Keepsake (True North, #3)

by Sarina Bowen

she seemed sadder than ever. Nobody noticed except for me.

A few times he asked me how Lark was doing, and I said she was fine. I would later realize how big a lie this was.

I didn’t worry as much as I should have, because I didn’t want to see it.

That night I stood in Lark’s doorway and told her I was going to sleep in my old bunk so she didn’t catch anything from me. “Come here,” she demanded from the bed. “I never get sick. It’s my special skill. And you look like you could use a little TLC.”

Never could resist her.

I felt her smile, even though I couldn’t see it.

I repositioned myself on my side of the bed.

“I’ll be fine. It’s no big deal.” A man didn’t bitch about his aches and pains. I don’t know how convincing I was, though, since I fell asleep in the middle of our conversation.

“You’re hot,” she said, her hand cupping my cheek and then my forehead. “So are you, baby,” I joked, even though I knew she meant that I felt feverish.

But Lark’s care felt different to me. It was tender in a way I’d never experienced. It was personal. Just for me.

Can you eat?” “Not really hungry.” “You? That’s it. I’m calling the paramedics.

Zach went out to find Griffin and offer his services. But the moment the back door closed, I texted Griffin. Don’t let Z do anything strenuous. He has a fever.

The Shipleys had known Zach longer than I had, and they obviously cared about him. But I saw the way he always jumped out of his chair the minute there was any work that needed doing. He always put everyone else’s needs before his own.

I worried that he was compelled to give so much because he was still afraid. Of abandonment.

“You don’t want Lark to know you’ve been in love with her forever? Whoops, sorry!

“Because I love you and I don’t ever want to cause you pain.” “Sometimes we cause each other pain without meaning to.” May sniffed.

I’d come to Boston to relax, and give my parents a break from their worry. And in doing so, I’d come between several members of the Shipley family, and broken Daphne’s heart. And maybe May’s.

Shit. I was sick to death of being needy. I was sick to death of me.

“I am in love with you.” My eyes filled instantly. I didn’t think he’d go there, and it hurt me to hear it. “Well, don’t be,”

He was the best kind of person in the world,

“It’s not about love, Zach.” “It is for me.”

I needed to leave Vermont before I caused this beautiful man any further pain.

Nobody is going to give you the boot, Zachariah. I like seeing your face every day, and you have this job as long as you want it. You can stay in my bunkhouse until you’re Grandpa’s age if you want, and then my kids will probably make you move into the farmhouse.”

I threw away the little sign inside the plastic bag in the shower stall. Warning: these are girlie-scented products. Use them and you’ll never hook up again.

I stood there a moment, staring at the closed door to the men’s bunkroom, wishing I could see Zach’s face. Please be okay, I begged from the hallway outside my room. But I’d already forfeited the right to ask if he was.

I squeezed my eyes shut, horrified to have woken him in the night. Again. And even after the horrible thing I’d said to him, he’d come to my rescue anyway.

He swept the hair off my neck and nuzzled me softly under the ear. “Take care of yourself today,” he said. Then he kissed me very gently on the neck.

Audrey and Zara are going to open a bakery and coffee shop in one of the outbuildings next to the Gin Mill.”

I made sidelong glances at the source of my heartbreak.

My subconscious slipped up then, forgetting that we were over. I put a hand on the small of her back, and the contact—even through several layers of clothing—felt right and necessary.

“Excuse me, sir,” said a female voice. “Do you have any bananas?” I looked up to see a pretty girl

And my heart seized at the sight of a familiar face, and that too-long hair all the girls were required to have at The Compound. Chastity.

I didn’t know whether to shout or cry. I’d worried about her so many times. And now here she stood.

“You look great, Zach. Seriously. I can’t stop staring at you.” “You…look amazing. I’m amazed to see you here.”

“This changes her life, but it doesn’t have to change yours.”

We’re all going to take care of Chastity and figure out what she needs. But don’t freak out, okay?”

I’d always wondered who Chastity had been forced to marry and how bad it had been. It must have been pretty damn bad for her to run away.

Every time I thought of Lark, my heart gave a painful kick. I looked out the window and tried to think of something else.

Lark called it the Bridge of Big Balls, a moniker that described the concrete ornaments decorating it. I’d never cross this bridge again without cracking a smile because of her.

There’s not much to tell. I love her. She isn’t on the same page.

“Nobody has a bigger heart than you, Zach. Just don’t give it away, hasty-like.” “Too late.”

I hadn’t known that holding her in my arms was a privilege I’d soon have to give up.

“Think about it. Maybe she just needs time.” That sounded like the kind of thing you say to someone who’s all out of hope.

A month from now, she might realize her error and come back to you.” I wanted to believe him. But I just couldn’t summon the optimism.

I’d wanted to knock on her bedroom door. But what would I even say if she opened the door? Griff had told me she was leaving tomorrow, and I’d already told her I loved her. There were no more confusions to clear up; there were no new questions to ask.

I’d told her I loved her, and that hadn’t been enough.

Hiding money from the elders would take balls. Chastity was braver than I’d ever known.

“So I started planning, and that’s when I searched your name on someone’s phone and found Isaac’s farm. I knew you must have landed here, and it made me so happy. Because—Zach, I felt like I killed you.”

“The only thing he didn’t do was hold the newborn baby.” Leah laughed. “It wasn’t until Maeve began to crawl that he’d pick her up.” That was also true. “She seemed really breakable,”

“Maybe it’s time to introduce Chastity to Star Wars. Why wait, you know?”