40. Chapter 40

Chapter forty

Silas

I get a text from Fenella late Monday afternoon, the first I've heard from her since Sunday night.

Sunday night when I told her I was falling in love with her. But even more amazing, Fenella told me she felt the same way.

It doesn't seem real, because if it was true, why would she leave without saying goodbye?

Fenella:I couldn't say goodbye to you. I'm sorry. But I'll see you Tuesday night.

She ends it with a heart emoji, which is something but she doesn't say where she'll see me, or how. Fenella just pulled off the party of the decade in Battle Harbour, and that's including a royal wedding. I wouldn't put it past her to be able to send a hologram of herself to me tomorrow.

Monday morning was slow but picks up to a packed house in the afternoon as all the sleepy and hungover townsfolk file in for some much-needed caffeine .

It's good to keep busy, but bad because all anyone wants to talk about is Fenella.

I let Leodie man the cash register while I keep the pumpkin spice lattes coming.

It hurts that she didn't say goodbye. It hurts just as much as I thought it would. But I manage to keep a little flicker of hope alive.

I'm falling in love with you, too. Just wanted to get it out there.

Tuesday is Halloween, and by noon, anyone with young children has given up on a normal workday. The City Council spends the afternoon readying the square for the party that night, and I ready myself to see Fenella.

Only the afternoon turns into the evening; trick-or-treating begins and I start to hand out pumpkin-shaped cookies that my mother spent all week making. Mini Marvel characters, part of the Paw Patrol, princesses and fighter pilots shriek as they run from store to store collecting treats.

Beside Coffee for the Sole, Hela's stays locked and dark.

I last until nine o'clock. By then, the little kids have finished their trick-or-treating and have been bundled off to bed and the teenagers are dancing in the streets. I see Wyatt with his friends, with Brody, and wave as I head to my car.

I drive to the lighthouse, feeling strange that the bright headlights of Fenella's car are not right behind me like last time .

Maybe she's not coming back. Maybe that's how she works—blowing into town like a storm, disrupting lives and hearts, before leaving, like a falling star.

One minute it's there, and gone the next.

I take the path through the woods, noticing one of the solar lights is burnt out, and set up my telescope. But instead of peering through it, I tilt my head and look up.

The sky is a canvas of dark purple, with pinpricks of starlight, much like the ceiling of Fenella's club. The Draconids meteor shower is odd in that it happens earlier in the night, just as darkness falls. Tomorrow will be the optimal night to watch, but there may be some tonight.

The waning moon helps. And there—I hold my breath as a line of brilliance arcs across the sky, leaving a trail of colour to fade into nothing.

I've seen a lot of things in the sky, but this is magical.

I wish I had someone to share it with.

"Silas!"

I freeze at the sound of a far-off call. I must have imagined it because—

No .Leaves crunch as someone hurries along the path. "I don't like this path by myself," she calls.

Another flash, a line of stardust, but I turn as Fenella bursts out of the trees.

"I knew you'd be here," she says.

Even in the dark, she's a beacon of light in her pink puffy coat and toque with the huge pink pom-pom. And she heads straight for me to throw herself into my arms. "I missed you," she breathes into my chest.

"What are you doing here?"

"I told you I'd be back."

"But why did you leave?" I don't have to ask; I know she left to talk to her father about the job with the family company. What I really want to know, is if she got the job, why would she bother coming back?

"My father offered me a job," Fenella tells me matter-of-factly like she didn't spend the last two weeks hiding out in another country for the chance to work for Carrington Toys. "I told him thank you, and I'd be working remotely, from here."

" What ?"

She cups my cheeks. "Did you really think you could get rid of me that quickly?"

"But you left." My emotions are pinballing, and I don't know what's coming next.Yes, I may have kept a little hope, but I thought I'd lost her. I couldn't see a way for Fenella and me to work when everything she wanted was somewhere else.

"I had to talk to him in person," she explains. "I'm sorry I ran out like that, but if I didn't go then, I wouldn't have gone at all. I hated to leave you, especially after my party, but I had to."

