Page 33 of Shadowed Rubies
I grinned over my silly joke, but my mom just gave me a sad half-smile. I hated it that this was hurting their feelings, but my mind was made up.
“Look, I’m going to miss you guys like crazy, but we’ll visit all the time… I promise.”
Mom stood and pulled me into a hug. “But why do you have to leave right before Christmas?”
She already knew the answer to this, but I humored her anyway. “Dani’s leave of absence from work is almost over. We need to get down there and get settled into a bigger apartment than her tiny studio before she has to return to work on January first.”
“We’re going to miss you so much,” she whispered near my ear.
Doing her part to lighten the mood, Molly said, “More presents for me, I guess.”
I grinned at my kid sister before yanking her into our hug. She batted at me and pretended not to like it, until our father came up behind us and engulfed us all in his strong arms. It was a rare show of emotion from the stoic man, so we all appreciated it for what it was.
Not wanting the moment to become too somber, I said, “You guys will send my presents down, right?”
Mom rolled her eyes and shook her head as we all had a chuckle over my silly joke and reluctantly dropped our arms from each other.
Needing to get out of there before I let some embarrassing man-tears fall, I tried to keep the emotion from showing in my voice as I said, “I’ll see you soon.”
They sent well-wishes in my direction, but I didn’t stick around to listen. I tucked my head down and headed out the front door of my parents’ house. Dani was going to be my family now, so I needed to be where she was.
When I pulled up in front of the Waters’ household, I encountered a similar scene to what I’d just left at my parents’ house. Dr. Waters was crying and hugging Dani close to her as if she wasn’t willing to let her go. Dean made a lame joke about her getting out of here because he was missing the big game on television. She shoved at his shoulder before turning to say goodbye to Josie and Jaxson.
Her nephew kicked his feet as she leaned in to speak directly to him. “Aunt Dani loves you very much, sweet boy. You take good care of your daddy while I’m gone because he’s going to miss me being here to torment him.”
Dean let a ‘pfft’ sound escape his lips, but I saw the extra wetness in his eyes.
A chorus of ‘goodbyes’ trailed after us as we walked up the sidewalk to our vehicles.
Pausing to speak to me before getting in her car, Dani said quietly, “It never gets any easier to leave.”
That wasn’t at all what I wanted to hear. Wanting to reassure her, I promised, “We’ll build a great life for ourselves in Boston.”
A single tear trailed down her cheek as she nodded up at me. I used the back of my index finger to swipe it away before saying, “I love you, Dr. Danica Waters.”
She smiled up at me with the sadness erased from her expression. “I love you, too, Max Malone.”
After taking a deep breath, I said, “Are you ready to go start our new life together?”
“Absolutely,” she said, before releasing her arms from around me to walk to the driver’s side of her car.
I was parked right behind her, with a small U-Haul trailer attached to my truck. It was amazing how few belongings I really needed to survive.
Looking in the rearview mirror as we pulled away from her family’s house, I said goodbye to Brunswick Bay Harbor, the only home I’d ever known.
37
Dani
Istared with glassy eyes at the white wooden sign on the edge of town. It had a picture of Captain’s Point Lighthouse on both sides. I knew the other side read, “Welcome to Brunswick Bay Harbor, a picturesque small-town paradise you’ll never want to leave.”
The side I was looking at said, “Thanks for visiting Brunswick Bay Harbor. Why would you go anywhere else?”
My foot eased up from my car’s gas pedal involuntarily. Max was following close behind me, but I knew he wouldn’t rear-end me.
I read the words over and over in my mind.Why would I go anywhere else?
The question mocked me. WhydidI want to go anywhere else? This tiny little seaside burg was home. It had everything I could ever need or want––other than big city career opportunities.
