Chapter 46
EMBER
Inside the house, I found Max in the front hall, bags packed, by the front door. Sera sat hugging her knees on the staircase, looking for all the world like a lost little girl, she was so small. The two of them avoided each other’s eyes so carefully. So today was to be a day of goodbyes.
Ares smiled at me, then kissed my hand again, taking the mugs from me.
I watched as he walked towards the kitchen where Briony and Calypso were making cookies with Avaline.
I wasn’t ready to lose another friend to distance today.
I hated that I thought that Oleander Cottage was a better solution for Rhi than a beach vacation, but I did actually believe her that it might be the only place she could avoid the Consulate.
But Max was another story altogether. I knew she had to go, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
It was too much to ask. I needed more time.
But glancing up at Sera, I knew Max had to go.
Neither of them could manage even another day in the same house.
They needed space and time to heal. Someday they would be all right, friends again even. But now, both their hearts needed time.
“So.” It was the only word I could manage. There were too many years between us. Too many things that should probably be said that would go unsaid.
Max nodded. “Yeah.”
We stood awkwardly for a moment, each of us waiting for the other to know just what to say. Max spoke first. “Thank you for understanding why I need to do this.”
On the stairs, Sera sniffed and took a shuddery breath, as though she suppressed a sob. I could feel her heart breaking from here. “Of course,” I said, opening the door. “Let me walk you out.”
Max glanced back up at Sera, her big brown eyes sad. “I—”
I touched her arm and shook my head, sensing what she was about to say. “Don’t do that to her. You can’t say those words right now. It won’t help.”
Behind me, I heard Sera get up and run up the stairs, her footsteps light on the carpet.
When I turned back to Max, she looked as though her insides had been pulled outside her body.
I pushed her gently out the door. Her motorcycle sat in the driveway, washed and ready for her journey south to Aradios.
I watched as she packed her bag in. The sun broke through the clouds.
Probably the last of the autumn sunshine.
The leaves had all fallen and the tree branches that danced above us were barren fingers, scraping at the sky.
Once, it would have given me a lonely feeling to watch them, to say another goodbye.
Now, I knew that some goodbyes were new beginnings. “You both need a fresh start,” I said, feeling careful with my words for once. “Give her some time to let her heart heal. To get over you.”
Max smiled, her eyes watery. “Is it fucked up that I hate the idea of her finding someone else?”
I shook my head, dragging the Maere into my arms. “No. That’s just the way love is. And she knows you love her, even if it can’t be the love you both wish it was.”
Max clung to me, shaking as her tears fell on my shoulder. “Thank you for seeing me, Ember. I haven’t given you enough credit over the years.”
“Shhh,” I breathed. “You don’t have to say nice things just because you’re leaving.”
She pulled away from me, tears still streaming down her cheeks. “I mean it. None of us are perfect, but we all expected you to be and then we were mad when you couldn’t…”
“Hush,” I said, and not because I didn’t believe her, but because it was true. It was true and I had let it go. I had to. I needed the room in my heart for whatever was growing inside Hemlock House. “We all made mistakes. That’s immortality, babe.”
Max laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. “Ember, I am going to miss you a lot.” She looked up at the house. “Don’t let her miss me, okay. When she finds someone else, tell her to go for it. Lie and tell her I said I wanted her to be happy.”
I hugged Max again, pressing my forehead to hers. “Someday, you will be happy for her. And you will be happy too, in your own way. This is just the hard part.”
Max hugged me tight. “You know a lot about the hard parts, don’t you?”
“Sure do,” I replied before letting her go. “Ride safe, okay?”
She brushed a quick kiss to each of my cheeks as an answer. I sat down on the front steps and watched as she drove away. Ares came out first, sitting behind me on the steps, his arms encircling me. “Cookies are in the oven,” he said, kissing the top of my head.
He was wearing a black and red plaid shirt, rolled up to his elbows, which let me run my fingernails down his tattooed skin. Briony was out next, with mugs of hot chocolate on a tray. She carried one to me then left the tray on a table on the wraparound front porch.
When she’d found a quilt, she curled into one of the wicker rocking chairs on the porch. Calypso came next, with a book in hand. Then Av and Stanley. A few more clouds cleared off and jazzy music drifted out of the house—an old love song from years and years ago.
“Who left the stereo on?” I asked. “I love this song.”
No one answered me, so I turned around. Briony shook her head. Calypso and Av both shrugged. Ares was the only one who didn’t move a muscle. He just hugged me tighter.
“The house is happy,” he whispered. “And so are we.”
I hugged his arms as tightly as I could, a grin spreading over my face. “Yes,” I agreed. “We are.”
Thank you for reading The Consulate!