Or maybe he doesn’t know what to do about me.
And the fact that he even has to debate that issue within himself tells me everything I need to know. If he truly wanted me, and wanted to be with me, it wouldn’t be a difficult decision to make.
I hold my breath as I slip from the bed, not wanting to wake him. I’m going to make this decision easy for him.
I quickly pull on some clothes, and gather my bags, then sneak out of the room and down to the front desk.
Of course Sandra is asleep, and we’re in the middle of nowhere. There’s a button on the desk that says to ring for service.
So I do.
Several minutes later, Sandra walks down the hall, tying the sash on her robe.
“Lena? Are you all right, dear?”
“I need to leave,” I reply. “It’s not your fault at all. I just need to leave right now.”
“It’s three in the morning.”
“I know.” I nod and swallow hard. “I’m sorry to do this to you. Is there a car service we can call to take me to the airport?”
“Not in Philipsburg,” she replies, shaking her head. “Is there an emergency?”
“Yes,” I lie, feeling guilty. “A family emergency.”
“Okay. Don’t you worry, we’ll get you to the airport.”
I nod, relieved as she picks up the phone to make a call. “Do you have a piece of paper that I could write a note on for Mason?”
“He’s not leaving with you?”
I shake my head no, and she nods. “I see. Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
***
“And he hasn’t called?” Mallory asks later that night. She’s at my house, watching me unpack my bag.
“He called once, but I let it go to voice mail.”
“Did you listen to it?”
“I deleted it.” I shrug when Mallory’s jaw drops. “What? I don’t want to talk to him. The end result doesn’t change. He has a job that takes him all over the world and my job is here.”
“Maybe he was going to tell you that he loves you,” she suggests.
“I don’t think that’s the case.”
“Why not? You’re loveable.”
“He said it himself the day he told me why he left the first time. He’s worked his whole life to be an archeologist, Mal. It’s the only thing he’s ever wanted to do, and he’s damn good at it.”
I shrug and grab a pile of clothes to throw in the washing machine. When I come back to the bedroom, Mallory is holding the velvet box with the necklace inside.
“This is some powerful stuff.”
“I know.”
“The love they shared is remarkable.”
I nod, feeling tears threaten. “The story she told was beautiful, and so sad.”
“You brought it with you.”
I nod again. “I thought about leaving it, but he insisted that he wanted me to have it, and honestly, this is the only thing I have to remind me of the trip. I left all of the stones we found with him.”
“It’s sad that it ended this way,” she says with a sigh.
“Why? Why is it sad?”
“Because Aunt Claudia wanted you two to fall in love again and get married and have a happy life.”
“Can you feel that?” I ask.
“Oh yeah. There are so many emotions tied to this necklace it’s mind-boggling. But they’re all good. You should wear it; it’ll bring you peace.”
She sets it aside.
“Well, it’s not sad. She was an old woman who wanted her favorite nephew to fall in love, but I knew the score from the beginning, Mal. I knew that we would have a good time, and that we would have crazy amazing sex, and at the end of it, we’d go our separate ways.”
“And you’re okay,” she says.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
I turn to her, ready to deny it, but stop myself. This is Mallory. I can’t lie to her.
“I’m not okay,” I admit and bite my lip. “But I will be. I got over him once, I can get over him again.”
“I think that’s a lie too,” she says. “But I understand.”
“I’d like to take you up on your offer of using Beau’s place in Italy, if that’s still okay.”
“Perfectly okay,” she says with a nod. “I think it’s a good idea. You can clear your head, explore Italy.”
“Write a book.” I smile at the look of surprise on her face. “I’ve been thinking about writing a book for a long time, and I refuse to be one of those people who just says I’ve always wanted to write a book for the rest of my life. I’m going to write the damn book.”
“Awesome,” she says with a smile. “Is it a love story?”
“Probably.”
“With lots of sex?”
“Maybe I’ll find a hot Italian that I can do research with.” We both laugh and Mallory stands up to hug me.
“I’m sorry you’re sad.”
“I’m sorry that you can feel that I’m sad. I’m going to be okay. Really.”
“I know.” She kisses my cheek. “I’ll have Beau make sure the house in Italy is ready for you. When would you like to leave?”
“As soon as possible.”
She nods. “I’m going to come visit. I’ve never been, and I’d love to see it.”
“You’d better come visit.”
“Are you going to be lonely?”
Being lonely isn’t new to me.
But I shake my head. “Nope. I’m going to be great.”
Chapter Ten
~Lena~
I could live here.
I’ve been in Italy for three weeks, and if I wasn’t so damn homesick for my Gram, I could absolutely move here.
The Boudreaux house is on the coast, not far from a bustling city that I can’t pronounce. I’ve been pretty secluded, but have gone to town a few times a week for supplies, and just to see other people.
While at home, I’ve managed to write two hundred pages of a book. I have no idea if any of it makes sense, but it’s been fun to use my imagination and invent make believe characters. The scenery has been a wonderful inspiration. I’ve spent many hours out on the deck, overlooking the sea, with my laptop in my lap, typing furiously long into the night.
