Page 37 of Counting Down To You

So this, I think, is what everyone is talking about when they refer to the fact he’d disappeared last year, and no one knows why.

There is no stopping Lucie now. “My friend was, like, completely torn apart. She didn’t stick around for the rest of the season. So she left me then too.” And because I know what it’s like to be left by the people you love, I wonder if that’s the real issue here. Not that Leo let down her friend, but that her friend let her down. “And then he swans back this year like nothing has happened, the owners just keeping the job open for him and I…” She puffs out her cheeks. “I don’t know. It just annoyed me.”

“Annoyed” seems like rather a mild word, given the resentment she seems to be harboring, but I nod all the same. I really want to know. That’s the main thought going through my mind right now. I really want to know why he upped and left last year, and why he’s come back this year, without explaining it to anyone.

I remember what we talked about at Loop a few nights ago.

People only see me one way. I didn’t used to care all that much.

But now you do?

Now I do.

What had driven him away at the beginning of last season? Is whatever it was the reason he has—apparently—decided to care what other people think?

And why do I care so damn much?

Lucie is watching me, I realize—and it seems a little cautious. Like she’s not sure if she’s gone a step too far, which is an interesting insight. “Thank you for explaining it to me,” I say.

She runs a hand round the side of her neck. “Yeah, well.” She finishes her cider, then pushes the glass to one side. “Shots? I think we should do shots.”

I wrinkle my nose. “I don’t think that’s a great idea.”

“Why? They’re basically water here anyway—stops the Charlottes of the world going too far.”

“I’ve got to work tomorrow,” I remind her.

“You’re on the evening shift.”

“Right. But I’ve just got here and—”

“And you should be making the most of it. But, regardless, I’m doing shots. I need it after that conversation. So what’ll it be?”

In the end, I do the shots.

Chapter

11

The sound of knocking at my front door pulls me out of a restless, post-alcohol sleep. I reach for my phone. 8 a.m. I’m not due to work until the evening. There is another knock and I groan, throwing my duvet off and tying my dressing gown around me before shuffling to the front door. I regret not checking my reflection almost instantly.

Because of course it’s Leo. He’s the only one who has ever shown up unannounced, and he is my only neighbor. And of course he looks so perfectly him, fresh and bright, like he’s had the best night’s sleep ever. Best decade of sleep, really. I push my hair away from my face in an attempt to make it look less like a bird nest, then decide there’s no use. I would feel embarrassed, but I have a headache and a dry mouth and limited memory of what happened after the third shot with Lucie, and those things are taking priority at the moment.

“Hi,” I manage to get out, though it’s very husky.

Leo’s mouth twitches in that way of his. It should be annoying, really. “Hungover?”

I whimper in response. And because I don’t want to stand in the doorway letting in all the cold air, I gesture him inside, moving to the kitchen and filling up the kettle. Coffee. I need coffee. I glance over to see him hovering a little uncertainly at the end of the breakfast bar that divides the living room and kitchen.

I click on the kettle. “So, umm…” I start to push at my hair again, manage to stop myself. “Did someone want me?”

His eyes flick around the cabin like he’s taking it in, despite the fact that his must be pretty much identical. “Hmm?”

I gesture at him, in my cabin.

“Oh, no.” He runs a hand across the back of his neck. “I just thought…What are you doing today?”

I frown. “Today?”