Tumble (Dogwood Lane #1)(73)

“Ew. Lies. All lies.” Haley gasps. “In fairy tales, they find the person they’re supposed to be with. It’s not two random people who just decide they want to hook up. It’s soul mates, finally coming together in the midst of a crazy scene and having to battle the world as a team.”

“I still think it’s stupid.”

“I still think you’re stupid,” she says. “But let’s get back to Neely.”

Just hearing her name hurts. It brings back a rush of memories that I don’t want to deal with. “Let’s not.” I get off the counter and lean against it instead. “I have one regret.”

“That you haven’t gone after her yet?”

“No,” I reply. “That I blew up at her. I was pissed.”

“Rightfully so.”

“I kind of lost it a little. It just set me off because I really believed she wouldn’t go, even though she kept telling me she was. How could she leave me? How could she leave Mia? They had plans. Neely was taking her to the Manicure Day with the gym.” I look at the ceiling and close my eyes. “I don’t even know how to tell her, Haley. She’s going to be destroyed.”

“Want me to do it? I can make it sound a little better than you, being that my heart isn’t broken.”

“I think it needs to come from me. As much as I don’t want it to, I think it’s best.” I blow out a breath. “I did this to her. I should be the one to take the brunt of it.”

She gets off the counter and stands beside me. She could not say a word and that would be fine. I get what she’s saying without the words needed to say them. But it’s Haley, and she won’t miss an opportunity to speak.

“Remember when you hired me?” she asks.

“Yes. Where’s this going?”

“Patience, Dane. Patience.” She pats my shoulder as she walks by. “You told me that day we’d have to work together to raise this kid. That we were a team. You wanted it seamless, remember?”

“And I think we nailed it.”

“We totally nailed it.” She grins. “I know a few things about you. Probably more than I want to, really. But one of those things is that you’d never, ever hurt Mia. Ever. So no more of the ‘I did this to her’ crap because I’m not going to listen to it. It’s not gonna fly with me, bud.”

Her words help more than she knows. “You’re all right, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know. Now, if you’re gonna live, I’m gonna go home and get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

“I’m good.” I let her grin warm me. “Thanks for coming by, Haley.”

“Anytime. Call me if you need me.”

And with that, she’s gone.

And I’m alone.

And missing Neely like it’s my damn job.





CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

NEELY

Excuse me,” I say, trying to slip by a handful of people on the street. Horns honk so loud around me, sirens wailing in the distance, that I’m not sure anyone even heard my voice. Or maybe they did and didn’t care. Either way, I get knocked sideways by only one person as I duck into my favorite coffee shop.

I spent last night strolling around my neighborhood, trying to get the energy of the city in my blood again. For some reason, the smells percolating through the manholes make my stomach crawl in a way that’s more violent than ever before.

Spying Grace at a little table in the corner, I make my way through the line.

“You’re home,” she gushes, giving me a quick hug. “I went ahead and got your coffee so you didn’t have to wait.”

“Are there always this many people here?” I grumble, sitting across from her.

She slow blinks. “Yes. Have you been gone that long?”

Shaking the cobwebs from my head, I take the coffee across from me. It’s rich and aromatic and everything a coffee should be. I bet Claire wouldn’t agree.

“So . . . ,” Grace prods, flipping a lock of hair off her shoulder. “What happened in the country?”

I open my mouth to tell her something, but it comes out as a tired exhale. Grace sets her cup down. There’s a bright-pink lipstick stain along the top.

“Okay. What’s going on?” she asks.

“Nothing. We aren’t ruining our reunion coffee with tales of my heartache.”

“Heartache?” She leans back in her chair, a tiny diamond stud glistening in her nose. “We need to get to the bottom of this.”

“There’s nothing to get to the bottom of,” I tell her. “I saw Dane a few times, as you know, and spent some days with him and his little girl.”

“The little girl who is a product of the reason you left in the first place?”

I ignore that. It’s not important. “Mia is adorable and a gymnast like me. What’s the chance of that happening?”

“You do realize you’re all gooey-eyed over a man and a little girl, right? I mean, if you’re cool with it, I’m cool with it, but I am worried about you.” She looks bewildered. “Out of all the potential things I saw happening with you going back there, this was not one of them. I’ll say that.”