Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
ADAM
I didn’t tell her, but I still have the brain.
Not because I thought she’d come back for it.
But because I never wanted to let it go.
The town square is packed, Christmas lights reflecting off fresh snow. The tree towers over everyone, decked out in more lights than probably necessary, waiting to be lit up. I scan the crowd, nodding to a few clients, until I spot Wes near the cider stand.
“Look who it is,” Wes says, handing me a cup. “I can’t believe you’re taking the time to stop preparing that syllabus. Or did you find a way to pretend you don’t really want it so you can stay here and help Pine Creek with… everything?”
I snort. “That program is everything I’ve worked for. My chance to do something from the ground up and the funding will help the practice I’m starting up again there, it’s going to be everywhere.”
Wes shifts. “Think you’ll keep doing career days over there too?”
“Definitely.” I lift my shoulder. “I thought about staying, you know.”
“I know. I’m pretty sure Kellan won’t believe you actually moved, until you do.”
“It’s … just… Megan and you… and my parents. And the clinic. Everyone’s counting on me.”
“Not counting on you. Don’t get me wrong, I know I can count on you.
But you’re more than someone I’m counting on, man.
You’re my friend and you’ve been waiting for this move, for this teaching position, for the program you’re going to help create.
” He pauses, leaning back. “It doesn’t mean you’re forgetting us.
” Another pause. “Or letting us down. You already got plane tickets for Megan’s recital at the end of the school year. ”
Wes takes a sip of his drink, a small smile forming.
“Remember last Christmas? You were at the clinic with that emergency surgery, then volunteered at the food bank, then tried to make it to Megan’s pageant, showing up just as she was leaving the stage.
Hell, you were so exhausted you fell asleep during dinner. ”
He shakes his head. “You stretched yourself so thin you couldn’t be fully present for any of it.
But lately? You turned down heading the animal rescue fundraiser.
You said no when Mrs. B. tried to recruit you for the PTA even though you don’t have kids yet.
You’d have said yes a few years back.” He chuckles.
“And saying no? That took guts, man. She’s scary. ”
He clears his throat. “I know you missed my birthday slash goodbye dinner the other night, but that’s been more the exception than the rule these past six months. You’re learning.”
“If you say so.”
Wes meets my eyes directly. “You’ve been putting in the work, setting boundaries, showing us that who you give your time to matters.
Before, you were always doing things for absolutely everyone.
Now, it means even more when you choose to be there.
It makes your time even more valuable.” He grins, taking a sip of his cider.
“Like last week, you actually made it to Megan’s science fair with that volcano that nearly took out Principal Davis, even though the mayor was practically begging you to help decorate the town square for the Christmas parade.
The old Adam would have somehow tried to do both and ended up passing out face-first in the tinsel.
” He claps me on the shoulder, that solid, grounding gesture I’ve known since we were kids.
“And yes, sometimes you still try to do everything, and end up missing your own goodbye party. But trust me, there’s progress.
And we’ll still be here for you no matter where you live.
Yes, you’ll miss things, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be important to us. You’re family.”
Before I can answer, his daughter, Megan, comes barreling toward us. “Uncle A.! Guess what?”
I crouch down to her level. “Tell me.”
“I’m gonna be a vet!”
“Yeah?”
She nods so hard I worry for her neck. “Because you showed me about animal temperatures when you came to my class! Remember? When Dad couldn’t make career day?
And then at school, we had to write about what we wanna be, and I picked being a vet, and my teacher said it was perfect!
” She tilts her head. “Or maybe like dad I’ll work with flowers. ”
“Whatever you decide is going to be a solid choice.” I ruffle her hair.
Wes squeezes my shoulder. “You’re going to kill it, man.”
Maybe.
And for the next hour, we walk around the Christmas market, enjoying waffles that I’m sure Eve would have loved, ice skating and waiting for the tree lighting as the local high school band plays Christmas songs.
My parents are here. Wes, Megan, and my other buddies from high school are here with their families.
As my therapist would remind me, leaving can be scary, but you’re not leaving because you’re running away. You’re leaving because this is what you want to do. For your career. For yourself.
And I still haven’t told Eve that “leaving” means Cape Cod. Sandwich Bay. Near her hometown.
“Adam!” Sally’s voice cuts through the crowd, and I turn to see her pushing through with—fuck me—Eve trailing behind her.
Still in my hoodie.
Looking irritated but also... like maybe she doesn’t completely hate being here.
She’s got that carefully neutral expression she uses with difficult patients, but there’s something else too.
The way her eyes linger on the lights, the way she almost smiles when a kid runs by with a candy cane bigger than his arm.
“So,” Wes says, following my gaze, “you gonna tell her about the Cape?”
Good question.
Before I can answer, I spot Frank across the square with Dana, a woman he’s been on and off with for years.
She looks distinctly uncomfortable as they navigate through the crowd, his hand hovering near her lower back without quite touching.
Frank catches my eye, gives me a nod that’s more challenge than greeting, then deliberately shifts his attention to Eve.
“I need to—” I start, but Wes puts a hand on my shoulder.
“He’s still bitter about Faye,” he says quietly. “He thinks she avoided Pine Creek for years because of you. Didn’t spend as much time with their parents. As her twin brother, I think he felt abandoned maybe.”
“I’m not worried about Frank,” I say, though my jaw clenches involuntarily.
Wes gives me a knowing look. “Sure. I did hear the rumor about him sitting with Eve. He and Dana are on their on-again, off-again rhythm. You’re totally cool if he asks Eve on a date.”
Frank’s making his way toward Eve now. Dana hangs back, scanning the crowd like she’s looking for an escape route.
“You know what?” I drain my cider. “I think I’ll go get some hot chocolate.”
Wes’s laugh follows me as I head toward the stand where Eve is waiting. I remind myself that I’m not some territorial animal marking its claim. Eve can talk to whoever she wants.
But the way Frank looks at her? Yep. It doesn’t sit well with me. And if he happens to mention his sister again, I want to be there to provide some more context.
Or… shit, maybe even apologize.
Because on that one, I was wrong.