you that lasts. ”
His words are spoken with such sincerity, and I can’t help but think that every time I expect his walls to go back up, he surprises me by breaking them down himself.
There are just so many complications surrounding this thing between us.
Could I really just resign from my tenured position and move to Tidehaven permanently?
There are people who want to kill me there.
What about my parents, my siblings, my friends?
It feels like something I need to figure out and yet, I don’t want to think about it.
So, instead, I squeeze his hand and match his gaze.
“Let’s just start there then.”
He brushes a thumb over my knuckles. “That sounds good.”