I exhaled. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe the details are too much.”
“I don’t want them to be. That’s not what I’m saying.”
I had cut myself off from feelings before. I never let it get this far. Why couldn’t I do it again? Just box her out. Shut things down.
23
Sierra
It was possible I might throw up. The happiness and bliss I had felt this morning was as fleeting as the tide.
I stared at Blake, not sure how we had shared so much but were now so far apart.
“I don’t want my last two days of the summer to be like this,” I tried to explain. “I’m happy with you. I’ve loved this week.”
There was something new in his eyes. Determination. Pain. I couldn’t figure it out.
“Then two days it is.”
“That’s it?” I asked. “You’re ok, with seeing how the two days go?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” He shrugged, pushing himself off the bed. He walked to the bathroom.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” I held up one of the white paper bags.
“I think I’ll take a shower. Not that hungry.”
I didn’t want to correct him. He had been starving. So hungry he rushed to the grill.
“Ok.”
He closed the door behind him, and I wondered how in the hell we were going to make it through the next two days without breaking each other’s hearts all over again. It seemed like it might be the thing we were best at.
There had been so many things I had neglected since I’d left the island, I didn’t know where to start to repair them all.
Blake had left a few hours ago. He said he was supposed to meet Cole at the barn to talk about opening the boat business again to his family. I knew it wasn’t the right time to start asking questions.
This morning had been amazing and a disaster.
My finger trailed over the address book Aunt Lindy kept next to her phone in the kitchen. There were other ways I could track down Emily, but this one would work.
I dialed the number and waited for her to answer.
“Hello?”
“Emily, it’s Sierra.”
“Sierra?”
“Yeah, hey. I know this is weird calling out of the blue, but I’m at Aunt Lindy’s and I found your number. So I thought I’d call and say hi.”
“Hi.”
I chewed my lip. I was too nervous to get the courage to keep talking.
“Sorry about your aunt,” she offered.
“Thank you. I inherited the estate. I’ve been on the island a couple of weeks trying to clean out the house.”