Page 74 of Wedding Bet

My hands trembled as I wrote back a text to Landry, telling him as politely as I could that I didn’t think we were going to work out.

I wrote the last sentences, tears streaming down my face.

Thank you for being in a snowglobe with me. It meant everything.

I let out a rough breath of air, using the heels of my hands to push away my tears. There was no time to dwell. My only mission in life was to claw my way out of the monetary hell I’d been in for years, and finally start living a life I could be proud of.

So that I could finally let myself share my world with someone, without shame.

I successfully blotted out my feelings for the rest of the night, collecting my meager tips in my calloused hands at the end of the night. I drove to the gas station and put every dollar into my tank, watching the needle barely make it to half full. When I got back to the house, I made it part of the way up our front walkway before I saw the silhouette of one of my roommates making outwith a girl on our couch and loud country music blaring from the living room speakers.

“Damn it,” I muttered under my breath, stopping in my tracks.

I didn’t want to go inside. There was nothing for me in this house, other than a tiny bedroom and the smell of stale beer.

I turned around, heading straight back down the walkway and along the street, walking the few short blocks to the ocean. Our house wasn’t on a particularly ideal portion of the water, because the beaches had more rocks than sand around here and it wasn’t a nice tourist destination.

The moment I stepped foot on the shore, though, I knew it was all I had been needing. I yanked off my boots and socks, my feet finally free after being trapped for sixteen hours. I pulled off my shirt next, tossing it in a pile by the steps that led down to the beach.

I let the breezy night air hit my skin, closing my eyes for a moment and pulling in a long breath of ocean scent. The waves lapped at the dark rocks, and I found a small patch of sand and plopped down onto my ass.

I didn’t care if I got damp or sandy. My clothes were already covered in grease, and I couldn’t care anymore.

For the first time since being home, I remembered myself.

The beach had a way of erasing everything else in the world, if only for a moment. Even if I felt rotten and unlovable, I at least always felt like Ibelonged, when I was by the water.

That had to be enough.

After staring out at the foam on the waves for who knew how long, my phone buzzed in my front pocket. My heart kicked in my chest.

Would it be another distress call from Mom about her hip or about money? Would it be work, or my roommates, or a damn bill collector asking about similar things?

Or would it be Landry, probably sending me the last message I’d ever see from him?

In another minute, I summoned the courage to pull my phone out of my pocket. I glanced at the screen and when I saw it was Landry, my heart rate doubled.

I opened it up.

It was a photo of a cat—not just any cat, but probably one of the more adorable ones I’d ever seen in my entire life. He was grey all over other than a patch of white between his eyes and two white paws up front. His eyes were wide in the photo, and one paw was outstretched toward a radiant orange tulip. It looked like he was playing with the tulip bud like it was a toy on a string.

Sprinkle, Landry’s beloved neighborhood stray.

A smile spread across my face and the sensation almost felt unfamiliar.

I probably hadn’t smiled like that in days, I realized.

I let out a breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, wiping away a tear that had fallen down my cheek at the same time I smiled wide.

My hands were shaking a little again, but for a different reason this time. I let my thumb hover over the phone button on Landry’s message, pausing for a beat, feeling like the fate of the world was hanging in the balance.

And then I let my thumb down. The phone started ringing, and I held up my phone to my ear, forcing my hands to be steady. My heart was a drum in my chest as I waited one ring, then two, then three.

“Jamie,” came Landry’s voice when he finally picked up, and it was as if every cell in my body relaxed, just a little, hearing that familiar sound.

“Hi,” I managed to say.

“Is… everything all right?” he asked, his tone kind.

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