Chapter 7
I turned off my phone that anniversary.
+25 BONUS
Couldn’t take another call, another text, another empty apology. I just needed to breathe.
Instead of heading my rented house, I started walking. My steps took me down winding roads and across the valley, and
before I knew it, I was standing not far from my old house. My parents‘ house. It had been sold off after they passed, and the money helped me rent an apartment in the city and find some footing on my own.
So many memories in that house. Some good, some painful, all of them mine.
“Catrina?”
I turned at the sound of my name. It was Eason, the guy who rented me the wooden house in this valley.
He was standing there in jeans and a hoodie, hands shoved in his pockets, looking surprised to see me.
“Oh hey,” I said. “Didn’t expect to run into you out here.”
“Nive around the corner,” he said, walking up with a warm smile. “That house I rented to you? Just one of my properties.”
“Wow. You’re low–key loaded, huh?” I joked.
He laughed, all gentle and soft. Nothing like Luca, who was all sharp edges, steel eyes, and cold fury. Eason felt… safe.
“So, what brings you here?” he asked.
I pointed to the old place. “That was my parents‘ house. Grew up there. Eigh
His eyebrows lifted. “No way. Then you probably remember Mrs. Clark?”
CAR
years of memories.”
