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Chapters (48)
  1. 1. One
  2. 2. Two
  3. 3. Three
  4. 4. Four
  5. 5. Five
  6. 6. Six
  7. 7. Seven
  8. 8. Eight
  9. 9. Nine
  10. 10. Ten
  11. 11. Eleven
  12. 12. Twelve
  13. 13. Thirteen
  14. 14. Fourteen
  15. 15. Fifteen
  16. 16. Sixteen
  17. 17. Seventeen
  18. 18. Eighteen
  19. 19. Nineteen
  20. 20. Twenty
  21. 21. Twenty-One
  22. 22. Twenty-Two
  23. 23. Twenty-Three
  24. 24. Twenty-Four
  25. 25. Twenty-Five
  26. 26. Twenty-Six
  27. 27. Twenty-Seven
  28. 28. Twenty-Eight
  29. 29. Twenty-Nine
  30. 30. Thirty
  31. 31. Thirty-One
  32. 32. Thirty-Two
  33. 33. Thirty-three
  34. 34. Thirty-Four
  35. 35. Thirty-Five
  36. 36. Thirty-Six
  37. 37. Thirty-Seven
  38. 38. Thirty-Eight
  39. 39. Thirty-Nine
  40. 40. Forty
  41. 41. Forty-One
  42. 42. Forty-Two
  43. 43. Forty-three
  44. 44. Epilogue
  45. Afterword
  46. Also by
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. About Author

“Her flight’s in an hour.”

Of course it was. I was thirty minutes from the airport, and traffic was ridiculous. “Why didn’t you lead with that?” I shouted, grabbing my keys and bag, ignoring his smug face as I raced out the door.

Maybe I was an idiot for thinking I didn’t need Olive, but I wasn’t going to be an even bigger one for letting her go without a fight.

40. Forty

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Did you know that the day before Christmas Eve is the busiest day in any airport? Me neither.

I discovered that the hard way.

I was stuck in the line for security that stretched across the airport. After an hour or more of waiting, I made it to my gate only to discover my flight was delayed. So I sat at an airport bar, a virgin margarita in my hand because apparently when I drank on planes, I ended up with a stranger as my fake boyfriend.

I checked my phone and refreshed my notifications for the hundredth time to see if I had any messages from Finn yet, but there was nothing. The ice in my drink clinked against the chilled glass as I stirred it. Conversations of holiday plans, upcoming weddings, babies being born, and deaths being mourned filled the air around me—but I felt empty. I missed Finn deeply after only one day, and I wasn’t sure I could ever go back to my numb state of mind now that I had all those memories of our time together.

I would keep those moments close and save them for a rainy day. For now, they were all I had.

My phone buzzed against the wooden bar, and I snatched it up, hoping it was Finn. Disappointment fell when I saw it was only Matt. I sighed and answered. “Miss me already?” I wondered if my voice sounded as down as I felt.

He chuckled deeply, and it gave me a small slice of comfort. “You wish, kid.” Even though I was only a few years younger than him, he would always treat me like the baby of the family. “Mom’s kinda pissed that you didn’t say goodbye to any of us.”

I knew she would be. But saying goodbye made it all too real.

“I figured. She’ll forgive me when I ship her that saltwater taffy she loves.”

“So that’s it then? You’re just gone?” I heard Taylor in the background, and I smiled at the thought of her telling Matt what to say.

“Yup. Got everything ready to go, should be boarding in…” I checked the clock behind the bartender, “…about ten minutes.”

I paid my tab and grabbed my carry-on, dreading the walk to my gate.

Matt sighed. “Do you think you’ll ever come back over here?”

No. “Maybe.”