Daydream (Maple Hills, #3)(129)

Pride. “And what did she say?”

Halle’s beaming. “That she was of course disappointed she wouldn’t get to spend time with me, but if I wanted to go on vacation with them next year, we could do it just as a family—no Ellingtons. She’s glad I’m setting boundaries for my well-being, and she’s going to bring my sisters to visit at Easter.”

“That’s incredible, Halle. I’m so happy for you.”

She nods, and she’s clearly happy for herself, too. “Yeah, she’s been trying really hard.”

Her arms loop around my neck as mine go around her waist, and we just hold each other. “Does this mean I get you this week?”

“Uh, no. I actually need to leave in, like, two minutes.”

I move so quickly to look at her face to judge if she’s joking that she almost falls off my lap. “Where are you going?”

She’s smiling so hard, and I know whatever answer she gives me I’ll be okay with just to see her this happy. “I’m going on my first girls’ trip! I called Aurora when I left LAX and she said I could still go with them. I just need to hurry up and get there with my passport. I’m so nervous, but excited, although I have no clue about race cars, and Aurora said we have to support a team, and that their colors will really suit me, but I swear it’s not her family’s team… And I’m rambling because I’m excited, but I really do need to go.”

“Yeah, it’s a whole thing; I’m sure she’ll tell you on the plane. Will you video call me while you’re gone? I miss you when I don’t see your face. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at pictures of you on my phone recently.”

She kisses me once, twice. “Of course. I miss you, too. I’ll be back in a week.”

She climbs off me, and I really have to stop myself from clinging on to her. In reality, I’m happy she’s doing something for herself. I guess I can cope with sharing her with Aurora occasionally. I watch her ass as she walks away, which reminds me of something else I need to say before she leaves. “Cap?”

Halle turns to look back at me. “Yeah?”

I clear my throat. “Can I be your boyfriend?”

I’ll never get over being the person to make her smile so big. She moves toward me quickly, throwing herself into my open arms as I fall flat on the bed. She kisses me before answering. “Yes.”

She rolls off me onto the bed beside me, cuddling into my side before sitting up, frowning. “You have a painting above your bed!” She gets to her feet to study the canvas properly and I stand to look at it next to her. “How the hell did I not notice that totally huge painting when I walked in here five minutes ago?”

“Too distracted by how good-looking I am, probably.”

“What happened? What other art did I miss?” she asks, looking around the room. She won’t find anything; there’s only this one.

“Finally found something I wanted to look at every day.”

She leans forward. “Wait, is this the, y’know. The one where we? On the canvas?”

“It’s the canvas we fucked on, yeah.”

Her mouth is wide open. “It looks so good! I was expecting it to be total trash if I’m honest. Like, I know you’re talented, but there’s only so much talent you can control in that kind of setting.”

“You underestimate me.” I can feel the seconds until she has to leave, even though I’m thankful she’s here at all.

“What do you feel when you look at it?” she asks.

Wrapping my arm across her shoulders, I kiss her temple. “Love.”





Epilogue HALLE




Three Months Later

“THIS REALLY FEELS LIKE A can I copy your homework if I change it a bit moment. I have serious concerns that the contents of that letter are exactly the same as the contents of my letter.”

Cami smiles in a way that tells me I’m absolutely right. “Has anyone ever told you you worry too much?”

“Yes, everyone, all the time. Pete’s going to think we’re bullying him if we both quit on the same day,” I say. “Maybe we should space it out.”

“Maybe Pete deserves to be bullied a little after he upgraded that woman who called you the bitch in the cardigan,” she says, applying her lipstick clearly without a care in the world. “Have you considered that?”

I’m feeling a little sensitive when it comes to quitting on people. Sure, Pete has made me want to burn down the hotel on more than one occasion, but he isn’t a bad guy. “You quit. I’ll wait a week,” I say.

“Halle Jacobs, we are quitting this shitty job and moving on to greener pastures. Those pastures being wine and books. Come on, let’s rip the Band-Aid off together.”

Climbing out of my car in the parking lot of The Huntington, Cami and I find Pete in his office and deliver what I imagine are identically worded letters after Cami asked to look at mine for “inspiration.” By the time we’re heading back to the car, unemployed with no notice period after Pete told us to never come back, I’m in agreement that maybe he deserved to be bullied a little.

Enchanted bookstore is thriving. So much so that Inayah needed to take on someone to help during the week. She asked me if I wanted the position before she advertised it to the general public. After being heavily influenced by all my friends, I said yes.