The porch had always been his favorite part of the lodge. It was too cold to sit out this time of year, but nothing beat a cold beer on a muggy summer night on the Northern Star’s front porch.
“You look like you’re going to a funeral, not setting off on a grand adventure.”
He snorted. “Grand isn’t in the budget.”
“You’ll be fine. You have some savings and we’ll deposit your share in your account so you can draw from it every month.”
“I wish you two would take more. It doesn’t seem fair.”
“Honey, we don’t need more than what we have.”
Because they had each other, he thought. That was what mattered. “I lost my best friend, Rosie.”
“Oh, hush. My girl has loved you for so long I probably made a note of it in her baby book. You’ll never lose her.”
“I need you to understand I have to do this. It rips me up to hurt her, but—”
She captured his cheeks between her hands, leaving him no choice but to shut up and look her in the face. “I do understand. And when the hurt wears off a bit, so will Katie.”
“I hope so. No matter where I am, I’m going to need a friend and—to me—that’ll always be her.”
“I want you to promise me two things.”
“I’ll try.”
“To hell with trying, young man. I’ve given you and your brothers and your sister as much of the best years of my life as I’ve given my own daughter and—”
“Okay!” He held up his hand to stop her. “I’ll promise. What are the two things?”
“You’re all as stubborn as a June day is long, but when it comes to pride you got a concentrated dose. Promise me if you don’t find what you’re looking for out there or you get lonely, you’ll come home.”
He gave a short laugh. “Wouldn’t that be great, if after all this time whining about leaving, I turn around and come home?”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. I don’t want to hear that. You promise me if you want to come home, that’ll you’ll damn well come home.”
Home to a lodge he couldn’t wait to leave behind and a woman whose heart he’d broken. But he couldn’t deny Rosie anything when she looked at him like this. “I promise. What’s the second thing?”
She gripped his hands in her so hard it was almost painful. “Promise me you’ll stop beating yourself up and embrace this opportunity. Enjoy your freedom and find what it is you’re looking for in life, or all of this was for nothing.”
All of this meaning the pain he’d caused Katie and, by extension, her mother. And himself. “I promise.”
She gave him a skeptical look and he laughed. “I swear, Rosie. I promise both things.”
“Good.” Her bottom lip began trembling and he saw the tears glimmering in her eyes before she grabbed his face and kissed his cheek. “Now, go so I can cry in peace. I love you, Josh.”
He hugged her hard and pressed his face to her hair. “I love you, too, Rosie.”
“Go.”
He went because he was afraid if he was still there when her control crumbled and she cried for him, he might not be able to go anymore. In his rearview mirror he saw Andy step forward to put his arm around her and they both waved.
He beeped the horn as he neared the end of the driveway and didn’t look back again.
Chapter Nineteen
“Hey, do you have plans for Valentine’s Day?”
Katie actually pulled the phone away from her ear to make a what the hell face that Hailey couldn’t see on the other end of the line. Sure, she had plans for Valentine’s Day, because in the two weeks since the love of her entire life had driven out of town—to get a steak in Kansas fucking City, according to his email—she’d found herself a hot new guy who was going to romance the hell out of her on the most romantic day of the year.
“No, I don’t have plans,” was all she said out loud.
“Neither do I. Which isn’t a surprise since there’s an extreme lack of romance-worthy men in Whitford. Let’s do something together.”
Katie smiled, which she hadn’t been doing enough of lately. “Are you asking me to go on a date with you for Valentine’s Day?”
“Yes. Yes, I am. You should know up front, though, that I’m not going to let you kiss me good-night.” There was a short pause. “Well…probably not. Depends on how much I drink.”
The laughter felt good and Katie decided that, no matter what Hailey wanted to do for Valentine’s Day, she was going along for the ride. She was tired of moping. Tired of not having any appetite and crying herself to sleep.
Josh had left. He’d never made any secret of the fact he would if he got the chance, so she would try to treasure the time she’d had with him the same way she did all the other gifts he’d given her and try to put aside the heartache.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Hailey sighed. “That’s where I’m having an issue. I want to dress up and have a few drinks and dance.”
“We’d be the talk of the diner for months.”