Page 24 of Holding On To Good

She flipped on the light in the tiny foyer and shut the door. She still had half an hour before Urban was due to arrive. It’d give her a chance to go through the house again, make some sketches and decide exactly what her vision for the reno was going to be.

Then she and Urban could discuss the nitty-gritty details. How much they should offer for the house, the budget and timeline for the work, and how they’d fit it into their already busy schedule.

She went into the front room facing the water. The setting sun shone through the large window, illuminating the dust motes floating in the air, had them sparkling. Like floating diamonds.

Bring most people to an old, empty, rundown house like this and all they saw was ruin.

She saw possibilities. What it could be.

And bringing that vision to life was one of her greatest joys.

Yes, she was still single. So what? Her life was great. She had a career she loved and excelled at, a close-knit, loving family and plenty of friends. She was healthy. Happy.

She didn’t need a man to live a full, productive, wonderful life.

But she was lonely.

Yes, she had her family and friends and career but she wanted more. She wanted what her parents and sisters had—loving, equal partnerships. She wanted someone to share her life with. To raise a family with. Someone whose goals and dreams for the future aligned with hers.

She wanted someone who respected her and her work. Who accepted her wholly. Who loved her unconditionally.

And she’d had it. For almost two years, she’d had all that and more with Caleb.

He’d loved her.

She’d loved him, too.

But not enough.

Not nearly as much as she should have.

Her throat tightened. A dull ache spread across her chest, lodged itself there like a sliver under the skin. Picking up the champagne, she pointed the bottle toward the far corner and twisted the cork off with a soft pop. She lifted the bottle to her mouth. Bubbles exploded on her tongue, bright and crisp, and she sipped again. And again. And again, hoping it would hurry up already and numb the pain. Make her thoughts fuzzy and light.

She’d let Caleb go. She’d had to. It was the right thing to do. It wasn’t fair of her to hold on to him when her heart had always belonged to someone else.

She took another drink, longer this time. She’d come to terms long ago with the fact that she’d always be at least a little bit in love with Urban Jennings.

There were some things in life you couldn’t fight. Some things you couldn’t change.

No matter how much you wished you could.

Urban stepped out of Binge, a plastic bag with two takeout containers in his hand. With Verity working tonight, he didn’t have reason to cook, so he’d texted Willow, told her he’d bring dinner—burgers and fries—when he met her.

The thought that this would be his life in a few short months—not having someone to take care of or cook for, not having Verity around—hit him like it’d been doing the past few months.

Hard.

He pushed it aside. Like he’d been doing since the beginning of the year, when Verity’s graduation had turned from a someday-in-the-far-off-future thing into a someday-soon certainty.

It was still almost three months before she left. Plenty of time for him to get used to the idea of her being gone.

More than enough time to figure out what the hell he was going to do with his life once she was.

He walked to the corner and crossed Main Street, turned and headed down Congress Street, where he’d parked his truck in front of the pharmacy. A kid in shorts and a T-shirt, a ball cap pulled low over his forehead, dashed past him.

“Josh!” a woman yelled from in front of Brighter Things gift shop.

Her terrified tone had Urban looking up. A black Jeep sped down the street. He whirled around as the kid stepped off the curb and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him back onto the sidewalk. The Jeep zoomed by, the heavy bass line of some song thumping as it passed.

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