I'm falling in love with you, too.

I keep her words at the forefront of my mind. "What did he say?"

"Look at that!" Fenella gasps, pointing over my shoulder .

I glance back in time to see the fading line. "It'll be better tomorrow."

"But it's good now."

"Fenella." Her eyes widen at the sharpness of my tone. "You told me you loved me, then ran out of town without another word. Please tell me what's going on."

There's no remorse in her gaze; rather she looks like she has a secret. One she's quite proud of. "I went to talk to my father about buying your building," she admits with a hint of a smile. "Hela's building, not Coffee for the Sole. And the one beside it."

It takes a moment for me to respond. "Why?"

"I have ideas for Battle Harbour. Plans that will help tourism, help business for everyone. I really want to make Hela's into a club, like I told you, only bigger. That's why I bought the place beside it—Mr. Pollack is ready to retire and maybe the town doesn't need a pawn shop."

"You already bought it?" I demand. It feels like the ground underneath me is unsteady, like I'm getting too close to the edge and sliding down into the unknown.

She nods. "I did the deal with your parents during the flight. I charted a plane so I could get back in time. I asked them to let me tell you. You can stay in your apartment," she adds quickly. "I'm not kicking you out. Only if you want to—you can take over Edie's place if you want. I bought that building, too."

"What are you doing? You can't just buy the whole town?" The thought of it makes me angry, at Fenella's arrogance that this is what Battle Harbour wants. It's a small, quiet town—it doesn't need to be Fenella-ized.

But… I like the idea. I like the idea of her here. Being a part of the community.

"I'm not. But it needs more. I spoke to King Magnus and Kalle, and they both want to go ahead with your idea of an observatory. They want to meet with you to make plans."

" What ?" Every time I think I understand, Fenella veers off and presents me with more.

"There's going to be a place for people to watch this." She spreads her hands wide. "Learn about this. And people are going to come and watch and learn, and the town needs to prepare. Another restaurant. Hela's. Places to stay. I bought that house on Second Street and I'm going to make it into a bed and breakfast. The apartments in Edie's building and over The King's Hat will be Airbnbs. KingMagnus agrees that there should be a motel outside town." She shrugs and when I don't say anything—when I can't say anything—she keeps going. "I made a plan of the town, of what it could be without changing its character, and Magnus loved it. So did my father. He hired me as a consultant, to look for opportunities to move Carrington Toys forward."

"I don't understand." Restaurants and Airbnbs and a motel? An observatory?

"I want to stay," she says simply. "And so, I made it possible. Not just so we can be together, but for me, too. This place is good for me. You're good for me."

She bought the town because she thinks it's good for her. That I'm good for her.

I have to agree with her. Maybe she's not that different when she's away from here, but I do like her when she's here. And I know I'm not the only one. Here plans might not be what I would have come up with, but the outcome will be the same.

Fenella isn't leaving and that means we've got a chance. And I think it's a pretty good one.

I laugh. It's the only thing I can think of doing, other than kissing Fenella.

I do that, too.

Pulling her close, even as the sky lights up above us, I kiss her with everything I've got—every bit of wonder and gratitude and admiration, of all the relief that she's here. Back with me.

I kiss her for a long time, so when we finally part, the sky is dark, with only the stars as company.

"We missed it," Fenella says, snuggling into my neck. She kisses my jaw. "I wanted to see the meteors with you."

"We'll come tomorrow," I promise. "That's the night to see it."

"It's a date." I feel her smile against my skin. "This is what you should have been doing," she says. "Bringing women up here and—no. Scratch that. You should never bring anyone up here but me." She tilts her head back with a grin.

"I'm fine with that." I kiss her softly. "What I want to know is when did you get the ideas for all of this? "

"It's surprising where your mind goes when you're cleaning," she admits. "I might try it again some time."

I laugh, and kiss her again.

One last meteor flashes through the sky. Or it might be a falling star, but I don't bother making a wish.

I've got everything I want right here.