Page 38 of Best Laid Plans (Rock Harbor #1)

Elle bit back a scream. This was a fucking dream come true. Not that it was a formality interview, but meeting with everyone on the same day meant that they were already pretty serious about her. “Friday works well for me, too. Anything I should prepare ahead of time?”

“I’ll send you an email with the required details, but it should be pretty straightforward.

You’ll meet with Dan and a few other members of the team, and there’s already a project in mind for this role to manage indefinitely.

” Tara absolutely did not understand that she was making Elle’s entire year.

“That all sounds great.” The giddiness was seeping into her tone, but she couldn’t stop it. So sue her for being excited. Elle had never been good at playing it cool when she wanted something.

After another few minutes, Tara had her email address, along with the promise to send over the details of the interview shortly. And just like that, she ended the call.

Stress seeped out of Elle’s body, leaving her with a weightless, blissful feeling. But the release of endorphins was short-lived, as she felt Cam shift next to her.

“Sounds like your call went well?”

Elle let out a fluttery exhale, ignoring the strange weight that had taken up residence in her stomach. “That was someone from Reynolds Consulting. They want me to come in for an interview on Friday.”

Cam’s larger hand wrapped around her own, which was still cradling her phone. “That’s amazing, Elle.” And he sounded like he meant it.

So, why didn’t she like how that made her feel?

Elle was still warring with her emotions when she’d walked into The Rock Harbor Inn a few hours later.

The inn still largely looked the same, except a little more weathered with time against the unrelenting strength of the briney, westerly winds that pushed directly from the Atlantic Ocean and across the property.

She’d hit the bell at the small front desk situated to the side of the main foyer, where a coffee station was set up along with a seating area organized around a fireplace that wouldn’t be used again until the winter.

Becca had popped out from the small door behind the check-in desk, where Elle knew that an office that was a glorified closet more than anything housed just enough room for a chair, desk, and a few filing cabinets.

She’d lounged in there many a teenage night while Becca went out to the desk to tend to guest needs.

Becca had smiled at her when she’d noticed Elle, though the same look on Elle’s face was short-lived. Her impromptu visit had come with strings, she learned quickly–namely that she needed to help Becca turn over guest rooms since one of the housekeepers had called out.

Less than ten minutes after arriving, Elle was working to wrestle the fitted sheet on one of the double beds on the second floor. Finally, she let out an indignant huff.

“Money really has changed you,” Becca said with a laugh, already done with her bed. “You used to be able to do this in your sleep.”

Elle wiped a hand across her brow, already slick with beads of sweat.

“Sweet of you to assume it’s money that we both know I don’t have instead of the fact that my life has been so sedentary I’m pretty sure I saw a spot of moss on my leg the other day.

” And the fact that she couldn’t seem to reconcile her thoughts, and not even a rote, mind-numbing task that had once been muscle memory could help center her.

“Why do you insist on lying to me?” Becca said matter-of-factly as she expertly draped the top sheet over the bed that Elle had been working on in a fluid motion.

The comforter went on quickly after that, and then Becca was already walking toward the cart they’d left in the hallway.

“You have a hickey on your neck,” she called out.

“I do not.” Elle’s hand instinctively covered the soft spot that Cam had been sucking on earlier today, panic flooding through her.

Becca let out a bark of laughter when she appeared back in the room. “No, you don’t. But at least I got that question answered.”

Elle shot her a daggered look in response. “That wasn’t very nice. ”

“I thought sneaking around was supposed to be exhilarating?” Becca said as she walked into the guest bathroom with the amenities bottles she needed to replenish.

Elle had briefly updated Becca on what was going on with her and Cam, especially with the return of Wyatt.

Sneaking around could be fun. And she loved seeing the sides of Cam that were new to her, both in the bedroom and out.

Except, it was hard to dig in any more than the superficial considering that she didn’t exactly know how to frame her thoughts.

She liked how he made her feel. Safe. Protected. Supported. But Cam was running from his own life, and that meant he was quite possibly the worst possible person to bet on right now.

Elle rubbed at her temples. “This trip home isn’t going how I thought it would.”

Becca had made her way back to the cart to grab towels. “Change the pillowcases while you lament.”

“Yes ma’am.” Elle picked a pillow off the chair in the corner, happy for the distraction. Then she added, “I feel like Zoe gets away with very little as your daughter.”

Becca side-eyed her when she came out of the bathroom. “She does just fine for herself. By three she’d learned some top notch negotiation tactics, and at this point, I’m just waiting for her to come home and tell me that she’s passed the Massachusetts Bar Exam.”

“I didn’t know they accepted answers in crayon,” Elle teased as she wrestled the pillowcase–her first–into completion.

Becca walked around the bed and joined her, making quick work of the remaining pillows. “You joke, but she’s a little question machine. Yesterday, she asked me if it was called ‘sand’ because it’s halfway between the sea and the land.”

Elle’s jaw dropped. “No kidding? What did you tell her?”

“Well, first I had to Google whether or not she was actually right. Sadly, she was not, but apparently, the word refers to ‘unstable ground.’ ”

“And how’d she take that?” Elle asked. There was so much she’d already missed in Zoe’s short life, and the realization sent a little pang through her.

“On the chin.” The pride in Becca’s voice rang through clearly.

Elle grew serious, emotion making her voice full. Because she had been honest in saying that this trip wasn’t what she’d expected. And her reunion with Becca was a part of that, too. “She really is incredible, Becca. You’re doing such a great job with her.”

There were so many things unsaid between the two of them, but that was starting to feel like par for the course across all areas of her life.

