Page 85 of Witchful Thinking

“I can go alone.”

“I promised I would go with you. If you don’t want me to go now, then tell me. You don’t have to worry about my feelings.”

She cared too much about his feelings. His heart. He didn’t want to stay. She was letting him go because she loved him enough to give more than the Grove. Nana, I get it now. You can’t keep a merman in a fishbowl, because he deserves the ocean. Alex looked at her, waiting for her to respond.

“I know you have a lot to do with the open house,” Lucy said. “I mean, there’s going to be a lot of people there, and you know how it goes. It’ll make it hard to explain what happened to us when”—she paused to breathe—“when you leave. I’ll still be here being asked, ‘Where’s Alex? Where did he run off to now?’ Meanwhile, you’re sunbathing in Bali.”

“It’s none of their business.” Alex waved off those questions.

“The Grove makes everything their business,” Lucy countered.

“So do you want me to stay so that they don’t talk about you?”

“Stay because you want to stay. Stay because I…” Lucy faltered. I want you. I need you. I love you. She let out a sharp sigh.

“Come with me,” Alex said. Fate had terrible timing. She had wished to hear those three words years ago. Now, they terrified her.

“I can’t.”

“I’m not staying,” Alex said, his tone final.

Something snapped within Lucy. This wasn’t the time to hold back but to put it all on the table.

“You’ve said it enough times. I believe you. Do you believe it yourself? All this talk and you haven’t packed anything. You want to stay. I can see it.” Lucy gave him a side-eye look.

“I knew better than to come back,” Alex said, his shoulders dropping.

“Why? Because people might have the nerve to depend on you?” Lucy asked. Alex said nothing. “I thought that maybe, just maybe, you’d fall in love with the Grove again. You never lied to me about who you were, but it still hurts to know you’re leaving.”

“I said I couldn’t stay,” he said.

“You didn’t even try,” she said, dropping her head to her chest.

“The Grove will always be here,” Alex said, his voice sounding hollow.

Lucy gave him a stiff smile. “Yeah. I guess it will be, but I won’t.”

“If you could wish for me to stay, would you?” he asked. “I just want to know.”

Well, damn. Lucy drew her lips into her mouth. Of course, she wanted to wish for him, but what if she failed to keep his heart? If the wish worked on Alex, it would never be real. She could never trust that he’d stayed in the Grove because he wanted to and not because her words compelled him to stay.

“I don’t see the point in wishing for that,” she finally said. She wasn’t going to guilt him into staying where he didn’t want to be. He didn’t fall for her before the wish, but only after it came true. Her soul called out to him, I can’t keep you here. You have to want to stay here.

“You’re going to get an offer at the open house,” Lucy said.

“I’ll turn it down,” he said, but there was a note of uncertainty.

“What if someone offers you a million dollars?” she blurted out.

It wasn’t uncommon for houses at the Jersey Shore to sell for as low as fifty thousand to into the tens of millions. There wasn’t a number on a check that could ever make her give up the Caraway house. She hoped that he knew that his home was priceless.

“For a million dollars, anywhere can be home,” Alex said.

He didn’t even hesitate with his answer. Her stomach dropped. She had heard enough. It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but at least it was honest. Alex closed his eyes, then opened them. It was clear from the dimmed light she saw in there that he regretted his response.

“Wait, let’s talk about this.” Alex reached out for Lucy, but she held up her hands.

This was her cue to bow out. She was taking it.