Page 48 of Serenity at Seagrove
If he was one thing, it was a gentleman. There was no way he was going to cross any boundaries she had put up.
The walk back to the inn felt longer than usual. His shoulder ached for the first time in a long time. The Oakland Hills deadline loomed, but instead of clarity, he felt more confused than ever.
“Well, you’re back early,” Dawson said when Archer walked into the kitchen. “What happened?”
“Luna just shut me out completely.” Archer set down the untouched coffees. “Said we needed, and I quote, ‘appropriate boundaries’, and that she’d let things become unprofessional.”
“That doesn’t sound like Luna.”
“Yeah, no kidding. A few days ago, we were dancing under the twinkle lights, and now she can barely look at me.”
Dawson looked at him carefully. “Did you tell her about Oakland Hills?”
“No. I was going to today. She wouldn’t even let me in the door.”
“Maybe she found out,” Dawson said quietly.
“How? I haven’t told anybody except you.”
“Well, I certainly didn’t tell anyone.”
Archer sat in the kitchen chair, the weight of the world pressing down on him. “I’ve messed this up. By waiting too long to tell her, by letting things develop between us when I knew I might be leaving.”
“Or maybe,” Dawson said, “you’ve been looking for reasons to take the Oakland Hills job because you’re scared of what’s happening between the two of you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you spent your whole life chasing the next big thing in golf. But with Luna and with the kids you’re teaching, you found something real—something you can’t measure in tournament wins or prestigious coaching positions.”
Archer couldn’t stop thinking about Luna’s face when she watched him teach the kids, or about the way she felt in his arms during their dance.
“None of that matters now,” he said roughly. “She’s made it clear that she wants nothing to do with me.”
“Has she?” Dawson challenged. “Or do you think maybe she’s protecting herself?”
Archer frowned. “What are you saying?”
Dawson leaned against the counter. “Think about it, Archer. If she did somehow find out about the job offer, what would Luna do?”
“She’d…” Archer trailed off as understanding dawned. “She’d step back. Try to make it easier for me to leave.”
“Exactly.”
Archer stood and paced the kitchen. “She won’t even talk to me. And the Oakland Hills deadline is tomorrow.”
“So make a decision,” Dawson said. “The real decision—not the one you think you should make.”
“You know it’s not that simple.”
“It actually is.” Dawson crossed his arms. “When you think about your future, what do you see? Some big coaching position across the country? Or the life you’ve started building here?”
Archer stopped pacing and looked out the window toward Serenity. He thought about his young students’ eager faces and the way teaching them had brought so much joy back to the game. He thought about Luna, and how she had helped him find himself again.
“I see her.” He swallowed hard. “But what if that’s not enough? What if I stay, and she continues pushing me away? What if I give up my last chance to stay connected to professional golf?”
“Or what if you take the job and spend the rest of your life wondering what might have been?” Dawson said. “A woman like Luna isn’t going to just sit around. Somebody’s going to snatch her up.”
Archer’s phone buzzed—another email from Oakland Hills, asking for a final decision, wanting to make an announcement.
