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Chapters (85)
  1. BOOKS BY LOUISE BAY
  2. ONE
  3. Rosey
  4. TWO
  5. Byron
  6. THREE
  7. Rosey
  8. FOUR
  9. Byron
  10. FIVE
  11. Rosey
  12. SIX
  13. Byron
  14. SEVEN
  15. Rosey
  16. EIGHT
  17. Rosey
  18. NINE
  19. Byron
  20. TEN
  21. Rosey
  22. ELEVEN
  23. Byron
  24. TWELVE
  25. Rosey
  26. THIRTEEN
  27. Byron
  28. FOURTEEN
  29. Rosey
  30. FIFTEEN
  31. Rosey
  32. SIXTEEN
  33. Byron
  34. SEVENTEEN
  35. Rosey
  36. EIGHTEEN
  37. Byron
  38. NINETEEN
  39. Rosey
  40. TWENTY
  41. Rosey
  42. TWENTY-ONE
  43. Byron
  44. TWENTY-TWO
  45. Byron
  46. TWENTY-THREE
  47. Rosey
  48. TWENTY-FOUR
  49. Rosey
  50. TWENTY-FIVE
  51. Byron
  52. TWENTY-SIX
  53. Rosey
  54. TWENTY-SEVEN
  55. Byron
  56. TWENTY-EIGHT
  57. Rosey
  58. TWENTY-NINE
  59. Byron
  60. THIRTY
  61. Rosey
  62. THIRTY-ONE
  63. Rosey
  64. THIRTY-TWO
  65. Byron
  66. THIRTY-THREE
  67. Rosey
  68. THIRTY-FOUR
  69. Rosey
  70. THIRTY-FIVE
  71. Byron
  72. THIRTY-SIX
  73. Rosey
  74. THIRTY-SEVEN
  75. Byron
  76. THIRTY-EIGHT
  77. Byron
  78. EPILOGUE
  79. A month later – New York City
  80. 14 months later - Star Falls
  81. MR. MAYFAIR
  82. Beck
  83. Beck
  84. Stella
  85. BOOKS BY LOUISE BAY

“This isn’t about you wanting me to be different. I know you don’t—you wouldn’t. This is about me trying to second-guess what you want and make myself fit without being asked. I’m not saying I’d deliberately do that. It wouldn’t even happen right away. But little by little, I think I’d change myself. To make you happy.”

My heart sinks right into my boots. I hate that she feels this way. And although it’s the last thing she wants, I want to scoop her up and make her feel better. I want to take all her years of hurt and put them back on the person who created them—her mother.

“You’re a wonderful woman, Rosey,” I say. “You shouldn’t change for anyone.”

She offers me a small smile. “You’re the best man I’ve ever known.”

I slide my hand into hers and we sit in silence, looking out into the dark.

A chill burrows beneath the blanket and I wonder if it will ever leave me. Rosey has been just what I need. She’s helped me see the good in Star Falls. She’s helped me fall in love with all the wonderful things about this town. That was the healing I didn’t know I needed. There’s a voice in my head that says I need her, too.

But life doesn’t always give you want you want. I should have learned that lesson by now.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Rosey

My apartment in staff housing is clean and comfortable. Some people are complaining about the size of the rooms, but having spent most of my life living in a trailer, I feel spoiled having a bedroom to myself. There are built-in shelves and closets running along one side of the room, with the door to the bathroom and a double bed against the opposite wall. Between the two is a small green armchair, complete with a cushion shaped like a daisy and a low table beside it. The floors are polished wood, the view out the window a climb of a grass verge and the bottom of pine trees. It’s not the view from Blossom, but I’ll take it.

Is it weird that I can’t shake the feeling that Athena disappeared just before I moved so I didn’t have to feel bad about leaving her. Cats can’t read minds, right?

I set my weekend bag on the floor by the chair and unzip it. It was Snail Trail’s smallest size, but it’s not even full. Everything I own is in this bag, plus one thing I don’t. I pull out a Ziploc where I’ve put Frank’s ring. Now that I’ve moved and it’s clear I won’t be returning to Oregon, I need to return this to him. That, and transfer the trailer back into his name.