Coming here was the right thing to do. My mind is clear, and I know without a doubt that I did the right thing when I left Mason. And he must agree because aside from the first call on the day I left, he hasn’t tried to reach me.
The breeze is blowing today, keeping me cool in the hot Italian sun. I have a wide-brimmed hat on my head, sweet tea beside me, and my laptop open with my document pulled up.
It might be the best day ever.
The ocean is a bit choppy because of the wind, but there are still plenty of sailboats to watch.
My doorbell rings, making me frown. I wasn’t expecting Mallory until the end of the week, but maybe she decided to surprise me.
I jump up and run to the front door, excited, but stop in my tracks.
“Hi,” Mason says with a tentative smile.
“You’re here.”
“I’m here.”
I blink rapidly, looking him up and down. Jesus, he’s a tall drink of water.
And he’s here.
“Why are you here?”
“Because you’re here.” He smiles again, widely, and I narrow my eyes. “Can I come inside?”
“No.”
He nods. “I’m sorry to hear that. Does it help if I mention that I’ve come a very long way to see you?”
“You wasted the trip,” I reply and move to shut the door, but he shoves his hand out, stopping it.
“No. I didn’t. Please let me talk with you. Ten minutes, fifteen tops.”
I sigh and step back. “Ten minutes.”
I turn and walk away, certain he’ll follow me, returning to the deck. I sit in my lounge chair and motion for him to sit next to me, but instead he sits on the foot of my chair. He’s watching me c
losely.
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re tan.”
“Did you come all this way to discuss my tan?”
He laughs, surprising me. “That’s right, you’re sassy.”
“Every day.”
“I didn’t come here to talk about your tan. I came here to find out why the woman I’m in love with left my bed in the middle of the night and disappeared.”
“I have no idea. Did you put out a missing persons bulletin?”
“Now you’re being difficult,” he says and rubs his hand over his mouth.
“I’m really bad at this,” I admit with a sigh. “Look, I thought I was doing us both a favor, Mason. Your aunt’s letter was beautiful, but it didn’t change anything. You’re still you and I’m still me, and we both knew that at the end of the trip we’d be going back to our own lives.
“So, I left before it could get awkward and weird.”
“I see.” He stands now and leans on the railing of the deck, looking out at the water. Finally, he turns to look at me. “I’m sorry that I was so quiet that night. After I had a chance to think about it, it occurred to me that you probably thought I was an ass.”
“No, you had a lot on your mind.”
“I did. And you should know that when I need to think, I do get quiet. It doesn’t mean that I’m angry, or avoiding you, or that it’s even about you. I’ve just climbed inside my own head.”
“Okay. That’s actually good to know.”
“And you should also know that you couldn’t have been more wrong. When I woke up the next day to find you gone, I was a crazy man. Poor Sandra.” He shakes his head and shoves his fingers through his hair. “Let’s just say that I wasn’t a very nice guy that morning.”
“You shouldn’t have taken it out on Sandra. It was my decision.”
“I know. I was angry.”
“Now you know how it feels,” I reply. “At least I left you a letter.”
“Is this what it was? Revenge?”
I sigh in frustration and stand to pace the deck. “No. That’s not what I was thinking when I left. I was honest when I said that I was just avoiding the awkward goodbyes later.”
“But I didn’t want to say goodbye,” he says, surprising me. “That was never my intention.”
“You’re going back to Chile, Mason. And then somewhere else after that. Egypt? China? Freaking Peru? I don’t know, but you’ll be gone.”
“No.” He hurries to me and takes my hands in his. “Damn it, we could have avoided all of this if you had just stayed. Aunt Claudia’s letter hit me like a punch across the face. I read the letters that Charles sent her before he died, right before we left on our trip, and it made me start thinking. Her letter only reinforced what I had already been thinking.”
“And what is that?”
“That I want to be with you. I want to spend every damn day of my life with you, Lena. I love you so much I can’t see straight, and I know now that I never stopped loving you. I told you that you knocked everything out of focus for me before, and it wasn’t until I was finally with you again that everything came back into focus.
“You make me laugh. You make me think. You make me fucking crazy. I can’t keep my hands off of you. There are a million reasons that I love you, and I plan to spend the rest of my life listing all of them for you.”
“Wow.” He cups my face in his hands, and wipes away a tear that I didn’t even realize was on my cheek. “I spent a really long time trying to get over you, Mason, and I never could. I thought that I knew the score this time, and that when it was over I could go back to my life.”
“But?”
“But I can’t,” I whisper. He leans his forehead against mine. “I love you, too.”
He wraps his arms around me, lifting me off the ground and twirling me in a circle, and then kisses me in that sweet way he does that makes my toes curl.
“Wait.” I press my hand to his chest. “We love each other, but it doesn’t change your job.”
