Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 114011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
The moonlight streams through the sidelights on either side of the door. Our shadows against the floor show a couple in a sweet embrace.
A couple in love.
His breath is warm, tinted with the chocolate from his milkshake. He presses his lips against mine as if with every movement he’s telling me something.
I kiss him back, emboldened by the way I melt into his body and the tenderness with which he holds me. And I wish, for a fleeting moment, that this could be an everyday thing.
Cole breaks the kiss. He pulls back just far enough to look into my eyes.
“Good night, Palmer,” he says.
I blow out a breath that’s just as fueled by relief as it is disappointment.
“Good night, Cole.”
He grins and then lets himself out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
COLE
You’re up early.” Mom stops in the kitchen doorway and tightens her robe around her. “Is everything all right?”
I smile, even though I don’t know if everything is all right or not. It feels better than all right, and that makes me wonder if nothing is actually right at all.
The thoughts that I’ve volleyed back and forth all night, the mental game of Whac-A-Mole that I’ve played over the last few hours, are nutty.
I’ve paced the floor. I went for a jog and nearly sprained my ankle in the predawn haze. I grabbed a shower, sent two emails to Scott, and then left a message at my doctor’s office.
Finally.
But the movement has helped clear my head. The decisions that I’ve been so hesitant to make, the ones that I’ve felt so unsure about, have become obvious. I can’t really explain why things are so apparent to me now, and I don’t know what it was about spending my evening with Palmer and Ethan that really cemented how I feel and what I want for my future—but maybe it’s not just one thing.
Maybe it’s two things. Two very specific things. Two very specific people.
“Coffee?” I ask, reaching into the cupboard for a mug.
“Yes, please.” Mom’s voice is tinged with suspicion as she sits at the table. She takes the steaming mug I offer her. “You didn’t answer my question.”
I sit down beside her. “Everything is good, Mom. Great, actually.”
She grins. “Are you going to make me press, or are you going to just tell me what’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Watching you not know is kind of fun.”
She smacks my arm.
“I’m just kidding,” I say. “I just had . . . let’s call it a ‘quiet epiphany’ last night.”
“Oh, I like the sound of that. May I ask what provoked this quiet epiphany?”
I purposefully ignore her question and skirt around it. “I made a decision this morning.”
This is enough to redirect her attention. Her brows shoot to the ceiling.
“Don’t do this to me, Cole. Don’t make me suffer.”
“A little dramatic, don’t you think?”
She fires me a look. I laugh.
“Fine,” I say, shaking my head. “What would you think about me sticking around Bloomfield?”
Her eyes light up, and she nearly squeals. She dances in her seat like a spring has popped beneath her and propelled her up. The whole scene is hilarious.
“Cole,” she says, trying to contain herself. “I think that would be the greatest thing that you’ve ever said to me.”
“I thought you might like that.”
“So, what are your plans? What are you going to do here?”
I shrug. “I thought maybe I could spend some time with you and Dad. Help you out. Relax a little bit. I wanted to do that anyway, but then all of these offers hit the table.” I nibble on my lip as a wash of nerves bubbles in my stomach. “But is that a bad thing? I mean, if I turn them down, that doesn’t mean other offers will never come, right?”
Mom blows out a breath. “You’re in your thirties. That’s the third inning of your life.”
I smile at the reference.
“You have over half of your life left, God willing, and just because you say no to a project now doesn’t mean that others won’t come along. Besides, you have to think about it from the other side of the coin.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, what if you say yes to one of those projects now, even though your heart isn’t in it? Because it’s not, Cole. I can tell.”
I frown.
“And then what if something amazing comes along in six months, and you’re already committed in this other thing?”
“That’s true.”
She smiles at me. “You should never make a decision because you’re scared.”
I sit across from her and think about that. She’s right. I know it immediately. If I’d taken one of the offers Scott got for me, I would’ve been doing it because I was fearful. What if I never get another one? It certainly wouldn’t be because it was the perfect fit.
The only thing that seems to fit is Palmer Clark. Well, not even just Palmer. Ethan too.