Ditched (33 page)

I relaxed into him, squeezing him back before pulling away. I hadn’t realized until right then that a small part of me was worried about his answer.

“Not too long ago. To be honest, I called the Admissions Office in Sapphire Bay and found out that there was no way I could get in fall semester. They said there’s a possibility for winter but not fall. So then I thought maybe I could just take a semester off. But
then
,” I said, “I decided to look into online courses. I had to switch all of my classes around but everything I’m signed up for will transfer.”

His smile was huge now. “So this is really happening? You’re going
to come back with me?”

I nodded. “I wanted to surprise you tonight
. I had a reservation at a nice restaurant and I’d picked the perfect bed and breakfast right on the coast.  I couldn’t tell you much sooner anyway because it’s taken me a few weeks to get everything straightened out. I mean, if you’re sure you want me and if you’re sure your grandparents will be okay with it.”

“I can’t believe you even have to ask if I want you to, because of course I do,” he said. “And I know my grandparents won’t mind. Just have them over for dinner again and they’ll be happy to have you there.”

“I’m sorry about last night. I never should have chosen to come running back after Collin. I only called him because I wanted to make it clear to him, once and for all, that he and I are over. But at the same time, I needed to come back to Chamberlain.”

“To talk to your parents? Or do they already know?”

I shook my head. “They don’t know. I needed to come back to talk to them.” I let out a little laugh. “I also wanted to come back to get a few things. I’ve been recycling my wardrobe all summer. I only have two pairs of flip-flops and a pair of sandals. I need to go to the campus bookstore to get my books. I’d like to drive my car back because if I’m staying, I’ll need it.”

“
We’re going on another road trip?” Max asked. He looked excited by the thought of it.

“Do you have time for that?” I wondered. I was relieved. I had assumed I’d be making the trip alone. The ticket my mom had sent, the one pinned to the bulletin board, was a one-way ticket. I’d planned to use it but only because I’d planned on driving back to California.

He nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.
”

Everything had changed so much in the last twenty-four hours. I took in the
way that he was looking at me. Like I was everything he ever wanted. I hoped he saw that I was looking at him the same way. He was everything I needed, wanted and probably more than I deserved.

My feelings for Max had twisted their way deep inside of me, wreaking havoc on my unsuspecting heart.
After last night, I knew without a doubt I never wanted to let him go.

“Did you mean what you said this morning? On the phone?” I asked.

Color filled his cheeks but he didn’t look away. He nodded. “I shouldn’t have just blurted it out like that. I didn’t mean to. I just, I couldn’t help myself.” He cringed. “Was it too soon?”

“Not at all. Not if you mean
t it,” I said.

He took my hands in his. “I meant it.”

I smiled as I leaned into him. “If you meant it, will you say it again?”

He pulled me into him, wrapping his arms around me. He placed a few kisses on my neck, making his way up to my ear. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too,” I whispered back.

***

We stayed in Chamberlain four more days. We each caught up with our friends and our families. We’d had dinner with Max’s mom twice. She seemed happy for us. Mike had refused to come to dinner, begging off with other plans. I couldn’t blame him, or his perception of me. He was just looking out for Max and someday, hopefully soon, I’d make him see that Max really did mean everything to me.

My parents’ reaction
s were mixed. My mother wasn’t happy in the least. My dad raised his eyebrows, wondering if maybe Max hadn’t been behaving after all. Once they realized that my mind was made up and that I’d be leaving soon, they relented a little. I was only home for a few days. We all wanted to make the most of it.

Max felt bad about running out on his grandparents like he had but
Villette assured him it was all fine. She found retirement dull and dreary and she didn’t mind filling in for Max since she spent most days checking in on the business anyway.

I had seen Collin while he was still in the hospital. Max had come with but he waited in the lobby. Our conversation hadn’t taken very long. I had told him that I was happy that he was okay. He was surprised that I hadn’t come back to Chamberlain to stay
. Despite the gossip he’d been spreading about Max and me, he was surprised when I told him we were actually together. I’d decided he could do whatever he wanted with the information. As Lanna had pointed out to me once, everyone important to me knew the truth.

And the rest? They simply didn’t matter.

“Are you sure about this?” my mom asked. I’d lost count but it had to have been at least the sixth time. “If you’re not sure, it’s not too late to change your mind.”

I wished she would’ve said those very things to me the night before I was supposed to marry Collin. But she hadn’t and there was no sense dwelling on the irony of it.

Besides, as Villette said, everything happens for a reason. If everything hadn’t unraveled in the exact order that it had, Max might have left without me. Lanna might never have had the chance to insist that I go with him. I probably wouldn’t have agreed if it had been anything other than a snap decision.

“I’ve never been so sure about anything,” I said with a smile
. I knew right then, I was exactly where I was supposed to be in my life.

“You know you can come home anytime,” she pressed.

I nodded. “That’s the nice thing about online courses. They give me a lot of flexibility and I can come home for a visit whenever I want.”

She frowned, as I knew she would. She wasn’t talking about me coming home for a visit. She meant indefinitely. I wasn’t going to argue with her. If there was one thing I knew about my mom, she was stuck in her ways. Only time would wear down the barrier of her stubbornness.

“Well, Pumpkin,” Dad said as he dropped another box in the trunk, “I think this is the last of them.”

