wide open as the twisting snow-covered roads that led her home.
A few hours later, Lila had arrived. She set a stack of folded boxes against the wall and peered out her Nashville apartment window, Eleanor’s car looking out of place in the little parking space at her complex. It was the only reminder of what Lila had just left. She turned away from the view and took in the small space that had been hers over the years. Her refrigerator held magnets from all the places she’d gone with her friends—The Big Apple, Boston, San Diego. The one plant she owned sat looking lonely on the kitchen counter. It always seemed to need just a bit more light than she could provide, no matter where she moved it. The sofa pillows were still squished into an odd shape from the last time she’d sat there, and the living room’s wood floors could use a good sweep.
She dropped down onto the sofa, and breathed in the scent of lavender and eucalyptus that Piper had suggested to make the space her own the first year she lived here. Piper had assigned them all scents, telling them they needed something to remind them of what was theirs. Edie’s was lilac and thyme, Charlotte had cinnamon and nutmeg, and for herself, Piper had chosen her own blend, which she called “salt and pepper oregano”—an earthy mix of spices and herbs. Piper had been right. Lavender and eucalyptus now reminded Lila of home every time she caught the scent of it—it was the one thing she didn’t have at the cabins.
Now that she was home, her trip felt like a dream. She had no idea where to go from here. Nobody she knew had enough money to buy the cabins, nor would she ever be able to convince them to invest in a declining property in the middle of nowhere. The coffee shop was nearly sold, and Theo didn’t live there anymore.
It hurt to think that, beyond Theo, there was nothing to take her back to Pinewood Hills. She had made the mistake of following a guy before, but she still wanted to return. She wanted to see the snow-topped rolling hills out her window instead of a concrete parking lot. She wanted to visit Trudy at the farm café and ride horses with Rex. But she wanted more than that. She wanted to sit with Theo at the coffee shop, sipping peppermint lattes together. She wanted to write songs with him, watch him teach Rex how to play a difficult chord on the guitar, take Eleanor to breakfast, learn how to make her favorite peach cobbler recipe. But with the sale of the coffee shop and Fireside Cabins changing hands, there was no way to make any of it happen. Nothing seemed to be staying the same.
The heating in Lila’s apartment was always iffy. Sometimes it would scorch her and other times it would turn her little space into an icebox. Since she’d arrived from the cabins today, it had decided to fry her like a sizzling egg in a pan, which was most inconvenient when she was trying to pack up her things. She’d told the landlord about it when she’d made the phone call to let him know she wouldn’t be renewing her lease. She opened the window a crack, the familiar Nashville sounds of country music from the bar downstairs sailing into her apartment.
She’d come a long way since first arriving in the city with Razz three years ago. The sound of the music had been electric for her on that first day they had moved in here. She was wide-eyed and naive, convinced they were on their way to the life she’d always dreamed of. Now the country music was like an old family member, always humming and oddly comforting. It had played through her heartbreak, her trials, and her grief. It had been a constant, watching her grow and change to become the woman packing up right now. She would miss it.
Lila rolled out the bubble wrap she’d had in the closet since before her trip. She’d bought it in case she decided to move, which was telling—like she’d known this day would come along. Placing a plate from her last stack in the center of the wrap, she folded it over, putting another plate on top. All the while, she wondered what she was doing and where she was going. One thing was for sure: there was no