Chapter 5
five
CAMILLA
I couldn’t deny there was beauty everywhere you looked in Willow’s Cove, but every part of it held memories I tried six years to forget—including Julian. Our run-in down at the beach was the only thing on my mind as I watched the sun slowly rise through the window.
I wanted to hate him. I wanted to blame him for what happened years before that landed us where we were, but as I sat and watched the waves come and go, I remembered my mom once told me there was a time for everything, and then it passes like the tides. Julian and I were in the past, which meant the mistakes we made when we were just kids had to stay there too.I reached for my phone and smiled at the text from Greyson.
I can’t wait until you’re home. I couldn’t sleep without you last night. Have a safe flight, Cami. I love you.
That morning was my first without Greyson in two years; I felt his absence deeply when I woke up and touched the empty side of the bed. He usually traveled with me for all my events, but he couldn’t miss an important meeting with his dad. He’d always hated small towns anyway.
The smell of fresh coffee and bacon shot me out of bed before I could type a message back. Considering I only knew how to make toast and Greyson never learned to cook, I forgot the last time I’d had a meal that wasn’t takeout.
I peeked around the corner and spied the outline of Julian’s back as he flipped bacon and pancakes on the stove. I knew there had to be an old diary entry in which I imagined waking up to Julian Perez in a t-shirt that showed his rippling muscles as he made breakfast with an ocean view. As I stood by and watched, I wondered about the little things, like what his everyday routine was, and how his life turned out since the last time I saw him.
I flushed with embarrassment when he turned around and caught me lurking, but he greeted me with a dimpled smile. “Good morning. I figured you and your friend wanted breakfast before your flight.” He poured fresh coffee into a mug and slid it in front of me.
“Thank you, but you did enough by letting us stay.” I walked over to the sliding door with a perfect view of the rocky cliffs overlooking the cove. Julian’s warmth radiated throughout my body when he joined me. “I forgot how beautiful it is,” I said softly.
“I’m sure your view back in New York is better.” Greyson and I could see most of lower Manhattan from our balcony, but nothing compared to the early morning rays glistening over the waters in Willow’s Cove.
“Can I ask you something, Julian?” I blurted out.
He nodded without hesitation. “Are you happy?” Out of all the unanswered questions reeling through my head for six years, that was the one I thought of most often.
His brown eyes softened as he looked down at me. “Are you?” We were so close, I could feel his heart hammering, and it matched the sudden tempo of mine. I wasn’t sure why I couldn’t just answer the question, but thankfully, we were interrupted by the sound of a car’s brakes screeching up the hill.
“Shit. Sorry about this.” He mumbled.
“About wh—” Suddenly, a familiar face barged through the door with a wide smile and bounced over to wrap her arms around me. “Cami! I was hoping I’d catch you before you left.”
I was surprised to see his little sister still lived in town, given that she had dreams of moving to a big city. Sofia was a year younger than us, but you’d never know it from the way she carried herself. She’d always been too wise for her own good, and she radiated kindness and warmth wherever she went. I once considered her the little sister I never had.
“Hey, Sof,” I said into her dark brown hair. She was no longer the seventeen-year-old girl I knew. She was all grown up, suddenly a stranger with a familiar face, but I was to blame for that.
“We’ve missed you so much.” I spared a glance over at Julian, who occupied himself with eating the breakfast he’d made. “I got busy at work yesterday, so I couldn’t make it to your book signing, but I brought my personal copy if you’ll do the honors.” My eyes went straight to the huge diamond on her left finger when she slid the book across the counter. “You want to bring that up, or should I?” I raised my brows at her.
She smiled like a little kid as she looked down at her freshly pedicured hand. “Oh! I’m getting married in eight days. Can you believe it?” Sofia never shied away from the fact that she was in love with the idea of falling in love, so it was no surprise she’d done it younger than most people.
“Congratulations. Who is he? Someone I know?”
Julian scoffed. “Yeah, tell her who he is, Sof.”
She hesitated before letting a smirk tip the corner of her lips. “His name is Levi…Willow.”
I couldn’t contain the gasp that escaped me. “As in part of the founding family?” The only thing I knew about the founding family was their long line of members who went on to become the mayor of Willow’s Cove. They were untouchable in the eyes of the townspeople, and wherever they went, a headline in the local newspaper followed.
