Page 106 of Your Place or Mine

I’d felt it the first time he stood next to me in the garden, pretending like he didn’t care, but still noticing when I missed a step, dropped something, or pushed too hard.

He noticed everything.

Which was why hisnotbeing here felt like the bottom dropping out.

“I’ll check the bar again,” Drew said, standing abruptly. “Maybe he left a note I missed. You okay?”

The question caught me off guard.

“I’m fine,” I said automatically.

But I wasn’t.

Because under the confusion, worry, and guilt was a flicker of something I wasn’t ready to name.

Fear.

Not just that he was gone, but that I’d pushed him without knowing the full story. That maybe I’d said or done something that made it harder for him to stay.

“I’ll call you if I hear anything,” I said, walking Drew to the door.

He nodded, and for a second, he hesitated.

Then he looked at me and said, “He’s not as put-together as he pretends to be. But he’s solid. If he’s not where he’s supposed to be, there’s a reason.”

I closed the door slowly after he left and leaned against it, arms crossed over my chest.

Because he was right.

Callum Benedict didn’t disappear.

And the fact that he had?

That was enough to set my entire world off balance.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Callum

I didn’t mean to end up here.

Not today.

Not after that kiss. Thatinsane, pull-the-world-out-from-under-me kiss.

But I found myself driving the winding road out past the old mill, tires crunching over gravel like my conscience, until I turned down the familiar path that led to the cemetery on the hill.

The wind always hit differently here.

Quieter. Sadder.

The trees swayed like they were holding their breath, the grass still damp with dew even in the afternoon sun.

I parked near the back like I always did, where no one else ever seemed to go, and walked the path without thinking. My boots sank into the soft ground with every step. By the time I reached the grave, I felt stripped bare.

Lucy Lynn Carter.

So Loved by So Many

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