When I’d first left Denver to move to Key Ridge, I had all these ideas for adventures. But for some reason, they didn’t excite me like they used to. Sure, rafting sounded fine, but instead of giving it much thought, something else had completely taken ahold of my mind.

Frankie.

She hadn’t outright asked me to stay, but it was obviously what she wanted. It almost broke me when I saw the worry in her eyes that I might be leaving before she did. It was like she wanted me to hang around to keep her company while it was convenient but wouldn’t let it stop her from taking the first offer she could land.

That didn’t make me feel used, though. I kind of understood it. That new job was her dream. And let’s face it, I wouldn’t want to be in this town without her either.

TWENTY

Frankie

“How did it go?” Mattie pounced on me from behind the reception desk as soon as I walked into the lodge for my evening shift at Marie’s.

“Okay,” I said, straightening my black shirt before tossing my wild mane into a high ponytail.

“Just okay? That’s it?” she demanded, following me all the way into Marie’s and spilling over the bar as I hurried to clock in.

I glanced up at her. “It went amazing, actually.”

The elevens between her eyebrows immediately softened.

I’d crushed my next round with the company in New York. So much so that they said they’d get back to me this evening, rather than in the following days like I’d initially expected. I’d been blindsided by rejections before, but I had a really good feeling about this one. I couldn’t help but feel like it was mine for the taking. It was about damn time. I’d been on the hunt for nearly a month at this point. I was past due for something to go my way.

“Thank God,” Mattie breathed, placing a hand to her forehead. “Don’t scare me like that. You’ve been a ball of stress preparing for it. I don’t think I could have handled you if it didn’t go well.”

“Please. I always have a good attitude,” I said, taking clean cups out of the dishwasher tray that had been left behind the bar and stacking them up.

“Right. You had a real winning attitude when you first got here.”

I scowled at that. “Hey, my life had just fallen apart.”

“I guess.” She waved a hand. “So you really think you’ll move to New York if you get this?”

“Why not?” I shrugged. “It would be fun to try somewhere new, and it’s not like I have all these roots in Atlanta. I can either sell my condo or keep renting it out. Once that’s taken care of, I can just get my things, and it’s like I was never there.”

I hadn’t realized how sad that was until the words came out of my mouth. How had I lived there for so many years and had only casual acquaintances at best? The girls I lived with had texted me once since I left just to say what a bummer it was that I was laid off. Oh, and they had asked me if their friend could move in. They direct deposited the rent money and that was it.