She couldn’t seem to tell Wyatt that while she appreciated all his help, he needed to live for himself.

She didn’t want to admit to her parents that her life, which she’d been painstakingly planning since she knew what a goal was, wasn’t where she thought it would be.

She had no idea how to tell Cam that her attraction to him was moving beyond just the physical–into something that was terrifying and exhilarating and made her feel like she was both a solid, immovable block of marble and a dandelion seed that could be parachuted around with a soft breeze.

She’d become something unstructured, teetering on the brink of balance that never seemed to materialize.

And with Becca, at the heart of it all as she looked into familiar eyes, Elle felt like she’d abandoned her best friend when she’d needed her most. When Becca hadn’t come to Boston, Elle had thrown her focus into Grant and Chelsea and her job and then her MBA.

She’d made a choice–made a series of choices–that at the time had felt inevitable to moving in the direction she’d wanted her future to take.

Her life was a stark contrast to what she thought it’d be, for too many reasons.

What she’d tried to make it and what she’d given up in service of that happening.

It had seemed zero sum. She couldn’t have it all, so she’d had to make decisions.

Leave Rock Harbor. Spend her time focusing on life in Boston.

Throw herself into achieving her goals at the casualty of everything she’d already built, like it wasn’t important, too.

Which, at the time, she’d taken for granted–in all facets of her life. Easy conversations. Unwavering support. Overbearing but well-intentioned involvement.

“I’m sorry, Becca. I should have said that before, but I’m saying it now.” She refused to acknowledge the catch in her throat, something that wasn’t Becca’s responsibility to handle.

The silence wrapped around them, as Becca, looking like she was lost in her own thoughts of the past, chewed on her bottom lip.

Finally, she let it go with a soft pop , her eyes a little watery when she said, “We both made choices, Elle. I don’t begrudge you for yours, the same way that I hope you don’t begrudge me for mine.

I’ve missed you these last few years, but I don’t blame you. And I hope you don’t blame yourself.”

She didn’t want Becca’s sympathy. Didn’t deserve it, in fact.

“Your choices led to a beautiful, curious daughter who’s too smart for her own good.

Mine led to bad relationships, toxic friendships, and a job that would have squeezed every last ounce of life out of me if it would have been convenient for them.

” Elle ran her hand through her hair, trying to make her last five years make sense. “Like, what was I even doing?”

“I always loved how driven you were,” Becca said, her voice effusively warm in a way that Elle knew that she talked to Zoe when she was comforting her. “Your confidence was infectious. It made me think I could do anything, too.”

“You can do anything,” Elle stressed. At some point, their hands had found one another, and she squeezed Becca’s fingers.

Becca smiled. “You wanted this big life, and I wanted that for you. I wanted to want it for myself too, but deep down, I don’t know that I did.

I love this town. I love my parents. I love Zoe and the life that we’ve built.

And I think that part of me always knew I wasn’t going to leave it.

Zoe wasn’t planned, but she made it a lot easier–in some ways–to stave off a difficult conversation that would have come sooner than later anyway.

” Becca swallowed. “So really, I should be the one apologizing to you.”

Elle smiled sadly, the moment of surprise giving way to a quick acceptance that somewhere deep inside, she’d always had.

Becca had always loved Rock Harbor–this town and these people had never been a consolation prize for her.

Mornings watching the sun rise over the water.

Afternoons as the town picked up and came to life along the main corridor.

Sailboats dotting the horizon in the early evening against perfect, billowy clouds.

Becca had always treasured those things.

Cherished them, even. “And I think a part of me always knew that, too. But you were my best friend, and I wanted you with me.”

Tears welled up in Becca’s eyes, and she quickly brushed them away with her free hand. “Look at us. The pinnacle of emotional maturity and difficult conversations.”

Elle laughed and wiped at her own wet face, the release of her tears softening the knot in her throat.

This conversation was long overdue, and it was one that she’d never thought she’d get to have.

Every day she hadn’t called Becca. Every day she’d made the choice to push forward in the life she’d wanted to build.

Every day her inaction had been its own decision, the chasm growing wider between them.

But today was a different day than all of those. The first day of a new path. A better plan.

Surging forward, Elle threw her arms around Becca and squeezed her ungodly tight, like she was afraid she’d disappear right in front of her.

“I love you, Becca. You know that right?” The words were muffled, said against Becca’s hair which still smelled the same, and she was transported back to when they were sixteen and talked about anything and everything without fear that things would change between them.

Becca hugged her back, just as hard. “I love you too, Elle. ”

When they finally let go, Elle grabbed onto Becca’s hands, marveling at what an amazing woman Becca had become.

“Okay,” Becca said, clearing her throat and letting out one last sniffle that made them both laugh. “We have a few more rooms to do, and then we can hang out in my apartment for a bit. You can tell me all of your messy, complicated feelings on Clam, and we can figure things out.”

Elle raised her eyebrows at the name, knowing that Becca wasn’t going to stop using it whether she said anything or not.

And nothing could tamp the lightness she felt in her heart and her limbs and her brain after their conversation. It had been hard, but so worth it.

Their reunion was already paying dividends. Elle had always liked to work her thoughts out by talking about them. Of course Becca knew that.

Becca had walked around to the headboard of one of the beds, extending her hands to catch a pillow, which Elle dutifully threw at her. Maybe a little harder than necessary. “I’ll tell you all about what’s going on with Clam if you tell me about the Rock Harbor dating scene and your part in it.”

Becca caught it with an “ oomph” before quickly fixing the corners–Elle had done that one–and laying it perfectly on top of the covers. “That’ll be a quick one.”

Elle smiled. “We’ll see about that.”