Page 19 of Until You Found Me

She’s not at the dome when he knocks and it’s empty when he looks in the window. Did she leave while he was away? Maybe she recovered her memories and got on with her life. Jumping to conclusions is something he’s good at, but then he spies her long red hair fluttering in the breeze at the cliff’s edge.

She’s still here. She’s alive, safe, and staring at the ocean, cross-legged on the ground.

The first one to greet her is the dog, coming up from behind to lick her face. She gasps in surprise, but her smile is quick, prompting the Rottweiler to wiggle harder. Tessa laughs when he crawls in her lap, falling backward as the dog pretends no one has ever petted him before.

“Sorry, sorry. Get off her. Vegas! Off!”

She sits up when the dog returns to his side, but that pretty smile only gets bigger. “It’s okay, he’s sweet.”

“He’s a pest.” Logan seats himself beside her at an awkwardly far distance, shaking his head in amusement when the dog crawls back into her lap. “How was your first night? Sleep okay?”

“It was good. I slept as well as I could have.”

There are dark shadows under her bloodshot eyes. He knows that look all too well. “Being in a new place takes some getting used to.”

“It’s not the place. It’s perfect here, more than I deserve. This view is incredible, and the lighthouse is so close.”

He follows her gaze to the old structure a mile across the water that’s been there since he was a child. “Doesn’t work anymore but it’s nice to look at.”

“Can we go inside? I don’t mean now, obviously, just if it’s possible.”

“No. They used to give tours but that stopped a few years back. It’s all locked up now.”

She frowns. “That’s a shame, I bet the sunrises and sunsets are even better up there. Anyway, like I said, it’s not the place that’s the problem, it’s me.”

“What do you mean it’s you?”

She runs light fingers across the dog’s fur. “I don’t know what I’ll see when I close my eyes. The few times I passed out, I saw fire. Everywhere. Don’t want to see that again.”

“I’ve had some nightmares I don’t wanna relive either. Sometimes it’s easier to stay up and be tired.”

“Exactly. Except now I’m tired.”

He chuckles. “The trade-off isn’t so great either. Do you think the fire means anything?”

“Maybe. Probably. I can’t tell where I am when it’s happening. I don’t see anything else except the blaze. OrI’m so stressed I’m inventing wild scenarios. How was work? Did you catch anything?”

“Caught a bunch. One of the biggest hauls in a while, the fish were jumping in the boat.”

She smiles. “Is that why I need a walkie-talkie to reach you all the way over there? ‘Cause you still think you smell like all those fish?”

She remembered his earlier comment, and he ducks his head. “I do, don’t I? Fuck.”

“No. You don’t, I’m just teasing.” She looks away, her gaze falling on the sea. “All I smell anymore is dirt, anyway. Twenty-four seven. No matter what.”

“Hey, do you wanna come out on the boat some time? Go for a ride around the bay?”

Shit. Why did he say that? The abrupt offer escaped him before he could snag it back because his arsenal of things to combat her sadness and melancholy is small, consisting of a boat trip or the dog. His own company doesn’t count.

Her face brightens a fraction. “Really?”

“If you want to. If not, it’s okay. It’s not that interesting. Just a buncha water. The same water you can see from right here.”

Lydia always refused to join him on the water. She’d say he spent too much time working when he should be home with her. Didn’t seem to matter that he had bills to pay. She treated his work as if he’d been cheating on her. Eventually, she was right in assuming he used it as an escape.

“I’d love to go out on the boat,” Tessa says with a grin.

He’s more delighted than he should be, tempering his own smile that feels foreign. “Okay. My next day off, we’ll go.” If it can take her mind off things for a little while, then he’ll sailher across the ocean and back. Then he remembers what he planned to do today and curses his own absent-mindedness. “I, ah, got something I wanted to give you. Forgot to bring it out. You wanna…”

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