I sat inside the limo, waiting.

 This was a long shot, yes, especially after Eliza showed up and Megan of all people had decided to answer the door, but it might be my only hope.

 Meet me outside… I had texted her five minutes ago, but there was still no response or sign of Eliza coming down the stairs of her building. Was she just getting dressed and putting on her makeup? Or was she peeking through the window curtains, scowling at the very sight of me?

 I was beginning to give up hope when I heard the familiar clacking of heels on the pavement outside and turned to see a bright blue pair of stilettos outside my door. I watched as my driver exited the limo to hold the door for her and let her inside.

 “You wore the wrong shoes,” I told Eliza as she slid into the backseat. “Rookie mistake.”

 I couldn’t help the grin that lit up my face the second I saw her, and she grinned back.

 “What are you doing, Cassidy?” Eliza asked, her tone suddenly turning serious. “You should want nothing to do with me. You should hate me. You should—”

 “But I don’t,” I said, with a smile. “I’ve tried and tried but…I don’t.”

 “I’m sorry,” Eliza said. “I’m sorry I lied to you about Ben. That was so wrong, and so not me, and I just don’t know what I’ve been doing.”

 “Running away changes you,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “And I had forgotten that. It’s so easy to hide your old world away like it’s nothing…and it’s something that I did when I first moved to Seattle too. I lost myself, and people got hurt.”

 “It’s no excuse…” Eliza said. “I’ve been horrible…and to you especially.”

 “At least you didn’t have a hot, half-undressed redhead answer the door to me,” I said, sighing. “That made me feel like utter shit to watch you witness that, let me tell you.”

 Eliza only laughed. “It’s okay. We all deal with our pain in different ways.”

 “I’m sorry I was so cold after what happened,” I said. “I should have at least given you some time to explain.”

 “I don’t like you blaming this all on yourself,” Eliza said. “I’m the one who dated you while I had a fiancé back home. I mean, I’m clearly the obvious guilty party here, don’t you think?”

 “Yeah, you kind of are,” I said with a playful wink. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t throw in a surprise to celebrate our reunion.”

 “And what would that be?” Eliza asked.

 “I bought a Lake House in Tahoe a couple of years back, but I hardly ever get a chance to use it,” I explained. “So, I thought maybe you would like to go. Get back to the great outdoors.”

 “You’re kidding,” Eliza said. “Really? I’ve always wanted to go to Lake Tahoe.”

 “Yes, I am kidding. It’s actually just a sewer outside the city. Lovely alligators though.”

 Eliza punched me playfully in the arm and laughed.

 “I’ve missed you,” she said, and placed her hand over mine gently and slowly, as if she felt she didn’t quite deserve to be forgiven yet.

 “I’ve missed you too,” I said, running a hand through her hair, and then I kissed her gently. It was wonderful, kissing Eliza again, now knowing just how close I came to losing her. “Come to Tahoe with me. Let’s unwind. I want to get to know you Eliza, just you and me. Please say yes.”

 Eliza giggled, her brown eyes shining with warmth and affection. “Can I change my shoes first?”

***

 The waters of Lake Tahoe were glimmering in shades of cerulean and aquamarine in the afternoon sunlight. It was the golden hour, and Eliza and I were sitting on the dock near my lake house after a grueling yet exhilarating hike. We had circled around trees and laughed as if nothing had ever happened. But in a way, things were different, and in a good way. Out here, beyond the walls of the Torver office, we could be ourselves, and our secrets and complicated pasts were beautifully out in the open, breathing free in the mountain air.

“I think I’ve decided to move here,” Eliza said. “I like my job at Torver Corporation and I’ve been researching apartments. I told Ben it was over, and he’s gone. I’m here for good, Cassidy, and I’m ready to start my life over. And I want you to be a part of it.”

 I looked at Eliza’s warm brown eyes shining in the light of the sunset, and the pleading, sweet smile she gave me, and I sighed as I thought it over. I too, had once felt trapped, and I imagined how it would have been for me if I had stayed in England and gotten engaged to one of the daughters of one of mum’s unbearably posh friends. If there was anyone who understood the urge to run, it was me.

 “I would love for you to stay,” I said.

 Eliza beamed and snuggled closer to me, and I held her in arms…she was warm but shivering with happiness and relief.

 “I’m sorry for beating the shit out of your fiancée,” I said, ignoring the fact that I was clearly the loser of that particular round of fisticuffs.

 Eliza just laughed. “What’s done is done,” she said.

 I smiled as Eliza rested her head on my shoulder, and we sat in comfortable silence as the sun began to set over the lake. Eliza and I were one and the same, I realized suddenly, thinking about her strange and sudden morning road trip to Seattle all those weeks ago. We had both been trapped in worlds that had not let us live to our full potential, with people who would never care to see it, and on a whim, we had both taken off.

 We were two runaways who had run to each other.