Page 13 of Our Bay Will Come

"All set," I confirm. "Herringbone won the day."

"Of course it did. You had them pegged from the start." She glances at my phone. "Fox again?"

I nod, not bothering to hide it.

"And?"

"And nothing. Fox is just being nice."

She snorts. "Nice. Right. That's why you look like someone just offered you a free trip to Paris but you have to leave tonight."

"That's oddly specific."

"I'm oddly perceptive." She hitches her bag higher on her shoulder. "I'm heading out—early dinner with my mom. You should go home too. It's after six."

I glance at the clock, surprised to find she's right. "I will. Just need to update the Morgans' file first."

After she leaves, I sit in the quiet office, my phone a weighty presence beside me. Finally, I pick it up.

Me: I don't know what to do with you, Fox Carmichael.

His response comes quickly as if he's been waiting.

Fox: What do you want to do with me?

It's the perfect opening for an innuendo, for steering us back to the safer territory of flirtation and desire. But something stops me—the same something that's been nagging at me all week.

Me: I'm not good at this. The after part.

Fox: Who says there has to be an after? Maybe this is just the middle.

I laugh despite myself.

Me: Now, who's being abstract?

Fox: I'm serious, Prue. I like you. You like me. We're both adults. Why complicate it with expectations?

Me: Because expectations always creep in. They're sneaky like that.

Fox: Then we'll deal with them when they show up. One day at a time.

I stare at his words, torn between hope and caution. One day at a time. It sounds so simple when he puts it that way.

Me: What if one day you wake up and decide the distance isn't worth it?

Fox: What if one day you wake up and decide it is?

I have no clever response to that. It's just a flutter of something that feels dangerously like a possibility.

Me: I should go home. It's late.

Fox: Will you text me when you get there? Just so I know you're safe.

And there it is—the kind of thoughtfulness that makes it hard to keep my walls up.

Me: I will.

I gather my things and lock up the office, my mind still spinning with thoughts of Fox, distance, and possibilities. As I step outside into the cool Seattle evening, my phone buzzes again.

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