Contents (126)
- The Meeting Point
- Olivia Lara
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- A YEAR LATER
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- June 2
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- June 3
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- June 4
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Help Wanted: Seasonal employment, June–August
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- June 5
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- June 6
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- June 7
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- June 8
- Forty
- Forty-One
- June 9
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- June After Midnight: By Ethan Delphy
- Chapter 15
- Fifty-Two
- June After Midnight
- Chapter 20
- Fifty-Three
- June After Midnight
- Chapter 21
- June After Midnight
- Chapter 22
- Fifty-Four
- June After Midnight
- Chapter 28
- Fifty-Five
- June After Midnight
- Chapter 29
- June After Midnight
- Chapter 30
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- June 11
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- June 12
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- June 13
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- June 14
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- June 15
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- June 16
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- June After Midnight
- Chapter 28 (Draft 1 Version)
- Eighty-Six
- Eighty-Seven
- Eighty-Eight
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Also by Olivia Lara
The driver drops us in front of the cottage.
“I’m not looking forward to Monday,” Ethan says out-of-the-blue once we’re out of the car.
June 17. The day after tomorrow. This will probably be the day when he will tell me who Max is. I should be jumping up and down, but I’m not.
“Why? Is it chaotic?”
“It’s not that. It’s just that Monday is the beginning of the book tour and—”
“I know. Two months, right?”
He nods.
“It must be exhausting to be on the road so long, but exciting too, right?” I say, trying to keep a positive attitude and not think about my feelings or internal turmoil. This is about him, not me.
“Yes. No. It’s exciting, for sure. And I get to meet my readers. But I just don’t want to leave right now.”
Only platitudes. That’s all my brain can produce now. Anything that doesn’t sound like ‘why’. I can’t ask why. I can’t go there. Because I don’t know if I’m ready to hear his answer. I might just be imagining it. It might all just be in my head. This undefined, unnamed, intangible thing between us. But if it’s not, I can’t ask ‘why’. Because there’s no turning back after I hear his answer.
I choose not to say anything. Like I didn’t even hear it.
He turns to me and looks into my eyes. “You’re not going to ask me why, are you?”
I try to hold his gaze, but I can’t. I look away when I say it. “No.”
He nods as we walk into the cottage, not saying another word until we’re inside and we both go to our bedrooms with frugal ‘good nights’.
I close the door behind me and let myself fall on the floor, head in my hands and try to breathe but I can’t.
Eighty-One
June 16
Yesterday ended with a call to Alisa; she rejected it and texted she was having breakfast with an out-of-town author.
It’s OK, I replied. Nothing urgent. Just wanted to hear your voice. I miss you.
I miss you too. And sorry if I’ve been prickly lately. I’m sure you know what you’re doing. I just don’t want you to get hurt.
You’re not prickly, you’re honest. And… I don’t know what I’m doing, but I do know I’m terrified of getting hurt. And I think that’s the problem.
A problem you can solve. You’re a smart cookie. You’ll figure it out. I believe in you! she said in the last text before I went to sleep.
Today is the last day before Ethan’s book launch. It’s going to be a bittersweet day, I know it as soon as Celine and I arrive at Café Azure.
“I was thinking of closing the café tomorrow, for Ethan’s book event. The problem is I have to rush back because last time everyone came to Café Azure when the signing was done.”