Just One Kiss_A Harbor Pointe Novel by Courtney Walsh

Author:Courtney Walsh [Walsh, Courtney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-22T18:30:00+00:00

She read the update aloud, then sat for several more minutes, turning over options in her mind.

“Go,” Quinn said. “It’s okay.”

Carly quietly slipped into the hallway, leaving her dad to make pleasant conversation with Jim and Gloria Dixon. She clung to the pager, and for a moment she wished everyone who’d come to show their support would show it by leaving them alone.

Of course she didn’t mean it, she was so thankful for her family—but she didn’t want any of them to see how scared she was.

And she definitely didn’t want any of them to notice the web of confusion in her eyes every time she looked at Josh.

She walked down the hallway to an atrium where she spotted him staring out the window overlooking the lake. The atrium was all glass, and the sunshine poured in, filling the space with light.

What did she say? She couldn’t tell him she was a ball of confusion. She couldn’t tell him that the second she’d closed the door after he left that morning, she’d slid to the ground and cried for five minutes straight.

And she certainly couldn’t tell him that his prayer had nicked the lining around her heart, giving her anger a place to escape.

She knew Josh. She needed to remember that. He was a man who couldn’t stick. A man who ran. A man she could not rely on.

People didn’t change, no matter how much you wanted them to. Her mother had left them and never returned. She went off and found herself a new family and a new life without so much as a glance in the rearview mirror.

And yet . . . was it wrong to hope?

She shoved the thought aside.

He didn’t move when she approached. He didn’t move when she slid into the spot right next to him. He didn’t move when she let out a tense breath, inadvertently fogging up the window.

Was he off in another world? Maybe a world where he was a kid hiding bruises and making up reasons he couldn’t participate in gym class?

What happened to you?

She stared out the window, looking out across the lake, gaze landing on a brightly colored sailboat a little way from the shore.

Her mind spun, searching for something to say. Her relationship with Josh was tenuous, but she was the one who knew the truth about Josh’s past. She was the one who knew that he wasn’t simply an ungrateful son who didn’t respect his parents.

Regardless of what anger she still carried toward Josh, she didn’t wish this kind of pain on him.

Be careful.

The words rang out in her head like a warning shot, and she swatted them away, inching toward Josh.

Still, he didn’t move, didn’t even acknowledge she was there.

Slowly, unsteadily, she slid her hand into his, uncertain if he would respond. Seconds ticked by and she wondered if she’d made a mistake. Maybe he really did want to be alone. Maybe she should go back to the waiting room and let him stew out here by himself.

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