Chapter 28
Sebastian
THE DRIVE WAS LONG and quiet. I didn’t mind. The miles gave me room to think, and the silence opened a window for perspective.
Armstrong’s request had come last-minute, but the work itself was routine—payload integration review and a stubborn calibration issue they wanted another pair of eyes on. We wrapped up around ten p.m., and I stayed overnight to attend a debrief the next morning before heading back.
“Your ferns miss you. They’re hanging on, but barely.” Nathan’s text arrived just as I stepped out of the shower in the hotel room Armstrong booked for me.
“They’ll survive. I left them in good hands.”
“Good hands? I’m keeping four of them alive. This is a hostage situation.”
I chuckled and barely managed to start typing when another message dropped.
“BTW, I think I’m dating a girl.”
“You think you’re dating, or you think she’s a girl?”
“Dating. We’ve met up four times in ten days. I stayed at hers last night. And apparently, we’re going to some market on Saturday.”
“Yeah, you’re dating her,” I replied. By that definition, I was dating Ruby. There was that once or twice we’d driven to the Riviera View market together.
“She plays co-op games and knows what ‘nerf’ means. She might be The One.”
“Then don’t screw it up.”
“I’ll try.”
I put my phone down, still smiling. Nathan might’ve stumbled into something real. I was about to drive back to a woman who swore up and down she didn’t want anything real.
Still, she was my one.
THE NEXT DAY, AROUND noon, a text lit up my screen while I stopped for gas on the way back. Unknown number.
“Hi, I’m Julie. My dad works with your dad, and he gave me your number. I promised I’d get in touch. He said you’ll know what this is about.”
Yeah. I knew.
Oh, Dad ... How many times had I said I didn’t want him to set me up?
I hadn’t even decided whether to reply when another message followed.
“I apologize, but I have a feeling you’re facing the same parental pressure. So if we can meet for a quick coffee to get them off our backs once and for all, I’d appreciate it.”
I shook my head, scoffing to myself. Classic. They’d managed to ramrod two people.
I didn’t want this. Neither did this Julie.
Still ... twenty minutes at a café. I could swing it, tell my dad I did, and still get back to the inn before evening.
A SURGE OF COFFEE AND the smell of fresh pastries welcomed me as I stepped through the door of Brew It On, the coffee shop just outside Coral Bay, two hours later.
By the time I got there, I was vaguely curious to see who the woman I was meeting was. She’d reached out while I was still on the road, so I hadn’t bothered looking her up. It didn’t matter anyway; this wasn’t a date. It was a cooperative effort to quiet two meddling dads.
Seemed like she had looked me up, though. Across the floor, at a table near the window, a woman stood when I entered and gave me a hesitant wave.
I passed the bar and made my way over.
“Julie?”
“Yes.” She let out a relieved chuckle. “Sebastian, hi. Nice to meet you, and sorry.”
I shook her hand and gestured for her to sit. “No need to apologize. I know how it goes. Can I get you something?”
“Um, just ... cappuccino would be nice. Thanks.”
“Almond milk, soy, anything?”
She laughed. “Just plain ol’ regular milk, thank you.”
I smiled and went to order at the counter.
When I sat back down with our cups, I took a sip. “So, you’re from Blueshore, too?”
There were eight years between us, and while it was a small town, I certainly didn’t know everyone there. Especially not since I’d moved to Houston.
“No. San Luis. My dad just works in Blueshore. With yours.” She sipped her coffee, then added with a chuckle, “He guilted me into this. He’s kind of old-fashioned and pushy.
But now he pulled the ace card: ‘Your mother would have agreed with me. She would have wanted you to do it.’” She gave a shruggish wave.
“I couldn’t do anything against that. So thanks for agreeing to meet. ”
“Helps me too. And sorry about the guilt trip.”
She smiled. “When my dad said something like, ‘Why are you two so against it?’ I figured I could be honest with you about making a deal.”
We chatted for a while about the usual stuff—jobs, cities, school.
The place was busy; customers flowed in and out, the door swinging open every few minutes and letting in the crisp October air.
Inside, our conversation wove through the hiss of the steamer, murmur of voices, and some unobtrusive Spotify playlist in the background.
A sweet, familiar hint of honey drifted past. Faint, like a memory.
She was nice, pretty, smart, amusing even.
I should want this; it’d be easier if I did.
But she wasn’t Ruby.
No one was.
About thirty minutes in, I brought it to a close. “I’ve got to get back to a friend’s place.” My heart twitched at how small that word felt.
“Oh, yes, of course.” Julie rose to her feet and offered her hand again. “Thanks. It was really nice talking to you. If ... if you ever want to meet again for coffee, I’d be happy to.”
I gave her a close-lipped apologetic smile. “Thanks, Julie. It’s been nice.”
The last remnants of light disappeared as I returned to my car.
I could try to engineer it. Try to want what made sense.
And maybe this was how it’d be—someday settling for someone almost right, because Ruby Locke never could unlock her heart.