Page 55 of Starting Back
“Okay, so let’s talk about this.”
“Leo, we don’t even know how bad Dad is yet.”
“You thought he was bad enough to tell me to book the first flight to New York. And you were absolutely right. Tía’s voice was fine last week, so this could be stress or her condition is getting worse. If this place can give them the therapy they need and take care of them both, why are you hesitating?”
He crossed his arms, regarding me with a deep furrow on his brow.
“You’re really going to up and move—and stay? I know you mean well at the moment, but you…get antsy in one place for too long. If we move them both to Albany, I can’t always be close if something is wrong.”
“And that’s why I would be close. Keeping a life for only myself is a selfish way to live, and I’m ready to stop. We’re family, let me do for all of you what you did for me.”
Gabe let out a long exhale and nodded.
“Let’s see how bad it really is at the end of the week, and while Dad is in here, we can both take Mom to her doctor and see what we’re dealing with. She was only there a week ago, but things change in a week, I guess.”
“They do. They change in days, primo.”
“I guess I could tolerate seeing you more.” His lips twitched into a smile.
“Thanks, cousin. That gets me right here.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “I’ll have to trade my truck for one with ass warmers if I’m going to deal with winters up here again.”
“And the winters up here suck and last forever. You really want to give up all that sun and sand for this?”
“Sun and sand aren’t so great after a while when it’s only you.”
I tried to smile when Kristina flashed in my mind again. If I moved back to New York, I’d be close enough to see her if I wanted to. God knew I did and had wanted to reach out to her a million times since I’d dropped her off at the airport. If only I hadn’t convinced her that I was a flake who wouldn’t keep in touch and got her to agree that we wouldn’t be anything after she left.
But if I did move back to New York, I could contact her and ask to see her again, maybe even get a real chance with her. I shook my head and scrubbed a hand down my face.
I had other things to worry about before I could daydream over something and someone that would probably never happen.
“You looked miles away just now.” Gabe chuckled, looking me over as we ambled back to the room.
“Just thinking of all the hoodies I’ll get to wear again when I move back up to my arctic roots.”
“Right. Doesn’t that woman you met live upstate too?”
“Not now.” I shook my head, not wanting to address Gabe’s question or his smirk in my periphery.
“No problem,” Gabe said, squeezing my shoulder. “One big move at a time.”
TWENTY-ONE
KRISTINA
One month later
“There must be someone you’ve liked. At least a little.” Nicole shook her head at me from across my kitchen table, the pleading in her eyes a mix of sympathy and frustration as she studied me over the rim of her coffee mug.
“Meeting men on an app isn’t exactly a romantic setup.”
“But it’s practical.Ifyou’d give it a chance.” She set the mug down and arched a brow. “They can’t all be hot bartenders slash firemen at the beach.”
“That—” I said, taking a deep breath once I noticed the defensive edge in my tone. “That has nothing to do with anything.”
“Right. Why don’t you just text him already?”
“Okay, I’m not having this conversation again.” I rose from my chair to put my empty mug in the sink. “It’s been months. I was shocked he texted the one time. Let it go.”
