The Lovely Return by Cole Carian

Author:Cole, Carian
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

PENNY

“I’m heading out,” I call out to Kris, the veterinary office manager. Since graduating two weeks ago, I just completed my first week of working full-time, and I’ve loved every minute of it. There’s never a dull moment here, but the worst part is resisting the urge to adopt every homeless or neglected pet that comes in. If I had my own house, it’d be filled with cute and furry critters.

“You have any plans for the weekend?” Kris asks, switching off the light to her office and joining me in the hall.

“Nothing exciting. How ’bout you?”

“My in-laws are coming for dinner tomorrow.” She grimaces. “So, I’m in for a night of my mother-in-law’s condescending remarks and hearing stories of how much she loved Mark’s high school sweetheart.” Kris rolls her eyes. “You’d think after twenty years and two kids, she’d accept that he’s in love with me, but no.”

I make an apologetic face. “That sounds awful.”

“It is. But I’m going to conveniently forget how much she hates chocolate cream pie and make that for dessert, so she can’t have any.”

I laugh. “Great revenge plan.”

“Do you need a ride home? I’ll be heading out in about ten minutes.”

“Thanks, but I’m going to walk. It’s really nice out, and I might stop by the café and get a slice of quiche and a smoothie.” I’ll pick up the same for Lily, as it’s also her favorite.

Kris’s brown eyes light up. “That sounds delish. I may just get the same on my way home.”

“I’ll see you Monday. I hope your mother-in-law doesn’t wreck your entire weekend.”

“I won’t hold my breath,” she says with a laugh. “Have a good weekend, Penny.”

Waving goodbye, I take the back door to the employee parking lot.

I don’t have a car yet. The original plan was my parents were going to fly out here for my graduation and take me car shopping while they were here. But then their flight got canceled twice, and they couldn’t get flights that worked with their work schedules, so they watched me graduate via video chat.

After thinking about it, it seemed silly to buy a car when I wasn’t sure if I’d be moving to California. As a new driver, there’s no way I’d feel safe driving alone across the country. It’d cost a fortune to ship it, and it’d be a pain to sell it. Lily doesn’t mind sharing her car, so it hasn’t been a problem. But now that I’m certain I’ll be staying in New Hampshire, a trip to the car dealership is in my near future.

I blink rapidly when I see Alex in front of me, leaning against a black SUV.

“Alex?”

I blink some more, positive I must be hallucinating. I’ve never seen Alex out in the world before. He’s always seemed somehow oddly bound to his home and property. It’s been weeks since he kissed my nose the night of prom and I’ve been thinking of him nonstop since. Perhaps I’ve manifested him right into the parking lot.

“What are you doing here?” I ask when I approach him.

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