“Last year, I was offered a job at Tulane, teaching archeology in the graduate program.” He smiles and brushes my hair off my cheek. “I called and they said the job is still mine if I want it.”
“Do you want it?” I whisper.
“You’re looking at the newest professor at Tulane. I want to be wherever you are, Lena. There may be times that I’ll want us to go on an adventure, but I’m done being gone for months or sometimes years. Aunt Claudia was right, the most important thing is being with the person you love.”
He reaches in his pocket and pulls out the most beautiful sapphire and diamond ring I’ve ever seen.
“Is that—?”
“Aunt Claudia’s? Yes.” He’s staring into my eyes as he takes my hand. “Lena, I love you. I can’t wait to start our adventure together. Will you marry me?”
I don’t even hesitate. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He slips the ring on my finger and kisses me.
“Can we change our names to Jones?”
“Just call me Indie.”
Don’t forget! The Boudreaux Series continues on June 27th with Easy Nights, available for preorder now! Here’s a sneak peek at Savannah and Ben’s story:
Prologue
Fifteen Years Ago…
~Savannah~
“You cut your hair,” Ben says as he comes into the dining room. He stops short when he sees me, a frown covering his handsome face.
He noticed!
I weave my fingertips through my dark brown hair and give him a tentative smile. “Just yesterday.”
“Why?”
I frown at his harsh tone.
“Because I wanted to.”
He sits next to me, like he does every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, and I can’t help but take a deep breath, absorbing his smell.
Ben always smells amazing. Like sunshine and hard work and… sexy.
“Van?” he says, getting my attention.
“I’m sorry, what?”
He shakes his head, a smile tickling his lips now. “You’re such a daydreamer.”
Only when you’re around.
I would never blatantly say anything like that. Flirting with my older brother’s best friend isn’t the smart thing to do. Eli and Beau might make Ben stay away from me, and that just can’t happen.
I love him so much it hurts.
“What do you think of my hair?”
He shrugs one shoulder and grabs my math textbook, opening to the chapter we’re currently working on. I am horrific at math, but Ben is a genius at it, and he’s been helping me with my math homework for the past three months.
It’s heaven.
“It’s fine.”
“You don’t like it.”
He shrugs again. “I liked it long.”
For half a second, I regret chopping it off, taking it from almost reaching my butt to just barely reaching my shoulders.
It’s so much lighter!
But then I let it roll off of me because I do like it. I have to live with it. No man is ever going to tell me how I should wear my hair. This isn’t the dark ages.
“Did you do your homework from last night?” he asks, and I nod, handing him my notebook so he can look over my work.
I’ve never loved math so much in my life.
He’s biting the inside of his cheek as he looks over my paper and when he’s finished, he turns those blue eyes to me with a smile. “You’re picking it up really well. You won’t even need me once I leave next month.”
And just like that, my happy mood crumbles like a sandcastle under the tide.
Ben’s leaving. He’s going away to college, and the closer the time comes, the more panicked I am. I don’t want him to go.
Ben nudges me with his elbow.
“I’ll still need you,” I mumble, not able to look him in the eyes because I’m afraid that he’ll see right through me, and he’ll be repulsed at the idea of his best friend??
?s little sister having the hots for him.
Or, far worse, he’ll feel sorry for me, and the thought of that makes me want to throw up.
“I’ll check in on you when I’m home on my breaks,” he says and sets my notebook in front of me as he turns to this week’s chapter.
For the next two hours, he walks me through the steps that the teacher showed us in class, but Ben’s voice is so much easier to listen to, and he explains things thoroughly, making sure I understand before we move on.
He’s an excellent teacher. In fact, he’s going to college to be a teacher. He will rock it.
I just wish he didn’t have to go so far away to college. Beau’s been there for a year already, and Eli and Ben are going to the same one, and they’re all going to rent an apartment together.
I frown and try not to think about all of the college girls that will be around, hitting on Ben. Will he sleep with them? Date them?
Eventually marry one of them?
Jesus, I hope not.
“Why can’t you focus today?” Ben finally asks, bringing my attention back to the here and now.
“Sorry,” I whisper.
“What’s wrong, Vanny?”
I roll my eyes. “I hate it when you call me that.”
His lips twitch in humor. “I know. Talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“Maybe I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.” It’s not a lie; I didn’t sleep well last night.
“Hmm.” He studies me closely for a second. “You look well rested.”
“I’m fine.”
He tilts his head to the side. “Don’t ever lie to me, Savannah.”
His eyes are narrowed, and between that hot look and his firm voice, well, I guess you’d say I’m all kinds of turned on.
So of course Eli pokes his head around the corner, interrupting us.
“Ben, are you going to come shoot hoops with us?”
“Yeah, we’re almost done here.”
Eli nods and disappears, and I want to beg Ben not to go. Don’t go shoot hoops, don’t go away to college.
Stay with me.
But that’s dumb, and he’d probably laugh at me and tell me I’m being stupid. I’m just a kid, after all. Fifteen-year-olds don’t have anything figured out, and I’m a baby.