I knocked on the front door and reached for the door knob, pushing it open. “Hey, sweetheart,” I called out.
“Hi! I’m almost ready,” she responded from the other room.
“Don’t worry about it.” I walked over to the couch, sitting down. I thought about the first time I had stepped into this place this summer and all the memories that came with it. Now when I was here, all I could think about was Juliette and the new memories we had made and how she had made the cabin her own.
A weight had been lifted off my chest now that I didn’t have to be so guarded all the time. But maybe I’d thought that too soon.
As I reached into my pocket to pull my phone out, Juliette’s open laptop caught my eyes. I stared at the bright screen for at least a minute, trying to make sense of it.
It was a list of available apartments. In Chicago.
It felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped on me. Logically, it made sense. Her time in Golden Falls was wrapping up, and she would need a place in Chicago. But emotionally? I had been holding out hope that she would change her mind. That she’dstay.
We had a routine here. We could have alifehere.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, tilting the laptop away from me and leaning back into the couch. She hadn’t even left yet, and it already felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest.
I didn’t blame her if she wanted more, but I thought this could be enough. I thought I could be enough.
Within a few moments, Juliette emerged in the living room, first looking through her purse and then looking over at me. The smile on her face fell immediately. “What’s wrong?” she asked, worried.
I didn’t realize my expression had been so easy to read. “I, uh,” I stammered, letting out a sigh. “Your laptop was open, and—” I started, and understanding dawned across her features.
She walked over, her heels clicking against the floor, and closed the laptop. She sat next to me on the couch, a heavy exhale leaving her. “Grant called me today. He got me out of my lease, which is good, but that means I need to start looking for a new place. He said apartments have been renting out really quickly and encouraged me to start looking. So…” she trailed off, looking down at her hands. “I did some browsing today before getting ready.” I hated how small she sounded, and I didn’t like the guilt that was written over her face, either, because she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Hey,” I said gently, reaching for her hand. “It’s?—”
“Don’t say ‘it’s okay,’ Wes. I saw the look on your face. This…this hurt you, and I hate that. I’m sorry.”
While that was true, I could see it was hurting her, too, and I hated that more.
“It caught me off guard, yeah, but it shouldn’t have. We should talk about this and figure out what it all means for us. I don’t want you to miss out on a good apartment because we’ve been avoiding having this conversation.”
She nodded slowly. “Us talking about it is long overdue, huh? Can we…not do it tonight, though? I don’t want the conversation to be rushed before dinner, and I also want to enjoy this time with your parents.”
“Yeah, of course.” It made sense, but how long were we going to keep putting it off? We were nearly at the point where wecouldn’tput it off any longer. “Are you still okay to head to dinner tonight? If you don’t feel up for it, we don’t have to.”
“I am.” She nodded again, a soft smile crossing her pink lips. “I’ve been so excited to see your parents again. I wouldn’t miss it.”
I stared at her for a moment, searching her face. I could see in her eyes there was something she wasn’t saying, but I tried to let it go. “You look beautiful, by the way.” Her brown hair was curled and pulled back into a ponytail, exposing the slope of her neck. She was wearing a blue and white dress I hadn’t seen yet—a slightly longer one that hit below her knees.
“Thanks, handsome.” She leaned over, pressing a kiss to my neck, just under my jaw. Her lips lingered, and her grip on my hand tightened. Silence filled the space between us before she said, “Let’s get going.”
She was leaving at the end of the summer, but even that couldn’t stop me.
I was falling in love with Juliette Campbell.
42
JULIETTE
The driveto Laura and Mark’s was quiet. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but I could tell Wes had a lot on his mind. And I did, too.
With one hand draped over the steering wheel, his other hand was holding mine. As I looked out the side window, I thought back to my first dinner at Laura and Mark’s at the start of the summer and how much had changed since then. If you told me that Wes and I would be arriving at a future dinner together, hand in hand, I would’ve thought I was being pranked.
But…that’s exactly what was happening.
Everyone in town knew about Wes and me, and I liked that we didn’t have to hide anything. I loved how affectionate he was with me, whether we were at home or out in town. But this was the first time I was seeing his parents since we started to spend time together.
