The Inn At Seagrove - Rachel Hanna Page 0,13

slamming a wrecking ball through their relationship, but a part of him had hoped that she might say she would come with him.

It wasn't that he wanted to leave Seagrove, but he wanted to feel successful in his career. He just wasn't sure he could do that in such a small town.

He finished up his paperwork, closed the file folder and put it into the box on his desk. He’d packed just about everything, what little he kept in his office. He was a clean freak, so there weren't a lot of knickknacks to take with him on his long trip.

He’d already spoken with his landlord about his apartment rental, and he had a short-term rental set up in Texas. He had no idea if he would be there permanently or not, but on the off chance that he was, he would soon start looking for an apartment there.

All of it had happened so quickly that he hadn't even had a chance to sit down and think about it. And Janine apparently wasn't even speaking to him. The look on her face the last time he had seen her was enough to tell him to stay away from her. He certainly didn't want to be the one to break her heart.

Just as he was gathering up the rest of his things for the walk to his car, he heard a tapping at the door. Figuring it was his boss telling him good luck, he called out for him to come in.

He was shocked when he saw Janine standing there. She had a small brown gift bag in one hand.

"Hi."

He stared at her for a moment. "Hi. I didn't expect to see you."

She smiled slightly. "I figured. Looks like you’re getting ready to leave soon?"

He nodded slightly. "In the morning. I was just getting the rest of my things from the office."

"I wanted to come by and tell you good luck."

Now, he really was surprised. "Really?"

She walked over to him slowly.

"Look, I know I didn't take this whole thing very well. But you have to admit it came on rather suddenly, and I didn't have a whole lot of time to process it. "

"Same here," he said, picking up the clock on his desk and putting it into the box. He didn't want to look her in the eye for some reason. It made his stomach feel very uncomfortable every time he looked at her.

He loved her. There was no question about that. He had grown accustomed to seeing her every day, to comparing notes after work, to eating lunch on the square. And now she would just be absent from his life completely.

"I'm sorry, William. I just want you to know that I'm very proud of this new job that you're taking. I don't like that you won't be here, and I will miss you every single day, but I also realize I should've supported what you thought was best for you. This relationship isn't just about me."

He walked around from behind the desk and stood in front of her, only about a foot of space between them. "Thank you. It really means a lot."

“Here. I brought you this." She handed him the gift bag.

He sat it on the desk and opened it up. He pulled out a jar of peach salsa that was his favorite, made at a small mom and pop shop down the street. "One for the road?"

"Something like that. I know you love it, and I doubt you're going to be able to find it in Texas. "

"I think they probably have peach salsa in Texas too," he said, laughing. "But, they won’t have this brand. So, thank you.“

"Well, I better get going. I don't wanna hold you up from getting ready to leave," she said, looking down at her feet.

"Hug?"

She nodded slightly, not looking him in the eye. This was hard. Harder than he ever imagined it would be.

He wrapped his arms around her and felt her cheek pressed against his chest. Maybe leaving was a bad idea. Maybe he should just stay put and never know what opportunities he may have lost.

All he knew was he didn't want to let her go. He wanted to take everything out of the box on his desk, turn off the light and just stand there holding her as if nothing ever happened. But things had happened. Even if she was forgiving him now, nothing had really changed. He was still leaving, and she still wasn't happy about