Page 72 of You Met Me There

“He flew me out. Paid for the whole thing—the flight, hotel, food. It was a great deal.”

“But you were in Pennsylvania.” She keeps staring at the photo.

“For only two days,” I say. “It was crazy. Ronny wanted me to get shots of him on the slopes, but I was terrified of falling off the ski lift. We had to bribe one of the guys with a snowmobile to drive me up the mountain to the terrain park.” I feel the nerves all over again. “I’m still embarrassed about it.”

“But you were in Pennsylvania,” she repeats, staring at me with dark brown eyes.

“Jules,” Tyler says gently. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” she snaps. “You mean to tell me you were in the same state as us, and you still didn’t think to see us?”

“It was for work,” I start, but she cuts me off.

“I can’t believe this,” she says, standing and dropping my phone on the table. Luke glances up, watching our argument with a quizzical look, and Sandra seems extremely uncomfortable.

Cam stands too, resting a hand on Juliet’s shoulder. “Jules, let’s talk about this at home.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about it at all, actually.” She stares me down, her eyes bright and dark all at the same time in the evening light. “I’m just ready to go home.”

She walks away, gathering the kids and telling our parents she’s ready to leave.

I sit numbly, stunned into silence. Tyler hands my phone back to me, and I take it without a word.

“She’s just upset that you never came to visit when you were so close,” Tyler says gently. “It’s hard for her to hear that you were nearby and we never knew.”

I nod, staring at a dollop of ketchup on the cracked plastic table. Luke walks around the table and rests his hands on my shoulders.

“You ready to go home?” he asks.

My chin quivers. My chest tightens. My ribs squeeze my heart. I don’t look at anyone as I stand and leave with Luke.

Chapter 35

Natalie

“Can you blame her? She’s hurt that you never visited when you were clearly close to home. You’d be hurt too if the roles were reversed.” Luke’s hands massage my feet as we sit in the cabin’s living room.

It’s completely dark outside, and we use only a small lamp in the corner and a candle flickering on the coffee table as light. It emits a soft glow from the burning cotton wick, the natural soy wax already halfway melted. I got it at the gift shop in town, and I love the way the minty scent calms my nerves. After the way our family night at the fair ended, I’m surprised how much the candle helps. I need fifty more of these to take back to Florida, thank you.

I look around at the walls, reminding myself to take more summer photos for the cabin this week. I’ve been busy with client photos most of the time I’ve been in town, and I’ve kept all my free time open to spend with my family. Summer will soon be coming to an end. Cam will start teaching again in three weeks, the boys will start school, and I’ll have to go back to my real life in Florida. Mom and Dad will be back on the road, and Juliet will work longer hours at the hospital.

I bury my face in my hands. “But how long will she be mad about it? I can’t change what happened.” I wince when Luke’s thumb presses against a sore spot on my heel.

“Have you sat down yet and talked with her about it?”

“No.”

He eyes me. I cross my arms. “Nothing’s going to get fixed between you two until you talk to her about why you left. She deserves an explanation.”

He’s right. He’s always right. I kind of hate it.

“I told her why I left. I told her I met you. I was honest about it the first day I came back.”

“Clearly that wasn’t enough. She’s holding onto something.”

“Okay,” I sigh, resting my head back on the arm of the couch. “I’ll talk to her.”

He rolls his eyes and laughs, pressing his smooth fingers deeper into the arch of my foot. I tense up.