Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
The next morning, while tidying her apartment, Emily was unsettled.
Patrick’s excitement over her text, and their subsequent call, had put tiny fissures in the wall of her new life.
Just when she thought she’d gotten everything worked out, they’d reconnected, making her doubt her choices.
Was that new apartment right for her? Did she want to rope herself into another year-long lease? Yes, she needed to, she told herself.
She eyed the suitcase that was still against the bedroom wall.
It was time to put it away. It had been long enough.
Emily made to roll it down the hall and into the closet.
But as she pushed it toward the door, a pull in her heart stopped her, and in a moment of total impulsiveness, she switched gears.
She turned her suitcase onto its side, unzipped it, and began putting new clothes in it.
She darted to the bathroom and scooped up her toiletries, then ran back to her bag, lumping them in.
When she had everything packed, she zipped up the case, took it to the door, and went into the apartment hallway, locking the door on her way out.
A ping and then the hum of the pulley’s engine rang through the silence as the elevator made its way to her floor.
She stared at the suitcase. What was she doing? Could she just leave everything right now? But a little voice inside told her that she knew exactly what she was doing: She was choosing. Finally, a choice for herself. She knew what she really wanted. She just had to figure out how to get it.
The suitcase rolled behind her as she made her way to the parking deck.
When she got to her car, she put the suitcase in the backseat and got in the driver’s seat.
She pulled up Patrick’s address from her contacts and typed it into her navigation.
With the directions chirping through the car, she began to drive.
On the way, Emily called her school on her hands-free and asked for Martha Rogers.
“Hi, Emily,” Martha said in her usual friendly tone. “What’s up?”
“Hi. I have a question for you.” She turned the corner and followed the map to the second turn, leading to the highway.
“Of course. What is it?”
“Am I able to get out of my contract due to an unexpected life change?”
“Oh goodness, is everything okay?”
“It’s better than okay. There’s a possibility I might move to another state.”
“Well, I’d hate to lose you, Emily. But it’s still early enough in the summer that I could let you out of your contract. It’s not something I like to do, but given the circumstances of an unforeseen move, I could do it for you.”
“Okay, thank you. I’ll let you know in the next few days.” She ended the call and then used voice commands to call the apartment complex and back out of her lease application.
She had no idea what came next, but for once, the unknown wasn’t terrifying.
The one thing she knew for sure was that there was a boy by the coast who made her realize she could change her mind, and a part of herself that finally believed she didn’t have to choose between loving someone and loving her own life.
So she drove toward the horizon, toward the beach, toward whatever future was waiting.
Eight hours later, in the soft glow of early evening, Emily pulled onto the familiar drive in the woods.
She prayed Patrick would be home from work by now, since she hadn’t seen his truck outside the restaurant when she’d driven through town.
Her heart pattered at the sight of it in the driveway.
She hadn’t even considered what she’d have done if he hadn’t been home.
She came to a stop and her breath caught at the view. After she got out of the car, Emily walked around to the side of the house to get a better look.
A stone path led to the fishing shed. It had been completely repainted a bright white, with window boxes full of purple and blue flowers flanking the front door. A little mat on the stoop read “Welcome.” What was this for? It was too big and beautiful to be a playhouse for Winston…
“Looking for a rental?” Patrick said from behind her.
Elation swelled, and it took everything Emily had to keep her composure.
She faced him, her entire attention landing on him and locking in place.
He had a day’s growth of stubble, making him look less refined than she’d seen him before.
That, and his thin T-shirt that barely hid his physique, gave him a ruggedly casual appearance that she wanted to drink in for the rest of her life.
“Rental?”
He put his hands in his pockets as if her being there were nothing new, but by the glimmer in his eye and the tiny smirk playing on his lips, he was just as excited as she was that they were standing opposite one another.
He walked toward her. “So when I bought the house, this was plumbed and outfitted as a mother-in-law suite. I haven’t started the inside yet, but Winston helped me paint the exterior. I’m going to renovate it and see if I can rent it to help Julia with the cost of her classes.”
“You have time for all that with work?”
“It’s a lot, but the rent would offset the cost of her classes, and she could finish her degree debt-free, so I’m willing to spend nights on it for a while.”
“I’m in the market for a rental,” she said. “But I’d have to get a job first.”
His eyes widened with surprise. He took a step toward her. “What about your teaching contract in Nashville?”
“They let me out of it.”
His gaze swallowed her, and he took a step into her personal space, putting every one of her nerves on high alert. “And you want to live here?”
“There’s this guy I’m kind of seeing,” she ventured, her pulse racing.
“Oh really…? You like this guy?”
“Yeah. A lot.”
He reached for her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. His touch was intoxicating and validated every feeling she’d had about him since she left.
“I never guessed that you’d actually be my first tenant, but I have to admit that the hope of offering you somewhere to stay was enough to get me working on it.
” He let go of her fingers and put his hands on her waist, pulling her in.
“I’d need a few months, but Julia has a sofa while you wait.
That might give you some job-hunting time. ”
She looked up at him, his woodsy, spicy scent robbing her of any good sense. “I’ll sign the lease immediately—sight unseen.”
The corners of his mouth twitched upward. “Consider it signed.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.
With no plans at all, she wrapped her arms around the next step in her forever.