Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 15551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 78(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 78(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
Willow Creek still slept around her. But her heart was racing. The air felt too still, the room too small.
A few minutes later, Luke appeared in the doorway, shirtless, hair mussed, sleep still soft in his eyes. “Everything okay?”
Zoe turned toward him, but the words lodged in her throat.
“Work stuff,” she said, too casually.
He watched her. “The kind that pulls you away?”
Zoe couldn’t meet his gaze.
“I haven’t decided anything yet,” she said.
Luke stepped closer. “You don’t have to pretend, Zoe. I can see it all over you. The tug. The gears already turning.”
“I just need time to think.”
He nodded slowly. “You’ve got it.”
But something had shifted between them. Not anger, not quite disappointment—but distance. That invisible line she thought they’d crossed had reappeared, drawn sharp across the floor of the cottage.
Later that day, she tried to shake it off. She helped Sarah at the shop, smiled at Mae when she passed by the tea room, even went to the festival planning meeting with Penny. But nothing fit quite right. Not like it had the day before.
She walked through town like someone drifting between two worlds, unable to choose either.
By sunset, she found herself standing outside Harrison Auto Repair, unsure why she’d come. Luke was closing up, rolling the bay door shut, wiping grease from his hands with a rag.
“Hey,” she said softly.
He looked up. “Hey.”
“I didn’t mean to disappear today.”
“I figured you had a lot to think about.”
She stepped closer. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Only if you want to be honest,” he said, his voice gentle but firm.
Zoe hesitated. “They offered me a promotion. A big one.”
Luke nodded, expression unreadable. “And you want it.”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
She looked at him, eyes pleading. “I didn’t come here to fall for anyone. Or to find a new life. I just wanted to breathe.”
“And now?” he asked.
Zoe shook her head, unable to answer.
Luke dropped the rag into a nearby bin and stepped past her, pausing at the door.
“I’m not going to fight for someone who doesn’t know if she wants to stay.”
The words weren’t cruel. They were quiet. Final.
Zoe stood frozen in place as he disappeared inside.
The breeze picked up, rustling the leaves overhead.
She had come here to escape.
Now she had to decide if she was willing to stay.
Chapter 11: Crossroads
The storm rolled in overnight.
Wind howled against the shutters, and rain tapped furiously at the cottage windows like it was trying to claw its way in. Zoe sat curled on the couch in an oversized sweatshirt, the untouched mug of tea in her hands long gone cold.
She hadn’t gone to see Luke since their conversation at the garage.
He hadn’t come by either.
There was no anger between them. No slammed doors or accusations. Just space. A silence that grew heavier with each passing hour.
Her inbox blinked on the laptop screen from the table beside her. Kristen had sent the contract. Friday at noon. A promotion, a future, a return to the life she’d built with such meticulous care.
And yet, all she could think about was how empty that life had begun to feel.
This is what you worked for, she reminded herself.
The title. The respect. The money. The grind.
But Luke’s voice lingered in her mind.
“I’m not going to fight for someone who doesn’t know if she wants to stay.”
A knock at the door startled her.
Zoe crossed the room slowly, heart beating fast.
It wasn’t Luke.
It was Sarah, rain-damp and frowning.
“I figured you weren’t going to show, so I came to check on you.”
“Show where?”
“Granny Mae’s,” Sarah said, slipping inside. “They’re loading baskets for the community drive. You signed up last week.”
Zoe blinked. She had. But that was before the offer. Before everything turned gray again.
“I forgot,” she said softly.
Sarah studied her for a beat. “No, you didn’t. You’re just somewhere else right now.”
Zoe sank onto the couch. “I feel… pulled.”
Sarah sat across from her. “Then pull yourself toward the place that feels like home. Not the one that just looks good on paper.”
“I don’t know if I belong here, Sarah. I don’t know if I’m enough here.”
“You don’t have to be anything here,” Sarah said. “That’s the point.”
Zoe let her sister’s words settle before whispering, “I think I’m scared that choosing this life means I failed at the other one.”
Sarah reached across and took her hand. “Choosing peace is never failure. Choosing love… that’s the hardest, bravest thing you can do.”
Zoe looked down at their hands, then out the window at the rain.
Later that evening, the storm eased, and Zoe found herself walking through town. The roads were slick, the lights glistening on the pavement. She didn’t have an umbrella. She didn’t care.
She ended up at the garage.
The lights were off inside, but the office was still open. She found Luke sitting behind the desk, staring at nothing in particular. A box of tools sat at his feet, untouched.