When Rose heard Seth cry out in the middle of the night, her heart twisted. It wasn’t a shout like when you stubbed a toe or banged your knee against a piece of furniture: it was the kind of cry that was equal parts terror and rage. It was the kind of shout that she understood all too well.She closed her eyes and dug her fingers into Callie’s plush fur. She waited for another shout, but there was only silence from next door.Rose hadn’t been able to sleep, although Seth’s yell would’ve awoken her, no doubt. Rising from her blankets, she padded to the living room, which shared a wall with Seth’s apartment.She placed her ear against the wall and listened. She could make out Seth walking around, and she heard his low voice. It was too muffled to hear his words, but it confirmed that he was awake.Callie stood next to her and woofed softly. Rose petted her absently.She’d missed him—that she couldn’t deny. She’d avoided him since she’d essentially kicked him out of her apartment, bu
Rose saw Seth and his brothers sit down at a table in the back at The Fainting Goat, and she almost ran into Rebecca when she whirled around.“Whoa, watch out! I almost dropped my tray.” Rebecca glared as she pushed past her.Rose took a deep breath and forced her heart to slow. She owed Seth an explanation—and an apology. Again. This seemed to be her lot in life: want Seth, offend Seth, avoid Seth. Rinse, repeat ad infinitum.“DiMarco, you okay?” Ash Younger asked as he walked past her to Trent’s office. “You look like you saw a ghost.”She gave him a wan smile. “I’m fine. Sorry, I’ll get back to work.”She didn’t give a chance for Ash to ask more questions before she hurried into the kitchen, only to realize that there weren’t any orders to pick up. She loitered until the chef told her either to start cooking or go be productive.She checked on her tables, refilled water glasses, and made absolutely certain to avoid any glares directed her way via Seth Thornton. Considering she
Rose had never hated not having a car more than when Heath called her to tell her his place had been broken into. He’d told her she didn’t need to come over, but of course she would. He was her brother, for God’s sake.The bus system in Fair Haven was mediocre at best. Deciding to pay for an Uber even though she really couldn’t spare the cash, Rose arrived about fifteen minutes later at Heath’s small bungalow on the south side of town. One of the few benefits of living in a small town was that you didn’t get stuck in traffic just driving a handful of miles away.There was a Fair Haven police car outside Heath’s house, and she approached to see Caleb Thornton talking with Heath.“Rose! I told you didn’t need to come,” Heath admonished, but he didn’t look upset.She hugged him hard, and he laughed.“I’m fine. I wasn’t even here, and they didn’t take anything that I can find. Just messed up the place.”That only made her feel worse. When she started shaking, Heath made her look him
That night, Rose lay in her nest of blankets with Callie and thought. She thought about everything she’d told Heath, and everything he’d told her.You can’t let fear rule your life.Those words thrummed in her mind like a single chord of music. She stroked Callie as she thought, and considered, and finally, made a decision.She knew very well it wouldn’t be as easy as letting go and dusting her hands of everything that had happened. But that didn’t mean she should stay in a kind of stasis, either.If she didn’t push herself to move forward, no one would.It was close to midnight. She wondered if Seth was asleep, but then she heard the creak of footsteps next door.The universe was giving her a sign, that was for sure.“I’ll be back later,” she whispered to Callie. Before she left, she brushed her teeth—a second time—brushed her hair, put on her prettiest bra-and-panty set, and then added a little lipstick on top of it all.If she was going to seduce a man, she might as well giv
Rose knew her happiness couldn’t last. The morning after, she went to her apartment to shower and get ready for work. Seth had made it difficult for her to leave, though, as he’d kept kissing her and luring her back into bed. After they’d eaten breakfast, he’d carried her to his bed again, the sex slow and tender and so amazing Rose couldn’t believe any of it was real.Toweling her hair dry, she heard her phone ring. Her heart beat in excitement, thinking it was Seth, but when she saw it was an unknown number, her heart sank.“Hello?” she answered. She refused to sound scared.“Rosie, it’s been too long. I got your message,” said Johnny, his voice almost jovial. “I’d love to meet with you, but I don’t have much time to waste. How about Saturday afternoon, at the Sanditon Pass?”“That’s at least an hour away. I don’t have a car—”“Figure it out.” His jovial tone melted away. “Either agree to meet me there, or you can kiss your boyfriend and your brother goodbye.”“And what if I sa
Rose awoke to the sound of Seth’s voice. Yawning, she sat up, her brain slowly clearing of sleep.Seth’s shoulders were tense as he spoke to someone on the phone. “Yeah, you’ll have my answer soon, sir. Yeah. Yeah, I understand. Bye.”He seemed not to realize she was next to him. She began to rub his shoulders, concerned, but he pushed her hands away.“I need to take a shower,” he muttered. “I’ll be back,” he added in a gentler voice.Rose heard the water turn on next door, and as she made breakfast for herself and Seth, she frowned. Who wanted an answer from him? He hadn’t mentioned anything of the sort lately.Rose gave Callie a bite of bacon. “It’s just one thing after another with us, isn’t it?”Seth returned twenty minutes later, his hair wet and looking a little less dazed. They sat down to eat, not speaking, and Rose decided not to press him until he felt ready to tell her what was going on.Seth set his plate down on the table, smiling when Callie tried to nose another p
One moment Seth was next to her watching the fireworks, the next he was pushing his way through the crowd. He disappeared from her line of sight for a moment.“What’s wrong?” Caleb yelled over the latest firework explosion.“I don’t know! I need to go after him.”Rose ducked under someone’s arm and headed toward the Thornton house. She saw a door close, and she went inside the house, which was mostly dark except for a dim light from the hallway. She’d gone through a back door that led into a mudroom. She waited a moment and then heard footsteps. She ran after the sound.She discovered Seth in a room upstairs, his head in his hands. She glanced at the decor and realized that this must have been his childhood room: there were posters of rock bands on the walls, a giant but old stereo on a table near the bed, and a scattering of rudimentary wooden figurines. She almost smiled when she saw the desktop computer still sitting on the desk.“Seth.” He didn’t respond, and she sat down next
Rose entered her own apartment and stood in the middle of her living room. Her brain couldn’t compute what had just happened. She stared at the dirty dishes currently sitting in the sink, the mug on the coffee table where she’d left it this morning. It had seemed ages ago, drinking from the mug.Callie whined and sat next to Rose. She whined again, but Rose didn’t respond.It was over. After everything that had happened to her, she’d fallen in love with a man who didn’t want to fight for that love. He wanted to let himself fall deeper into his own doom, and she could do nothing about it.A stray firework exploded some miles away; she flinched. She waited for a second one, and she breathed a sigh of relief when that seemed to be the only one.She washed the dishes that had been sitting in the sink all day. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, got dressed for bed. Pulling out the futon, she realized that her pillow smelled like Seth. Exchanging it for another pillow, she almost sc