“So,” I start. “Is Lily’s boyfriend moving here too?”
Saying those words burns my tongue. The only boyfriend I’ve known her to have has been me. Until I wasn’t.
Ethan shrugs again, and I start to wonder if I shrugged this much when I was his age.
“Sounds like she’s staying for a while if she gets a job.”
I try to get any more information from the kid, but he’s not budging. His shoulders rise and fall again and I inwardly groan. “Are you excited she’s back?”
“Yeah, she’s fun to have around. Except when she fucks with me.”
“Language,” I splutter.
“You said I could cuss at the firestation.”
“Shit,” I mumble. “Well, we aren’t there yet. Don’t tell your sister.”
“Why do you care?”
I open and shut my mouth, not about to get into this with him. He was really young when Lily and I were together. I doubt he even remembers. And I’m not about to talk about my past relationship issues with a twelve-year-old.
We get to the station, and all conversations of Lily cease because Ethan is fully in learning mode as he always is when we’re here. My coworkers that are on shift know Ethan and love showing him around, answering all his questions. When we come here, he’s essentially put to work with them.
Normally I’m involved, but today I stand back because my mind is elsewhere. Jeff helps Ethan into some bunker gear that’s going to drown him. I watch, joking along with Ethan and the rest of my coworkers, but all I can think of is Lily being here. In Amity.
Will I see her again when I drop Ethan off? Will I see her around town? I look over at the grooming salon she’s worked at growing up, the once brown sides are now black from the fire. She said she’s a nurse at the ER. Will I see her there if we have to bring someone in?
She’s going to have to face me, and I can’t help but think this might finally be my chance to win her back. She left to go to college, and I couldn’t tell her not to. She deserved more than this town, more than I could give her. Even if I would have given her the world.
We didn’t leave on bad terms, but the next time I saw herwhen she came home for the holidays that year, she would hardly look at me. The distant memory comes back to me like it just happened.
“Lil, what’s going on?” I ask when we’re finally alone after Christmas dinner with our families. She’s washing the dishes while everyone is in the living room.
“Nothing. What would be going on?” she snarks, tossing a dish roughly into the water.
“Well, those are the first words you’ve said to me all day.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve had nothing else to say.”
The worst part is she’s still not looking at me. I step up closer to her, gripping her hip, and turning her around. That’s when I see the tears welling up in her eyelids, and my heart plummets.
“What’s wrong?” I cup her cheek, but she moves her face out of my grip and looks at the floor.
“You know what’s wrong. We’re done, Parker.” Her voice cracks, but I know she tries to hide it. “Let me do the dishes in peace.”
“What if I don’t want to be done?” I press.
This time she does look at me. Her bright blue eyes are shining with unshed tears, and I want to kiss them all away.
“It’s too late for that.”
I shake my head. “Why?”
Her face hardens and she narrows her eyes. “Think about it.”
She turns back toward the sink, dismissing me, and I’m at a loss because all I know is she left me heartbroken in the middle of the road watching her leave with a ring in my pocket. But this makes me think there’s something I’m missing.
Instead of pushing her more, I walk away.