“His dad may or may not be the mayor. Julian thinks the Willow family is full of nothing but snobs, but I promise they’re not, especially Levi.” Sofia had a gift of seeing through people, so I had no doubt in my mind that what she said was true.
“I wish I could be there to see you in a white dress.” It was hypothetical, but her face lit up as if I’d given her the brightest idea. “Wait, why don’t you? Better yet, I’m a bridesmaid short, so you can be a part of my wedding party!” She squealed with excitement while Julian and I froze. Even if I didn’t have a flight back home that day, staying in Willow’s Cove was a recipe for disaster. One day around Julian, and I was already rattled; eight days would be complete insanity.
“I can’t. I’m flying back to New York today,” I said.
“Can’t you reschedule it? I mean, it feels like fate that you ended up back here. I wanted to send you an invitation, but someone said no.” Her eyes darted to Julian, whose jaw clenched as he looked at his sister with fire in his eyes.
I stumbled for another excuse, but Elena saved me when she waltzed into the kitchen in full glam, unfazed by the strange faces. “Thank God, coffee.” We all watched with amusement as she reached into the cupboard and poured some into a mug, as if she’d been in Julian’s kitchen a thousand times. If there was one thing she wasn’t, it was shy. I always admired that about her.
Sofia looked over at Julian with her eyes narrowed. “Since when do you bring girls home?”
Our collective chuckles echoed through the room. “That’s my friend and assistant, Elena. Elena, this is Sofia.” I said. If we all lived in the same place, I knew the two of them would’ve gotten along perfectly. A part of me gravitated towards Elena in college because she reminded me of my friends back home, but the more I got to know her, the more she stood out on her own.
She held her coffee mug in one hand and waved with the other. “Hi. Sorry, I have a habit of making myself at home.”
Julian shook his head. “Any friend of Mila’s is welcome to anything in my house.” She subtly found my eyes and smirked, which told me she wasn’t done prying. “Speaking of the house, you’re so lucky you have this view. The one I have back home faces the front of a shitty restaurant.”
Home . The word made me think of Greyson’s smile, of getting wrapped in his natural woodsy scent every morning when we’d snooze the alarm for five more minutes of sleep.
“So can you please stay, Cami?” Sofia pleaded again.
“She’s busy on her book tour.” I was relieved when Julian inserted himself into the conversation, but it was immediately shot down when Elena didn’t read the room. “Your schedule is clear for the next couple of weeks.” I shot an irritated glance at her.
Greyson and I had never been apart longer than a day since we’d met, and the thought of being away any longer filled me with dread. “I…”
Sofia cut in as I searched for a nice way to let her down again. “Before you say it, I know it’s a big ask, but you were like a sister to me. I really want you to be a part of my big day.” I knew I couldn’t stay in Willow’s Cove. I wasn’t ready to face the reasons I’d stayed away for so long, but as I looked into her soft brown eyes, they reminded me of Julian’s, and I could never say no to him. Her long eyelashes batted at me, and when I looked over at Julian, his face was hard to read.
I let out a defeated sigh. “Okay, you win. I’ll be a bridesmaid.” I figured seeing her in a wedding dress would be worth the stay.
She leaped out of her chair and hugged me so tight, I was almost breathless. “Yes! Thank you, Cami. We’ll go dress shopping tomorrow and find you something perfect.” She stole Julian’s bacon right out of his hand before skipping out of the house.
“She hasn’t changed at all,” I said when the door shut behind her.
“Believe it or not, she’s gotten more insufferable as she’s gotten older.” His sarcasm was obvious. Anyone who knew him knew he loved his little sister more than life itself, but he rarely voiced it.
I found Elena’s eyes as they shifted between me and Julian, a sly expression on her face. “Do you mind?—”
“Rescheduling your flight? Already ahead of you.” Sometimes, it felt like we shared a brain. When she walked to her room, I tried to think of how to fill the silence when it was just me and Julian again, but I came up short. My mind reeled over the fact that I’d be in close proximity with my ex-boyfriend for the next eight days.
“You could’ve said no,” Julian interrupted my inner turmoil. A part of me wished I had, but as much as I missed home, I knew it would have eaten at me if I’d gotten on that plane. “No, I couldn’t have. She’s important to me.” I gulped when his eyes slowly met mine. Somehow, they were richer than they were the last time I saw them.
“Well, you might as well stay here. The hotel across town is overbooked, and Sofia will be popping in the entire week for wedding stuff anyway.” The thought of being in the same town made a knot grow in my throat, much less staying under the same roof. I knew it was just a matter of time before everything we’d buried for years went off like a ticking time bomb.
