Page 55 of Her Hometown Man
“I didn’t realize you meant the very next day. Like, after the grand opening,period. Maybe because we haven’t talked about it. Not the whole group, but just you and me.”
“I said we could talk tonight, after we close. To say goodbye.” She closed her eyes for a moment, maybe to block out the pain on his face that he couldn’t hide. “Case, you always knew I was leaving. You said we were enjoying each other’s company. No pressure.”
“That was—” He bit back the wordbefore. Before he fell completely in love with her. Before he started imagining they might have a life together. He knew she had to go back to Vermont, at least for a little while. But she lived two hours away. They could juggle some long-distance stuff. She could finish her book. They’d figure it out. But it didn’t appear any of that was a part ofherplan.
She flinched, hurt crossing her face. “Do we have to do this right now? I’m a little busy.”
He shrugged, a casual gesture meant to disguise how much he was hurting on the inside. “We don’t have to do it at all. It is what it is, and we both knew that’sallit was.”
He walked out, not bothering to say goodbye to anybody. They were all busy, and he didn’t have it in him to act like everything was okay, even for a few minutes. Instead he went home and greeted his dog, who followed him around the house sniffing at his legs, trying to figure out who he’d been with.
Two hours later, Gwen’s light went on. He knew because he was standing at the window, staring at her bedroom and trying to figure out how things had gotten so out of control between them.
He still believed if things calmed down—if the two of them could escape the situation for even a few days—they could work it out. And that’s why he took the cap off the Sharpie and scrawled one word across a piece of poster board.
Stay.
He saw movement in her window—her shape blocking the light—and then she was gone. But a minute later, her whiteboard appeared.
I can’t. Go with me.
The invitation hit him like a fist to the chest, bruising his heart. Gwen wanted him to go with her to Vermont. She wanted him. She just didn’t want himhere.
Happiness swelled in him, but it was like a roller coaster reaching the top of a steep climb. A moment of relief and happiness, and then came the drop. But his roller coaster didn’t just drop. It plummeted and went off the rails.
He didn’t really know anything about where Gwen lived, except that it was a condo. Even if they allowed dogs, he didn’t think Boomer would like condo living. And Case owned his home. He wasn’t opposed to selling it, even though it had belonged to his parents, but he liked it. It suited him, as did everything about his life in Stonefield.
But there was also D&T Tree Service to consider. Vermont had trees, of course, but with Lane turning so much of his attention to the brewery, Case relocating would probably be the end of the company their fathers had started when they were younger than Case and Lane were now.
He couldn’t leave Stonefield. Not right now, anyway. And probably not for a long time.
I can’t.
He waited. The whiteboard disappeared and he waited again, for what felt like half a lifetime, but it wasn’t coming back. Then her room went dark.
It was over.
Swallowing hard against the lump in his throat, he closed his curtains and walked out of his bedroom. Boomer followed, his mood subdued as he glanced repeatedly at his person for reassurance everything was okay.
Everything was definitely not okay.
With no way to fill the empty void that his life suddenly was, he sank onto the couch and turned on the television. Usually Boomer would flop on the floor or lay on the other end of the couch with his head up on the throw pillow as if he were any other guy watching TV, but he knew his person needed a little extra love.
Case couldn’t help smiling down at his dog when he sprawled on his back with his head on Case’s lap, offering his belly to be rubbed. He obliged, rubbing Boomer’s belly with one hand while mindlessly surfing channels with the other.
“You’re a good boy, Boomer,” he said in a soft voice, because petting his dogdidhelp a little. “We’ll be okay. Eventually.”
Chapter Eighteen
The word around town is that the grand opening of Sutton’s Place Brewery & Tavern was a big success! Combine a casual and relaxed atmosphere with excellent beer, and it’s sure to become a favorite gathering place for our town. And it’s a good thing it’s not far from the Stonefield House of Pizza because the food orders kept the S-HoP delivery team busy!
—Stonefield GazetteFacebook Page
It was a lot harder to say goodbye to her family than Gwen had anticipated. Usually she gave them each a quick hug, got in her car and drove away. Not this time.
It had started as soon as she appeared in the kitchen that morning, with Jack and Eli trying to talk her out of leaving by telling her all the fun stuff they could do if she stayed. And some of it even sounded fun. In the past there had been dutiful hugs for their aunt, but she’d spent more time with them this summer than she ever had before, and they weren’t happy to see her go.
But she needed to go. Shehadto finish her book. And then she’d have to start another. It was harder to do that here. And there was nothing more she could do in Stonefield. The brewery was open. She and Case were over. It was time to go home.
