Chapter 27
DEX
The rehearsal dinner at James Farm was winding down, and I couldn’t stop watching Leigh.
She stood near one of the tables, laughing at something Billie said, the white lights strung between the apple trees casting a warm glow across her face.
The August evening had been perfect. That ideal temperature where you didn’t need a jacket but the breeze kept things comfortable.
The scent of apple blossoms mixed with whatever amazing thing Delaney’s new chef had cooked up.
And God, the food had been incredible. Delaney had been gushing about it all night.
Some chef she’d discovered who she was trying to convince to relocate to Willowbrook.
Based on what I’d eaten tonight, she was worth whatever she was paying her.
Even the Wednesday Lunch Club ladies had been impressed, which was saying something.
Everyone was happy. Full. Relaxed. Tomorrow was the wedding, but tonight was just about celebration.
I took a sip of my beer and tried to ignore the knot in my stomach that had been there all evening.
“You going to stare at her all night, or actually do something about it?” Booker appeared at my elbow, his own beer in hand.
“I’m not staring.”
“You’ve been watching her for the last hour like she’s about to disappear.”
“She is going to disappear. Day after tomorrow, she goes back to Blue Point Bay.” The words tasted bitter. “This ends.”
Booker was quiet for a moment. “Does it have to?”
I didn’t have an answer to that yet. Not one that I’d had time to fully figure out at least.
When I looked back toward where Leigh had been standing, she was gone.
My chest tightened. Then I saw her, walking down the path that led to the pond, her sundress swaying with each step.
I didn’t think. I just followed. It was impossible not to.
The pond was quiet, peaceful, the sounds of the party fading behind me as I walked down the familiar path. Leigh stood at the water’s edge, her arms wrapped around herself despite the warm evening.
“Hey,” I said softly as I approached.
She turned, and the smile she gave me was sad around the edges. “Hey yourself. Quiet down here.”
“Yeah.” I stopped beside her, close enough that our arms almost touched. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Just... needed a minute.” She looked out over the water, where the last light of sunset was reflecting in shades of pink and gold. “It’s beautiful here.”
“It is.”
We stood in silence for a moment, and I could feel the weight of everything unsaid between us. Two more days. That’s all we had left.
“Dex…” she started.
“Leigh…” I said at the same time.
We both stopped, then laughed. That nervous, slightly desperate sound of two people trying to hold it together.
“You first,” I said.
She took a breath. “I was going to say... I think I should move to Willowbrook.”
My heart stopped. “What?”
“I can move my studio. It’s just a business. I can set up anywhere. And Wren…” Her words were coming faster now, tumbling over each other. “Wren actually told me she wants me to go. She said I should choose what makes me happy for once instead of what’s safe.”
“Leigh…”
“I know it’s crazy. I know it’s fast. But I can’t…” Her voice broke slightly. “I can’t just walk away and leave you. I can’t do it.”
Everything in me wanted to say yes. To pull her close and tell her to stay, that we’d figure it out, that I wanted her here more than I’d ever wanted anything.
But I couldn’t.
“I can’t let you do that,” I said quietly.
She turned to face me fully, confusion and hurt flashing across her face. “Why not?”
“Because Blue Point Bay is your home. Your life and your family needs you there. Everything you’ve built is there.” I forced myself to keep talking even as my chest ached. “And because I think I need to leave Willowbrook.”
Now it was her turn to look stunned. “What?”
“I’ve been thinking about it all week. Hell, probably longer than that.
” I ran a hand through my hair, trying to find the right words.
“This garage, this house, they’re not really mine.
They’re my grandfather’s. I’ve been living his life, trying to honor his memory, but I’ve never actually built anything for myself.
I’ve just been... maintaining what he left behind. ”
“Dex…”
“I’m not done.” I took her hands, needing to touch her, to make her understand.
“I’ve been thinking about selling the garage.
Or maybe getting a manager to run it. The business is solid.
It doesn’t actually need me there every day.
And the house...” I swallowed hard. “The house is full of memories, but some of them aren’t good.
My parents, the losing my dad, growing up without them.
Maybe it’s time to let someone else fill it with better memories. ”
Leigh’s eyes were wide, shimmering with unshed tears. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying maybe we’re both trying to sacrifice something we shouldn’t have to.
You love Blue Point Bay. You have Wren, and she needs you just as much as I do.
And I...” I pulled her closer. “I want the chance to build a new life. To choose something for myself instead of just accepting what I inherited. And I can’t think of any better way to do that than by being with you. ”
A tear slipped down her cheek. “You’d really move? Leave everything here?”
“Not everything. The brothers will still be the brothers. Geography doesn’t change that. We’ll visit, they’ll visit. Family is family no matter where we live.” I brushed the tear away with my thumb. “But yeah. I’d move. For you. For us. For the chance to build something that’s actually mine.”
“But you’ve never even seen Blue Point Bay. What if you hate it? What if…”
“Then how about this,” I interrupted gently.
“After the wedding, we go to Blue Point Bay for a few days. You show me your world. Your studio, your town, the places you love. Let me see what my life could look like there. And if it feels right…” I paused, making sure she understood.
“If it feels right, I start making plans to move.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.” I pulled her fully into my arms, resting my forehead against hers. “I spent my whole life living in my grandfather’s shadow, running a business I inherited, living in a house I grew up in. I never chose any of it. But this? You? That’s a choice I want to make.”
She was crying for real now, but she was also smiling. “You’re serious.”
“Completely serious. I love you, Leigh. And I’m tired of pretending that anything else matters more than that.”
“I love you too.” She kissed me, soft and sweet and desperate all at once. “God, I love you so much.”
We held each other as the last light faded from the sky, the sounds of the party distant and dreamlike behind us.
“So Blue Point Bay?” she said finally, her voice muffled against my chest. “You really want to do this?”
“I really want to do this. Show me your world. Let me see where I could fit in your life.”
She pulled back enough to look up at me, and the smile on her face was like sunrise. “Okay. Day after the wedding, we drive to Blue Point Bay. I’ll show you everything.”
“Everything?”
“Everything. The beach where I run in the mornings. The coffee shop where I sketch out shoot plans. My studio, the lighthouse. All of it.” She paused. “And we’ll look at the local businesses. See if there’s anything that might work for a garage.”
My heart felt like it might burst. “You’ve been thinking about this.”
“Maybe a little.” She kissed me again. “Fair warning. Blue Point Bay isn’t as small as Willowbrook. And it’s right on the coast, so there’s a lot of tourists in the summer. And the winters can be rough. And…”
I kissed her quiet. “I don’t care about any of that. I care about you.”
“Even though I don’t really have anywhere for us to live? And I have two cats who shed everywhere?”
“You have cats?”
“Did I not mention that?”
“You definitely did not mention that.”
She laughed, the sound bright and free. “Surprise. Their names are Pixel and Aperture, and they’re very judgy about new people.”
“I’ll win them over.”
“That’s what everyone says. No one ever does.”
“Then I’ll be the first.” I pulled her close again, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and feeling the knot in my stomach finally start to ease. “Tomorrow’s the wedding.”
“Tomorrow’s the wedding,” she agreed.
“And day after tomorrow…”
“Day after tomorrow, we start figuring out forever.”
Forever. The word should have scared me. A week ago, it would have scared me. But standing here with Leigh in my arms, the pond quiet around us and our whole future suddenly, impossibly open before us?
Forever sounded exactly right.
We walked back to the party hand in hand, and for the first time all summer, I wasn’t counting down the days until she left.
I was counting up all the days we’d have together.