“It’s a good thing, too,” I said with a laugh.
I’d spent a good chunk of the last few days sorting through my belongings, boxing things up, deciding what I needed and what I could leave. “There’s not room for anything else. The backseat is so full I can barely see out of the back window.” The passenger seat, however, was open, waiting for Max to fill it.

“I suppose if there’s anything else you need, we can send it,” my mother said with a little sniff. At first, I thought it was her haughtiness s
hining through. Then I realized the haughty little sniff wasn’t haughty at all. In fact, the
sniff
was more of a
sniffle
.

“Oh, Mom,” I said as I pulled her into a hug. “I’m going to miss you. But you can come for a visit anytime. Max and I will come back for every holiday. And I’ll visit next summer.”

“Of course we’ll come for a visit,” my dad said. “We’ll be looking for somewhere warm to go this winter. And maybe by then you’ll miss us enough that you’ll be anxious for a visit.”

“I can’t believe my baby is really moving,” my mom said. She pulled out a tissue and wiped her tear
s away. “You have to promise to call every day.”

“Mom,” I said with a laugh. “I’ll call once a week, maybe more.
Maybe you should learn to e mail,” I teased.

“Maybe,” she relented.

She then pulled me in for another tight hug. My dad wrapped his arms around the both of us. We stood there for a few moments, the morning sun shining down and the scent of autumn just barely in the air. Finally, with a sigh, he backed away and my mom followed. He pulled her into his arms as he handed me my keys.

“Okay then,” I said as I backed away. “I love you both. And we’ll talk soon.”

“Love you too, Pumpkin, drive safe,” Dad said.

“I love you, Holly,” Mom said.

I didn’t want to drag out the goodbye so I gave them a little wave and slipped into my car. I watched them in the rearview mirror, our brick house as their backdrop, as I drove away.

Minutes later
I pulled up to Max’s mom’s house. I knew she’d left for work already. He must’ve been watching for me. The door flew open and he came down the sidewalk, his duffel bag strap slung over his shoulder and a huge smile on his face.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked as he dropped himself into my
passenger seat.

“
Ready to go home with the guy I love?” I tilted my head to the side and pretended to think about it. “Yeah, I think I’m ready for that.”

“Me too,” Max said as he leaned over the arm rest.

He leaned in slowly. This kiss…it felt like a first kiss. My heartbeat was erratic. His presence, so close, yet not quite touching, was all I was aware of. My eyes fluttered closed as his lips softly pressed against mine. It was slow…and gentle…and completely captivating. It was a kiss unlike any I’d received from Max before.

In my blissful haze I realized that Max’s kisses had always been filled with subtle desperation. As if he feared—as he stated that moment in the kitchen—that he might not ever have the chance again. Or perhaps he feared that each kiss could be our last kiss.

Now, it was different. He knew I was his.

Epilogue

A year later…

“Who is that?” Lanna asked as she threw herself down next to me. “The guy Max is talking to?”

I glanced over my shoulder. Max was at the ice-cream counter
. He was talking to a tall blond. The guy did, indeed, look like someone who would swipe up my friend’s interest in the blink of an eye.

A smile tugged at my lips. “His name is Jake. He’s a friend of Max’s from way back.
They ran into each other on campus a few months ago.” Lanna didn’t say anything. She was too busy devouring Jake with her eyes.

“He’
s an Econ major, I think,” I told her.

“Where has he been all this time?” she murmured.

“Studying, probably.” I’d only met Jake a few times. He was a nice guy. He didn’t have the cocky attitude I’d stereotypically expected from a guy who looked like he did.

“Smart and hot,” she said with raised eyebrows.

I shrugged. “I guess.” I glanced at her again. She was leaning forward, elbow propped on the table, her chin propped in her hand. I cleared my throat and her gaze slowly, begrudgingly returned to me. “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

She scowled but got to her feet.
The scowl evaporated when Jake looked her way. A flirty smile took its place as she sauntered over to him.

“She’s never going to leave, is she?” Max asked.
He handed me my Banana Blitz, double-scoop cone as I slid from the booth.

“No,” I agreed, “I don’t think so.”

Lanna had lasted half a year in Chamberlain. She’d decided to take a year off from school but her boredom got the best of her. After an unexpectedly long winter that lingered on, she’d called, desperate for some sunshine and a visit.

That was
months ago. She’d fallen in love with Sapphire Bay, too. I couldn’t blame her since I knew how easy that was to do. It didn’t surprise either Max or me when she’d started dating Darren. That had ended not long after it started. Now, they worked together and got along just fine as friends.

“Good thing we had an extra room,” Max said as he held the door open for me.

I glanced over my shoulder. Lanna was in full flirt mode. Jake looked a little stunned. I silently wished them both good luck.

Max grabbed my free hand with his own as the evening sun blazed
low in the sky.

“If we walk fast, we can watch it set,” I said.

Max grinned down at me as we picked up our pace.

We could see the beach house in the distance. Max and his grandparents had come to an agreement. They were selling the house to him for an insanely low price. I knew they’d sq
uabbled over it for weeks. Max had insisted on paying more. They had insisted on taking less. Finally, they’d settled on a number somewhere in the middle. Now, instead of spending money flying back to Chamberlain every few months like he’d offered to do, he’d started making payments on the house.