“It was no problem, truly. I was glad to do it.”
“You gave us back more than just Rafe, though. You gave us back part of ourselves. Every memory we had with him was gone. Empty.“ She laughed. “It was so weird. There were photo albums around town with blank spaces that didn’t make sense. In fact, no one could figure out how we’d won the regional football championship in secondary school when we’d played with one less player than the other team, and none of our team could score worth a damn!”
I smiled. “He played football?”
“He was the best on the team. And as we all realized last week, he was the reason we won that mysterious game.”
“Wow, that curse was awful, wasn’t it?”
She nodded. “It really was. We all sensed something was wrong but couldn’t quite understand. Not until you broke the curse.”
I blew out a breath. This was all so much more than I’d expected.
“Anyway, thank you. We’re all just so happy to have him back. The town will be better now.”
She spoke like he would be returning for good, and of course he would. His mother had talked about him buying the house down the street, and he’d agreed. He’d introduced me as a friend, which had hurt but was true. We’d never agreed that we were anything more.
After we’d finished eating the burgers his father had grilled, Rafe turned to me. “Do you mind if I go for a run with some of my mates from school?”
“Go for it,” I said.
He smiled and stood, then walked over to join them at the edge of the beach. A swirl of dark blue magic obscured him from my vision. When it faded, a massive black wolf stood where he’d been.
I’d never seen him in wolf form before, and he was beautiful—strong and powerful, with the same brilliant green eyes. His friends shifted in swirls of their own magic, and then the group ran off toward the woods that were further inland.
I sipped my wine and watched them go.
I didn’t tell Rafe when I left the next morning. We’d slept in his childhood room, both of us too exhausted to do anything more than collapse into each other’s arms and go to sleep.
When we’d woken, the house already smelled of cinnamon buns and coffee. Rafe stared at the ceiling, his arm over his eyes. “I’d forgot that smell.”
“It’s amazing,” I said, inhaling deeply. “Forgetting that might be the greatest tragedy in this whole situation.”
He laughed and sat upright. “Come on. Big day ahead of us.”
“Yeah?” I rose.
“Yes. My parents will boss us around all day as we help with the house. I guarantee it.”
He turned out to be right. After a delicious breakfast of cinnamon rolls, coffee, and fresh orange juice, we were put to work. Rafe went off to help his father with the garden, and I stayed in with his mother.
She stood at the counter, staring out the kitchen window at her husband and son. I joined her, watching them repair the wooden fence at the back of the garden.
“Randall taught him to use those tools,” she said. “And now he builds boats. Incredible, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“Have you seen them? The boats, I mean.”
“Yes, and they’re gorgeous.”
She chuckled. “I’m not surprised. I offered him the day off to lounge around here, but he insisted on helping. Said he had a decade of chores to make up for.”
“That sounds like Rafe.” I smiled.
His mother turned to me, her expression sincere. “Thank you again. We’ll never be able to repay you.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing to repay. I would have done it, no matter what.”
“Well, we’re just so grateful you brought him back to us.”
Suddenly, I couldn’t bear it anymore. It was just too painful. Rafe was going to leave, just like my parents had. Just like Tommy had, although he’d done it in a very different way. And even though Rafe was leaving me for something much more real and wholesome—and I genuinely wanted him to be happy—it still hurt like hell.
I needed to leave first.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I looked down to read the text. It was just Emma, checking in to see how we were doing. But an idea formed.
I made my face crease, and it wasn’t necessary to fake disappointment. That was right under the surface. “Oh, no. I need to get back to Charming Cove.” I’d see Rafe when he came back to pack up his things, and it would be good for him to have this time alone with his family. Mostly, I just needed some time to be sad in private. I couldn’t ruin this special time with my selfish moping. “There’s a work thing I need to deal with. Will you please tell Rafe I’ll see him when he comes back to pack up the boathouse?”
“Sure, darling. Can I give you a ride to the train station?”
“That would be wonderful, thank you.”
“Do you want to say goodbye to Rafe?” She gestured out the window.
“No, they look busy. And anyway, I don’t want to miss the next train.” I scrolled through the ticket website on my phone. “It looks like it leaves soon.”
“Of course, let’s get going.”
It took me only five minutes to grab my things out of the room upstairs, and I was in Kay’s car a moment later. Within fifteen minutes, I was on the next train out of town. I spent the ride back in a daze, so out of it that it was a lucky thing I managed to make my connections.
I love him.
There was no other explanation for how I felt. It was like an asteroid had just hit my life. This was way worse than when Tommy had cheated on me.
Emma picked me up at the train station, her face creased in concern as I climbed into her car.
“Okay, why am I picking you up here?” she asked. “I know for a fact you left town with Rafe in his car, and you should be coming back the same way.”
I tilted my head against the seat and closed my eyes. “His family is wonderful. The nicest people I’ve ever met.”
“That’s a good thing!”
“He’s moving home. He even talked about which house to buy with his mother.”
“Oh.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m sorry.” She squeezed my thigh. “Let’s get you home and open a bottle of wine, shall we?”
“Yeah.” It was hard to muster any enthusiasm, but I loved her for trying.
“Do you want to come back to my place, maybe? I can get Alaric to go stay with his grandmother so we can have a girls’ night.” Alaric was her fiancé…and the Duke of Blackthorn.
“No, I want to see my place. It’s my home. Half the reason I’m staying.” I reached for her hand and squeezed. “Besides you and our friends and the coven, of course. I’ve got a life here.” I’d never even dreamed of something like what I’d had with Rafe—it was too good to be true and too good to last.
“It’s going to be amazing,” Emma said. “Let’s go to yours and have a girls’ night there. I’ve got a boot full of goodies we need to eat and drink. I picked them up, just in case.”
“You’re the best.”
She grinned and pulled away from the train station, heading toward Charming Cove.