Page 78 of No Way Home
“Come on now.” He chuckled again. “Does that sound like the Duprees?”
“No,” I conceded. A glint of gold on his ring finger caught my eye. My mouth fell open. “You’re married?” I put the car in drive and pressed on the gas, driving toward my fate.
He grinned again. “Yep. Going on thirteen months now.”
“You weren’t dating anyone two years ago.” My phone vibrated with a text from my dad. I ignored it.
He chuckled. “It was a whirlwind romance, that’s for sure. Three months start to finish. Went from complete bachelorhood to having a wife, two adult kids, and four grandkids.”
I pressed my free hand to my heart. “Jeff, oh my gosh, I love that so much. Tell me all about your family.”
“I married Beth Ross?” he said, asking if I knew who she was.
I shook my head.
“That’s right, you moved here after you graduated. She’s an English teacher at the high school. About a decade younger than me. Tally says I have my own age-gap romance like her and Ashton.”
“Love that. So she was married before?”
“Yeah. To an idiot.” His fists balled in his lap. “Who decided he liked men better than his own gorgeous wife.” Then he laughed. “I actually like Ross. Thank him for being stupid every time I see him.”
I giggled, and it felt good to release some tension. I tried to pay attention as Jeff went on about how beautiful his wife was and how happyhe was—but the moment I put the car in park, my lungs seized, a phantom weight pressing against my ribs as if bracing for impact. I looked up at the banner that said—Let the Adventure Begin, We Can’t Wait to Meet You, Willow!—and tried to swallow down the panic.
Jeff squeezed my hand. “Hey, no worries. I’ll stay right by your side until you’re comfortable.” He winked. “I gotchu.”
“Yeah. Okay.” As Jeff got out, I quickly found my phone. I flicked Dad’s messages away and sent a quick text to Abilene.
911! It’s a setup!
Jeff was standing by my door, waiting.
My nerves were so taut, it felt like I might have a mental breakdown if a fly landed on my arm. When we crested the hill and the entire family came into view below—adults eating from the spread of food, laughing and chatting, half the kids swimming in the lake, the other half jumping on the water trampoline—two years of missing them hit me all at once.
“How’d you meet Beth?” I asked Jeff, the words sounding like they’d come from someone else. Was this what an out-of-body experience felt like? Had I had a heart attack back in the car, and now I was heading toward the light without realizing it, with Jeff as my guide?
Jeff beamed. “Christy set us up.”
Christy must’ve heard him say her name because she glanced up—the very first Dupree to see me. She reached over and tapped Charlie on the shoulder.
Charlie squealed. “My bestie for life is back!” she shouted, promptly alerting everyone to my arrival.
As their heads turned, I felt my shoulders curling in. But I made myself keep going. Made myself look at Lemon, the woman who’d been my second mom. She’d taught me how to make bread and arrange flowers. How to fold a fitted sheet and how to set a boundary without burning bridges. I’d let her down in the worstpossible way. With the single act of kissing Bowen, I’d burned more bridges than I had in all the previous years of my life combined. In that moment, I finally acknowledged the painful truth I’d pushed to the edges of my heart since the Spartan Race: I’d missed Lemon the most, right behind Bowen and Griff.
Our eyes locked and I sucked in a breath. Her hand went to her heart and I tried to decipher what that meant. Charlie hurried up the hill toward me—but Lemon stepped out and caught her. Hands on Charlie’s shoulders, she said something too low for me to hear.
“Crap,” I mumbled, coming to a complete stop. “That can’t be good.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.” Jeff laughed, clearly not understanding the severity of my crimes.
Lemon speed-walked toward me, determination in her eyes. I stumbled back, but Jeff put a hand on my shoulder, keeping me there. When she was thirty feet away, I still couldn’t tell if she was happy to see me or coming to chase me off the premises—and my hands started to shake. Twenty feet away, she broke into a jog—and I thought I might pass out, my heart was pounding so hard.
But ten feet away? Ten feet away is when everything changed.
Her face split into a massive grin and she threw her arms out. “Oh, Maggie.” She wrapped me in a tight hug. “You sweet girl. I’m so happy you’re here.”
Chapter Thirty
BOWEN
