Page 70 of A Castle in the Sky: Fern & Connor
Glabella.
What is the space between your eyebrows called?
Jentacular.
What means something relating to breakfast?
She ignored them all. Then he sent one without an answer.
Catawampus
Without thinking, she typed:
One word for positioned diagonally.
After that, she answered another. And another. Until he didn't have to 'question his own answers' anymore.He waited for her.
Though his latest one wasCallipygian.
Was he flirting?
Fern came back to the present with a thud.
Connor had turned from his task, smiling faintly when Coral tugged his hand to show him the new bug she wanted to add to her collection.
And Fern's heart did that stupid dance she hated.
Chiara nudged her with a knowing smile. "Yeah… That's what I thought."
***
The house had sold faster than anyone had expected. The searches were done, contracts exchanged, and Connor needed to return one last time to hand over the keys, sign a few papers, and tie up the ends of a life he'd once believed he couldn't escape from.
But there was something else he needed to do.
Something he'd been putting off.
Sawyer's car was already in the drive when Connor pulled up outside his grandparents' old house. It looked smaller than he remembered, sagging at the edges, the outside in dire need of a coat of paint.
He knocked, and the door opened almost instantly, as if Sawyer had been waiting just inside.
Sawyer stood there, awkward as hell.
"Connor," he managed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh... hey."
"Hi," Connor said, hands shoved into his jacket pockets.
A weighted silence stretched between them—a mix of too many years of loyalty and not enough courage. Despite the years of friendship, it was hard for Connor to forget the ways Sawyer had let him down, though he had done the right thing in the end.
Finally, Sawyer exhaled. "Look... I'm sorry." His voice wavered as he forced the words past a tight throat. "I was torn between Matilda, and Jacob, and you. And... I was a coward. I know that."
Connor looked at him for a long moment before he answered softly, "You did the right thing in the end. And for that, I am grateful."
After all, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, right?
Sawyer nodded, swallowing hard.
He stepped aside to let Connor in.
