Page 151 of Just Like Home

Her stomach roiled. She’d brought this on herself. She should’ve been straightforward right from the start.

Knowing how Cole felt about honesty, she had a better chance of being eaten by a pack of wolves than she did of convincing him to forgive her, no matter what Hildy said. Maybe if she’d been the one to tell him it would be different, but Marcia had swooped in and ruined everything.

It would be easier on everyone if she left—but where would she go? Connor had agreed to sell her the studio. It was the whole reason she’d come. She didn’t want to throw that away.

Marcia’s words rushed back—“I’ll tell Martin to expect you on Monday morning.”

Did she dare?

How could she return to the ballet after all she’d been through? How could she pretend it was enough for her, that she’d happily marry her career, that she didn’t want anything else out of this life?

She’d gone searching for more—for something she didn’t deserve—and she’d found it in spades. She would never be able to pretend she hadn’t.

And she’d never be able to pretend she didn’t need Cole in her life.

But as much as she didn’t deserve his goodness, he didn’t deserve the pain she’d likely caused him by withholding the truth.

She had to at least try and explain.

She drove around town in a Honda Civic—her replacement rental car she’d picked up two weeks ago, looking for Cole’s truck, praying for some clue of where he might’ve gone, and praying that he’d give her a chance to tell the truth.

Too little, too late.

The words turned to fear as they raced through her mind.

The night was dark, and it started to rain. She rounded a corner and stopped in front of the cemetery. Cole’s truck was parked at the entrance.

She parked next to him, and the rain kicked up. She fished around in her back seat until she found her umbrella, a city-living staple.

Outside, the sky flashed like a strobe light and a low rumble of thunder rolled in the distance.

She hurried into the cemetery, eyes searching the darkness for any sign of Cole. Another flash of lightning and she spotted him up ahead, sitting on the grass, getting soaked straight through.

“Cole?” she called out as she reached him.

He turned. “What are you doing here?”

She stopped at Julianna’s grave, the sight of her name on a headstone pulling every last bit of sadness to the surface. The last time she’d been here, it hadn’t felt so final. There was fresh dirt and flowers and a tent set up for the crowd to stand under. But now—this was where her friend had been laid to rest.

“I came to find you,” she said.

He stood.

“You’re soaked.” She tried to hand him the umbrella, but he refused it. He stood there, still in his tux, rain streaming down his face.

“I’m fine,” he said. His cold shoulder had returned, reminiscent of the Cole she’d met her first day in town.

What did she expect? Did she really think he’d take one look at her and forget everything Marcia had told him? Did she think she could skate by forever without any consequences? She deserved his coldness.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was going to tell you.”

He scoffed, shaking his head. “When were you going to tell me?”

“Tonight,” she said. “It’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I didn’t want anything to come between us.”

“Like your shady past?”

Her eyes found the ground between them. “I’m not that person anymore, Cole.”

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