“I’d hate to get in your way of renovating.”
“You wouldn’t. Don’t be stubborn, Mila. We both know my guest room is better than anything else in town.” I was quiet as I considered it. On the one hand, it saved me from staying in the shitty hotel, but on the other hand…Julian. As much as I tried to convince myself otherwise, he would never be just another face. There was a version of me who loved him with every bit of my heart, and I didn’t want to find out if she was still there.
He reached over the counter and grabbed my hand as if it was still second nature. “Please stay, Mila.” My body recognized his touch, making my heartbeat quicken. I suddenly couldn’t push the word no from my lips.
I shot across the kitchen to put distance between us. “ If I stay, we need to set some ground rules.” When he held back a smile and ran his fingers through his wavy hair, I only saw seventeen-year-old Julian—the one I’d fallen so hard for, it felt impossible to get up.
“Okay. Set your terms.” He folded his arms and listened intently.
“For one, we need distance.” His chuckle echoed through the room as he took one step back. “Done.” I was surprised he didn’t have a rebuttal—he’d always been the type to dance around rules.
“Don’t do that thing with your smile either. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He knew I’d always been a sucker for his crooked smirk. The mere sight of it had the ability to make me crumble.
He cocked his head to the side. “Anything else?”
“For the next eight days, we’re friends, nothing else,” I said sternly.
He looked down to hide a mischievous smile. “Okay, friends.” I could hear the challenge in his tone, as if he saw the rules more like a game, which meant I was in deep shit because he’d roped me in with a similar charm in high school.
My entire body lit up in flames when his eyes slowly raked over me. “I…should go check on my friend.” I practically sprinted to Elena’s room to catch my breath and found her packing.
“Your flight is rescheduled for next Sunday, and your calendar is clear from any meetings for the next eight days.” I helped fold the remainder of clothes into her suitcase. “You could stay the week with me. It’ll be like a vacation.” I knew the answer before I even finished the words.
“You know I’d go stir-crazy, Cami.” She’d grown up in a town where cows were more populous than people, which made her despise anywhere even slightly similar. “You seem to fit in here, though.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
She zipped up her suitcase and dropped it by the door. “I saw that look when you got out of the car yesterday. It’s the same one I had when I first saw New York and knew that’s where I was meant to be.”
I shook my head. If she knew anything about Julian or the reason I never came back, I was sure her answer would have been different. “It’s been years since I left. This isn’t my home anymore, Lena.”
She rested her hands on my shoulders, her blue eyes seared into mine. “You might have left, but did it leave you?” I didn’t have the answer at the time, but those words echoed in my head that entire week.
Before I could speak, we were interrupted by my phone ringing with Greyson’s call. “Shit. He doesn’t know I’m staying yet.” Usually, we ran everything by each other first, but I was forced to make a decision under Sofia’s wide-eyed stare.
“Good luck, babe.”
“Are you gonna be okay?” I asked.
She smirked. “I’ve been on my own since I was seventeen, Cami. I know how to get on a plane. I’ll see you back home in a week.” She threw me a wink before I rushed across the hall and shut the door behind me. “Hey.” I greeted Greyson.
“How does Thai sound for dinner? I made a reservation at that restaurant you like once you land.” My heart lurched at the sound of his deep voice. The thought of not being in his arms hours from then made me wince, but once I made a promise, there was no going back.
I ripped off the band-aid and let the words spill out. “Grey, I’m staying in Willow’s Cove for the week.” The only indication he was still on the line was the sound of office phones ringing off the hook in the background. My heart sank when I pictured the look of disappointment falling over his face, and when he finally spoke, it was in a hushed tone. “Are you okay?”
Of course, that was his first concern. “Yeah. An old friend is getting married, and I couldn’t say no when she asked me to be a bridesmaid.” I left out the part about the old friend being my ex-boyfriend’s little sister. The more silence that fell between us, the harder my leg shook. “Are you mad?”
He didn’t hesitate to answer. “Of course not. I’m disappointed I have to go an entire week without you, but as long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters, Cami.” I smiled to myself and let out a breath of relief. “I love you. I’ll call you every night, I promise.”
“I love you too,” he said.
I knew I should have mentioned Julian, but considering Greyson didn’t know about our past, I thought it best it stay that way to keep unnecessary doubt out of his head. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?