Page 96 of Find Me in California

She starts to walk away.

Just last week, he would have let her go because he let everyone go or he pushed them away. But leaving Julia like this feels wrong.

“Julia.”

She stops. “Goodbye, Matt.”

He nods that this is it, fighting the urge to go after her. He almost does when she hesitates at Ruby’s door. Shouldn’t he be here for her like she was for him? But she takes a deep breath, gearing herself up for what she has to face, and steps into the room.

Reluctantly, he leaves Rosemont for what will probably be the last time and takes an Uber back to her house. He already packed his duffel this morning, so he cleans the kitchen, puts away the food they nevergot around to eating, and straightens the front room. When he realizes he’s looking around for something else to do, he grabs his bag and reaches for the door. But he can’t turn the knob.

He can’t leave her.

These last five days have been confusing as hell. The woman he spent the weekend with turned out to be a figment of his imagination. The man he grew up believing was his grandfather might be Julia’s. He thought he lost his last living relative only to gain a family he didn’t know he belonged to.

And the woman he spent this evening with? The only person who’s ever pulled the confession about his mom from him? She’s something special.

Golden, brilliant, and enchanting.

The center of his gravity.

His sun.

“Huh.”

Maybe there was something real about his time spent with Magnolia Blu after all.

Matt releases the knob and sets down his bag. Then he sits on the couch, and he waits.

He’ll wait as long as she takes.

Thursday

CHAPTER 46

JULIA

Julia held Mama Rose’s cold, lifeless hand. She kissed her chilled, unmoving cheek. And she watched the coroner take her grandmother away.

She remained behind long afterward. She listened to the last book her grandmother had read, picking up where she’d left off. She played Mama Rose’s favorite music as she removed the linens from her bed, leaving those on the floor to be disposed of and folding the quilt to take home later. By the time she could make herself leave Rosemont, it was almost dawn.

Juggling a stack of books, she unlocks her front door and finds Matt standing by the couch, rubbing his face. His shirt is rumpled and his hair askew.

“You’re still here.” She thought he would have been long gone by now and regretted asking him to leave. She wasn’t thinking straight. But she’s had plenty of time to think about last night, mulling over the time they spent together as she packed up Mama Rose’s room, finding both cathartic: the mulling and the packing. She’s glad he decided to stay.

“I fell asleep on the couch.” He stretches his back. “There’s no support.”

“None.” She closes the door behind her and cautiously approaches him.

“How are you doing?” he gently asks.

She sets the books on the coffee table. “I’m both sad and relieved. Is it wrong to feel that way?”

He shakes his head. “No.”

“Lonely.”

He lifts his hand, hesitates, then briefly touches her hair. “I’m here.”

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