Page 52 of Hearty

“Oh, really now?” She doesn’t sound convinced.

“You’re the most beautiful person, inside and out. I’m lucky to be spending time with you.” It’s the most real and open I’ve been about how I feel with her. “And I think I can tell you that and won’t bolt, simply because we’re in the middle of the river.”

August looks over the side into the water. “Guess this conversation was coming.”

“I mean, we could just keep going on the way we are. But you’re not a coward, and neither am I.” Plus, I’m not sure how much longer I can not talk about this.

“Evan, I … it’s a lot right now. Our nights have been, well, they’ve been my reprieve. I won’t tell you I haven’t dreamed about us because you know I have. I drunkenly admitted it. But can’t we just keep doing what we’re doing? Your family, I don’t want to get all tangled up.”

Here I go. It’s time to take the leap. If not, I’m just a coward, and I’ve never been the type who doesn’t go after what he wants.

“You have a lot on your plate right now, I get that. But I’d like to take you out. I know you might not be able to handle that at the moment, and I heard what you said about not wanting a relationship. But just getting a few hours at night with you isn’t cutting it for me, August. Sure, it’s complicated, and we’re both in the midst of big life changes, but who cares? What I feel when I’m with you—that’s rare. And that kind of spark doesn’t just come along every day. We both know it. So why not add one more thing? Why not just say to hell with it, and really give this a shot?”

My heart feels like it’s dangling on a tightrope; I’ll either make it successfully across and get what I want or plummet to my death with her rejection.

She’s still studying the water before looking back up at me, hazel eyes winking with amusement.

“Okay.”

At first, I think I imagined her saying that, but when I put my total concentration on her face, I see the curve of her lips into a smile. “But not at the diner or movie theater. Teenage me might have settled for it, but adult me needs a little more than that.”

“And here I was thinking you might want to fulfill that making out in the back row of a scary movie fantasy,” I tease.

“You should know I’m more a rom-com girl, so you’ll have to put up with all the cheesiness.”

“Cheese is what I do, babe. I’m a pizza chef.” I take her tease and spin it.

Looking back at the shore, at all the people I know and have grown up with, I feel nothing but contentment. Right here is where I want to be.

It hasn’t happened quickly—lord knows I’ve been back for years. But even with the turmoil of family drama, there is something that draws me to this place like a magnet. I can leave, but I will always come back.

But it isn’t like that for her. August never wanted to return, and now she’s stuck here due to her mother’s mistakes. But maybe, just maybe, I can show her that there is more here for her than the past and the trauma that comes with it. If she just lets me in, lets my family in, we can help like no one has before.

Maybe I can show her that Hope Crest is a place worth coming back to.

About ten minutes later, I’m helping August out and tying up the boat, and then we’re headed back up to my family’s designated hang-out spot. Part of me wonders if they know something is going on. If I had to guess, Mom and Alana already suspect because those two are like basset hounds the way they sniff things out.

August and I are in the midst of bantering about who can throw a better game of cornhole when something captures my attention.

“Dad? Dad, what’s wrong?”

It’s the tone of Patrick’s voice that has me turning around, because my brother is nothing if not calm and collected. But his voice is laced with panic.

When I glimpse Dad, his hand clutches at his shirt, and his face is turning a horrible shade of red.

“Thomas? Did you swallow something? Oh God, is he choking?” Mom starts toward him, trying to clutch at him, but Liam pulls her back.

“Dad?” My voice sounds strange coming out of my ears.

As if he hears his name from my lips more than anyone else, Dad’s eyes fixate on mine …

Right before he falls backward, and his body begins to twitch in a terrible fashion.

25

EVAN

“Your husband had a heart attack.”

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