Tumble (Dogwood Lane 1)

As if he knows I’m thinking about him, his name flashes on my phone. I consider letting it ring but know that’s the wrong thing to do. I need to be an adult.

“Hey,” I say into the line.

“Want to meet us for ice cream?” Dane asks. “The girl here wants this new flavor where they hide actual bubble gum pieces in the cone. Totally gross, in my opinion, but she’s demanding it.”

“Come with us!” Mia shouts from what I’m guessing is the back seat.

My stomach twists in a tight, intricate knot—one I know I won’t be uncoiling anytime soon.

I hop off the bed and pace my room. “I was going to call you,” I say.

“Oh yeah? What about?”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“Well, we’ll pick you up and we can talk over ice cream.”

“The ice cream cone will be erect!” Mia giggles.

I can’t help but smile despite the heavy loneliness that’s settling over my heart. “Um, I wanted to talk to you in private, actually. Can I meet you somewhere?”

The line gets quiet. With each passing moment, my anxiety soars higher. I imagine the look on his face, the look on Mia’s, the conversations that need to be had and had soon.

I can still taste the bile in my throat from getting sick. That, coupled with the way my stomach is churning now, has me heading back toward the bathroom just in case.

“I can see if Haley can come by and watch Mia, if you need me to.” There’s more than a dose of caution in his tone.

“Can you?”

“Yeah. Where do you want to meet?”

“The bluff?”

“Give me thirty.”

“I’ll see you then.” I end the call and get sick all over again.

Dane’s truck is already parked when I arrive. He’s standing by the little stone wall that I’ve always thought was constructed to keep people from falling over the edge of the hill. He doesn’t look back as I pull up and doesn’t act like he hears the engine shut off. I don’t bother to get out quickly because until I do, this thing between us isn’t over.

His back ripples under the green shirt that’s stretched across his torso. He moves slightly, slipping a hand in a pocket. I say a silent prayer for strength and guidance before exiting the car.

The air is a few degrees cooler than it has been. The leaves seem a little more yellow too. I bet this place is spectacular in the fall, and the fact that I won’t see it with Dane pokes me right in the heart.

“Hey,” I say, coming up behind him.

He gives me a small smile. “Hey.”

I want to protect him from what I’m about to say, to wrap my arms around him and plant my lips against his chest. But how unfair would that be? To be that close to him in such a caring embrace when I’m about to tell him I’m leaving him. Again.

“You can kind of feel autumn coming, can’t you?” I ask. “Some of the leaves look more yellow today than they have, I think.”

“I guess.”

“It’ll be a beautiful backdrop for Mia’s barbecues up here.”

“Yeah. I’m sure it will.” He turns to face me, his jaw flexing. “What’s going on, Neely?”

“What do you mean?”

He rolls his eyes as he shrugs. “Oh, I don’t know. You had me meet you up here, alone, and I didn’t get the feeling it was to hang out. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope to hell I’m wrong.”

“I just wanted to talk to you without Mia being around.” I walk around, kicking at rocks, wishing I could disappear and be done with this. “What’s she doing tonight?”

“She and Haley are watching a movie at the house.” He flips me a cocked brow. “She’s hoping you’re coming by later.”

I nod, wanting to say I wish that, too, but I look away. “Dane,” I say, the words coated with unshed tears. “I have to tell you something.”

I wait for him to respond, to say something—anything—but he doesn’t. He doesn’t move a muscle.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” I ask.

He studies me. “If this is going where I think it’s going, I’m not about to help you do it.”

“Dane . . .”

His temple pulses, a bead of sweat forming along his brow as he looks at me. “What is it? Just tell me so we can stop playing this game.”

“This isn’t a game.”

“I fucking hope not.”

“I got a job offer,” I choke out. “In New York.”

“And you turned it down. I know.”

I shake my head side to side. “I got another one. At my old company.”

“So? Like you’d go back to work for a company that treated you like shit.”

“It was a misunderstanding,” I tell him.

His laugh is anything but amused. His eyes are so cold they almost pierce me. “A misunderstanding, huh? How long did it take them to realize they made a mistake?”