I plug my phone in, impatiently looking at the black screen. It’s two AM, and I know Nora is up worrying about me. Unable to pull myself away, Nora and I stayed tangled up together hours longer than we intended. The thought of grabbing my laptop and getting back in the car is tempting even though I’m tired. I’m not able to do all my work from the laptop anyway.

Drumming my fingers on the nightstand, I keep staring at my phone until it gets enough of a charge to turn on. I send Nora a text instead of calling just in case she is asleep, telling her I’m home safe and am getting in the shower.

I strip in the bedroom and walk naked to the bathroom, not liking how quiet the house is. I’ve never been in the cabin completely alone before. There is a good chance I’m going to my parents’ after the shower to get Charlie.

Exhaustion hits me once I sink into bed. I grab my phone to see if Nora texted back. She hasn’t yet, meaning she must be sleeping. I lay down and try to do the same. The solitude gets to me, and when I open my eyes, I see the cabin as it was when I first bought it.

As it was when Jason and I used to sneak in.

My phone rings, and it’s like Nora and I are on the same wavelength. I need her right now to make the visions fade.

“Hey, babe,” I say, and my heart stops racing.

“Hey.” She sounds sleepy.

“Were you sleeping?”

“Kind of. I had a weird dream.”

“What happened in it?”

She yawns. “I was worried about you getting tired while driving, so I asked Mimi to keep an eye on you. Then I dozed off and she told me she already was.” Nora pauses, and I can imagine her brilliant green eyes glossy with tears. “And that she always will.”

“I think she is.”

“I do, too.”

“I love you, Nora. Go back to sleep. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“Okay. Love you, too.”

We hang up and I go back to staring at the ceiling. Then something Nora says comes back to me. I asked Mimi to keep an eye on you. It’s not the first time I’ve heard Nora talk to Mimi or her parents. I don’t think she knows I’ve noticed her tip her head to the heavens and whisper to her family, but I have ever since we were kids.

I sit up, look around the room, and inhale.

“Jason,” I say, waiting after speaking his name. “I hate you for what you did. I hate what you made me do. And I hate that you never came to me before. Something had to be off in your head and I could have helped. Or gotten you help.” A chill comes over me. “I hate you for what you did, but I forgive you.”

A knot loosens in my chest. I look out the balcony doors at the stars. “I forgive you.”

* * *

“Is it all going to fit?” Nora steps back, looking from the storage unit to the moving truck.

“I think so.”

“That’s encouraging.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You’re the engineer. Figure it out,” I tease.

“Oh, I will. But I need your muscle to take it from point A to point B.”

“Glad to be of use.” I lean over and kiss her, and then start loading the furniture. Once we get the storage unit emptied, we go to her apartment for the last time. True to her fashion, Nora boxed everything up the day after I left and has it lined up by the door for ease of loading.

After a bit of a tearful goodbye with Becca and Liam, Nora and I head out. I’m driving the moving truck, and she’s driving her car. Nora fishes her keys from inside her purse and hesitates, looking back at the apartment.

“Having second thoughts?” I ask.

“No.” She turns to me, smiling. The sun catches the gold in her hair. “I was thinking of how far we’ve come. And how much I’m ready.”

“Ready?”

“To go home.”