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Sadie furrowed her brow. “Why not?”

“Because,” Ellie seemed to swallow the lump in her throat, “I know as soon as I walk out that door I’m going to lose it, and I won’t want to leave. But I know I have to.”

Sadie wanted to protest; insist that shehadto walk Ellie to her car so they had a few more moments together. But Ellie was right. They were both on the verge of complete meltdowns as it was. So Sadie understood.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

One more kiss, and Ellie opened the door. She blew a kiss at Sadie as she slowly closed the door behind her. It was barely two seconds later when Delaney came up and wrapped her arms around Sadie. Sadie turned into her mother’s embrace as she cried.

“Oh, baby, I know. But it’s going to be okay, I promise.” Delaney kissed the top of her head, and Sadie felt Charlie join in on the hug.

“And you got a good one there. Ellie’s a Mackenzie. They’re the best.”

“She really is.” Sadie nodded against Delaney’s chest. She let Delaney wipe the tears from her eyes as they all walked over to the couch.

Sadie happily snuggled in between them as they let her process her emotions by talking or crying. She felt validated by them, which was what she desperately needed in that moment. Because her whirlwind summer of love with Ellie had ended. And in its place loomed a new adventure that Sadie hoped she was ready to undertake.

“I hope UT is great, because otherwise this freakin’ sucks.”

Delaney, Charlie, and Sadie all laughed as Charlie hugged her.

“It’s going to be great. I can feel it.”

“I agree. You’ve worked hard to get here and deserve it.”

“And I have a feeling you and Ellie will work just as hard to make long distance work.”

“We will.” Sadie nodded, finally starting to feel her tears dry up after an hour of crying. “It’s all going to work out.”

And for the first time, Sadie truly believed that with her whole heart.

Chapter 43

Ellie

Day two of goodbyes was just as hard as the first one. After saying her goodbyes to Sadie the night before, Ellie had gone home and was surprised to see Brayden waiting on her in her room. He’d made himself a bed on the couch, and smiled at her when she came in.

“What are you doing up here?”

“I thought we needed one last night of sleeping in the same room.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Like we used to do when we were kids.”

There was no way Ellie would have ever told Brayden no. Especially since they hadn’t been able to spend much time together over the summer. While Ellie had been busy with Sadie, Brayden had been practicing hockey and hanging out with his own girlfriend.

They spent most of the night chatting and recalling memories from their childhood. Ellie pulled her comforter and favorite blanket by the couch, and Brayden had leaned off the side of the couch as they talked until they fell asleep. Their parents woke them up the next morning with a full breakfast spread before they loaded into Brayden’s car and the Jeep and headed for Orono. Ellie and Brayden drove together, and they sang along to Disney songs and showtunes the whole two-hour trip.

Brayden was living at a dorm on campus and had, of course, gotten a room assignment on the third floor. With so many people moving in, there was a long line for the only two elevators in the building. Which meant the Mackenzies were hiking it up the stairs about fifty times.

Everleigh was put in charge of setting up Brayden’s room since going up and down the stairs so much would have been hell for her blood sugar. So she and Willow stayed there while Ellie made yet another trip up the stairs behind Brayden.

“How onearthdo you have more shit than me?”

“It’s mostly my hockey gear.” Brayden heaved as he put the box he was carrying on his hip to open a door. He let Ellie through the door before following behind her. “And don’t act like we didn’t make a thousand trips from the house to the garage when you moved in there.”

“Fine. Fair.”

Arriving at Brayden’s room, Ellie sat the last box down on the ground. Since Brayden’s roommate had already arrived a day earlier, they had the whole room to themselves to unpack. By the end, Ellie wasalmostjealous she didn’t have a dorm of her own to decorate.