Page 107 of Chasing Smoke

I nod. I know that. I do. “I felt like I’d be disappointing you if I left.”

“You would be.”

My gaze snaps to Hollis.

“But not how you think. We’d just be disappointed because we couldn’t see you all the time, not because we think there’s some contract that says you have to stay in Echo Lake your whole life.”

The three of us are quiet for a minute. If they’re like me, they’re thinking about how if I moved, I won’t have these moments with my brothers anymore. Look how much Sutton has missed in the last five years.

“So you didn’t tell Collins about the job?” Elliott breaks the silence.

I shake my head, pressing my lips together. “No. At first there was nothing between us, so it didn’t matter. But when I got the second interview… I should’ve said something.”

“Why didn’t you?” Hollis pets Sheriff when he nudges Hollis’s hand with his nose.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to take the job. Once things started developing with Collins, I don’t know… it changed my perspective. That and… she had some things she was dealing with. It didn’t feel like the right time to mention it when we didn’t really know what we were yet, and she had so much going on.”

My brothers are smart enough not to ask exactly what she had going on. They know that if I wanted to discuss it, I would tell them the specifics.

“And then you got offered the job,” Elliott says.

I nod. “Honestly, I’d kind of forgotten about it. Things were going so well with Collins that it just kind of faded into the background.”

Elliott lets out a sharp laugh. “Love will do that to you.”

My forehead wrinkles. “Who said I love her?”

“Oh, come on.” He laughs. “We were all at Uncle Roy’s birthday dinner. We know what we saw.”

My gaze veers over to Hollis, and he shrugs.

I set my beer back down. “Fine. I’m in love with her.”

“How’d she find out about the job?” Hollis ignores my declaration.

“I told her. They called and offered me the job yesterday when I was on shift. We had lunch together today, and I told her. Needless to say, it didn’t go as planned.”

“She’s upset that you kept it from her,” Elliott says with that arrogant smirk.

I nod. “There were some issues in her relationship with Caleb. Him not being honest. She told me she has no interest in being in a relationship with someone who’s going to lie to her. And she said I put her heart at risk by allowing things to develop but keeping the fact I might leave Echo Lake from her.”

“She has a point.”

I scowl at Hollis, but he doesn’t flinch.

“So now you have to fix it.” Elliott crosses his arms.

“Now I have to fix it.” I palm the back of my neck. “But I have no idea how?”

“First, be honest with her. Lay it all out,” Elliott says.

“I’m telling you I’m never going to keep anything from her again, but how do I get her to believe that?” I shake my head, disappointed in myself.

Hollis takes a long pull from his beer and sets it down beside him. On his other side, Sheriff sighs and sets his head on his paws as though he feels the weight of this conversation too.

I’m right there with you, buddy.

“Words will get you halfway there, but you’re just going to have to show her. She’s gonna have to see that you mean what you say. You’re gonna have to back up the words, week after week, day after day.”