Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“Yeah. I’m not sure who I’d be if my folks had lived.” He laid his head back on my shoulder, breath soft and warm. Buttercup still had her head in my lap, and it was a warm moment that contrasted the seriousness of Worth’s words. “I like to think I’d have been a better person, but honestly, I probably would have ended up a self-centered investment banker anyway. I was hell-bent on proving myself even before everything went sideways.”
I lightly elbowed his side. “You’re not self-centered, even at your worst, and your education and the years you put into your career matters. I’m sorry if I minimized that.” My voice came out rough. Apologies were hard. “If you want a future in finance, especially one teaching better ethics to the next generation, I’m not going to stand in your way.”
“Block the door, Sam. Please.” Worth made a frustrated noise that echoed through the empty cemetery. Buttercup startled and stood, moving over to Worth’s other side, adding her glare to Worth’s. “You always put everyone else’s needs first. But yours matter as well. You can’t send me off to San Francisco when I know that’s not what you want at all.”
Deep breath. Deeper exhale. “You wouldn’t be going alone.”
Raising his head, Worth frowned, eyes narrowing. “You said it earlier. Your whole life is here.”
“But you’re the life I want.” Somewhere in the hours between Worth leaving the coffee shop and this moment, I’d realized what truly mattered was being together and finding a way to build a life together. “And a teaching assistant position that’s not permanent, right? Maybe we’d eventually compromise on living in Portland, somewhere close but not Safe Harbor. Somewhere new to make fresh memories.”
“But without Safe Harbor, I wouldn’t have you. And without you, I wouldn’t be here.” Worth’s tone was a plea that cut deep into truths I tried not to think about.
“Don’t say that.”
“We both know it’s true. You saw the shape I was in the night I arrived.” Cupping my chin, Worth copied my usual trick, forcing me to meet his earnest gaze. “And yeah, I came to see the house and my thinking tree, but on some level, deep down, I was coming for you.”
“Me?” I shifted backward so I could study him more intently. I wanted to believe him, but my inner gawky teen refused to accept a reality where Worth Stapleton had returned for me.
“Yes, you.” He tugged me right back into an embrace. Buttercup let out a happy doggie sigh as I settled in against Worth. “All those memes and positive messages you sent to my phone. You were my lifeline, and without a shared past, without memories from right here in this town, you wouldn’t have reached out. And when I needed a friend most, you were there. I needed you. Whether or not I consciously knew it, I needed you.”
“I’ll always be here for you, Worth. Always.” I might be uncertain about everything else, but that was the one bone-deep truth I didn’t waver on.
“Then let me be here for you. Please.” Usually, when Worth begged, I happily indulged him, but I couldn’t give in so easily here. Too much was at stake.
“I can’t ask you to stay.” Just admitting that hurt, and it was my turn to bury my face against him, inhaling his familiar scent before continuing, “That’s not fair. I’ve had time to think, and it’s unreasonable to demand you stay here and work in a nonprofit coffee shop. That’s my dream. It doesn’t have to be yours.”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering. Or rather, I’m deciding.” As if he knew full well I’d simply decline any offer, Worth hugged me tighter. “I’m staying. I don’t want to go work for Professor Jenkins. And it’s not simply because the rat race was killing me. I’m tired of living a life where my value to others is determined by what I can provide them. The professor is one of dozens of people who could have reached out months and months ago. However, it’s not until I have what someone needs that they come looking for me. But not you. You wandered into my messages when there was nothing in it for you.”
“There was you.” My voice was far stronger now. He would’ve always been so much more than nothing for me, regardless of whether he’d ever responded. That he had made all of this that much sweeter. That much more significant. “You’re always going to be more than enough.”
“And that’s why I’m staying. Because here I can be Worth Stapleton, and that’s enough to deserve good things. To deserve you. To deserve a life together and a family.”
My pulse sped faster with each beautiful word from Worth’s lips until my heartbeat pounded in my ears. “I want those things. So much. But it has to be your dream too.”