Margaret excused herself then and left so we could wrap up the painting and clean up our mess. When we were done and everything was packed away, we found her in her living room, knitting and listening to an audiobook once again.
"All set," Mason announced.
She paused her book and smiled at us. "Can I give you both hugs?"
"Of course," Mason said. I nodded in agreement.
She stood and hugged us each in turn, a warm, tight squeeze that underscored her words from the day we’d met her, her insistence that she wasn’t just a frail old lady. "Now, you two did such a good job. You work so well together. It’s rare that a person can work closely with their lover for days on end without arguing, but I didn’t hear a peep of disagreement from either of you."
"Lover?" I asked, eyebrows shooting up and glancing at Mason.
She gave us a sly smile. "You’re not fooling me. I can tell you two are together. I think it’s beautiful. I’ve had my fair share of girlfriends myself. That sort of thing was frowned upon when I was young, but I didn’t care. I hope you’re very happy for a long time. Don’t let go of the things that matter in life."
We glanced at each other, my cheeks heating again, and said our goodbyes before heading back to the cabin to spend one last night pretending the rest of the world didn’t exist.
Chapter Eighteen
Emery
Thenextmorning,wegot busy with packing everything up into my SUV and getting ourselves ready to re-enter the real world. I tried to tell myself that I knew everything would be okay, but the knot in my stomach proved that I was a liar. Before we left, I peeked at myself in the mirror and realized with some relief that the hickeys Mason had accidentally given me were mostly faded—and so were the ones I’d left on him. I wasn’t entirely ready to tell my parents that we’d spent all of our free time exploring our sexualities together, despite what my dad had shared about Stuart.
The drive home was mostly quiet and I was sure Mason was doing the same thing I was—trying to accept that the part of our summer that had been dedicated to repairing cabin damage and exploring our exciting new feelings was over. We were going to be faced with the reality of bringing those feelings to light. Mason and I made it to my house soon enough, and we stayedrelatively quiet as we unloaded my SUV and he put his things back into his own vehicle.
“Okay,” Mason finally murmured, lingering behind my SUV. “We’re good?”
I looked at him and I could see the worry in his gaze. “We’re good.” I gave him a sincere smile and took one of his hands in mine. “I mean, I am if you are.”
He nodded. “Never better.” A little smirk formed on his face. “Well… maybe I’ve been alittlebetter.”
I snorted and released his hand, shoving his shoulder. “Well, life can’t be all sex all the time.”
Mason shrugged casually and reached between us, taking my hands again. “Thank you. I’ve had a good time this past month. I’m… I’m glad it happened.” Before I could reply, he leaned in and kissed me gently. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Later,” I agreed. As he left, pulling out of my driveway with a little wave in my direction, a lonely sadness washed over me. I wasn’t ready for him to go, but what choice did I have? We both had grown-up lives and things to take care of, especially after a month off. I headed inside and called my parents the minute I sat down, collapsing on the couch in exhaustion before I even unpacked my laundry or the remaining food in my cooler.
"Hey, Mom," I said when she answered.
"Oh, your dad is here. Let me put you on speaker so he can talk, too."
"Hi, Dad."
"How did the repairs go?" Dad had always been no-nonsense and straight to the point.
I quickly filled him in on the repairs we’d done, including Margaret’s house, and they hummed approvingly.
"Now, you’re coming to dinner tomorrow night."
"I am?" I sat up too quickly and made myself a little dizzy.
"Yes. And bring Mason. We want to thank you both for working so hard to get the cabin back in good shape."
"Okay, Mom. I’ll see you later." I hung up and closed my eyes for a moment before texting Mason.
Emery: Mom and Dad want you to come for dinner tomorrow night. A thank you, they said.
He responded just a few seconds later.
Mason: I wouldn’t mind cumming for dinner at your place instead.
