Page 56 of Meet Me in the Valley (Oakwood Valley #2)

“I’m terrified to see Mom and Dad. I’m terrified to be back here.”

Her words catapult me back to our last conversation in her living room.

Her sobs and wails are still so visceral, the memory of them clear as day.

I’m hesitant to bring up her fear of being back in Oakwood Valley, but I figure this is the time.

Surely she won’t flip out in a public place with her daughter here.

I lean in closer to Nora, lowering my voice only for her ears to hear. “Are you terrified to be here because of Cali’s dad?”

Nora’s breath hitches, and for a second, I think she might bolt. Her eyes flick toward the door like she’s calculating the distance. But instead, she stays still, draws in a slow, shaky inhale, and locks eyes with me.

“It’s not what you think, Tia.” Her voice is thin, fraying at the edges. “I don’t think I’m ready to—I don’t think I can?—”

Her words crumble, and I see how fast her eyes fill with tears she’s trying so hard to blink away.

I reach across the table and take her hands in mine, gently lacing our fingers. It’s not much, but it’s the only thing I can offer her in this moment. A silent reminder she’s safe and not alone.

Whatever she’s been carrying for the last twelve years, I’m not here to pry it out of her. I just want her to know I’m here when she’s ready to lay it down.

And the fact that she got on a plane and came home—that she’s sitting across from me now, in the town she swore she’d never return to—is already more than I ever thought I’d get.

And for that alone, I’m grateful.

“Cali’s dad never hurt me. Far from it, actually.” A wistful look softens her face, like she’s drifting through a fond, far-off memory. But as her gaze lingers, something quieter settles in—an undercurrent of melancholy that deepens the longer she stays lost in it.

“But to answer your question, Tia—yes. Cali’s dad is a big part of why I’m terrified to be back here.” She pauses, eyes glassy as she stares past me, as if bracing herself against whatever’s about to surface.

“It’s not because he hurt me.” Her voice falters. She swallows hard, gaze drifting to the window like she’s searching for something—or someone—just out of reach. “It’s because I loved him.”

The words are quiet, but they land with the force of something long-buried, finally clawing its way free.

Her confession unravels something inside me. Something tender and fragile.

And suddenly, I think of Logan—how deep that ache runs, how far the yearning reaches.

I sit there, fingers still gently wrapped around Nora’s as Cali’s laughter bubbles up from across the diner, bright and oblivious. I swallow the lump rising in my throat and tread carefully.

“Where is he?”

Nora doesn’t look at me. A single tear slips from the corner of her eye, but she wipes it away before it fully falls.

Her answer comes soft. Guarded. “He’s not around.” That’s all she says.

But something in her voice, and in the way she doesn’t say more, tells me the truth is heavier than I know.

Call it the sister sync, but it’s clear to me she’s done with this topic. I let everything she shared with me breathe, lingering in the air between us with no tension—no resentment. It’s enough, and more than I could ask for.

“I’m really sorry for the way I reacted last time, Tia. When you brought up Cali’s dad, it triggered something ugly in me. I honestly can’t believe I acted the way I did. You came all the way to find me, and I fucked up.”

Understanding passes between us as her apology hits me hard in the chest. The Nora I know reveals herself, slowly shedding the foreign shell she’s enveloped herself in since the night she left. Healing is happening before me, little by little.

“I’m sorry, too,” I whisper.

A small smile pulls at her lips, and she dabs under her eyes with her napkin. Then, like a breath of levity drifting in after a storm, she glances sideways at me.

“If it weren’t for Logan, I don’t think I would’ve come back.”

I blink. “Logan?”

She nods, slower this time. “He came to see me the day after you left.”

Oh my God. Is this why he stayed another day?

“When he showed up out of nowhere, I was ready for him to rip me a new one about Hanny. But he didn’t even mention her once. He told me about everything you were carrying. How much you’ve done for our family …” she softens her voice, “How it killed him to see you hurting.”

I sit back, stunned. Tingles skitter down my spine, then spread throughout the rest of my body.

“He didn’t tell me that.”

“I don’t think he wanted credit, but he meant it, Tia. Every word. You should’ve seen him. He showed up with this quiet fire in his eyes, like he wasn’t leaving until I’d hear him out.”

My throat tightens. I don’t know what to say. Without a doubt, Logan has always had my back. But hearing his conviction through someone else’s eyes sets off fireworks—bright, loud, and full of color.

Nora gives me a small smile, letting go of my hands to sip her water.

“You’ve got a good one, you know? He’s not perfect, but that man sees you. Like, really sees you.”

The words settle deep, pressing right into that soft, aching part of me I’ve tried so hard to push aside.

“Well… he’s not really mine. Not anymore. I know you told Lucas I was taken—but I’m not.”

Nora lifts an eyebrow. “Yeah, well. He said he fucked up bad. That you left. I figured that’s why you showed up at my door with a suitcase and no explanation.”

I let out a dry, humorless laugh, fingers twisting the paper from my straw into a tight, anxious knot. Like the one in my chest whenever I think of him.

“I ended it,” I admit, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Not because I wanted to. But everything with you, with Mom? It was all too much. I couldn’t juggle it and still hold on to Logan.

He’s meant so much to me for so long. I was scared if I didn’t let go, I’d lose him in a way I couldn’t come back from. ”

“I get it,” Nora whispers. “Sometimes it feels easier to walk away before things get messy. Before it all gets too real. I mean, take it from me. It’s exactly what I did.” I nod, but she keeps going.

“But I had convinced myself during that time that it was the right thing for me. Like if I could just erase the things that challenged me, I wouldn’t have to feel the weight of losing anything.

Running seemed like the answer.” She pauses.

“But the truth is, we don’t get to control the timeline.

Life doesn’t wait until we’re ready.” She offers a small smile, the kind that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

“If you love him, Tia … don’t waste time convincing yourself you don’t deserve more. Some people only come around once. Trust me .”

Her eyes hold mine for a beat too long, that familiar flicker of longing holds steady in her irises. Then she looks away, takes a sip of her drink, and in a blink, the moment slips past us.

I watch her, expecting the usual Nora smirk or a sarcastic one-liner to cut through the heaviness. But it doesn’t come. She just stares into her drink, jaw tight, like she’s chewing on something she refuses to say out loud.

And suddenly, I feel it. That quiet shift in the air. Her words weren’t really about me at all. I study her face, the way her smile wobbles at the edges, how her eyes don’t quite meet mine.

But it sticks with me—her voice, that look. It feels as if she’s carrying a story she’s never told. Maybe I won’t ask again. But I won’t forget, either.

“Thanks, Nora. That’s … really good advice. I’ve missed that.”

Her words linger, even after we fall quiet.

My thoughts drift to Logan.

His laugh, the way he used to doodle on napkins when he was stuck on an idea. Is he doing that now? Thinking about me like I’m thinking about him?

Since texting him on Halloween, it’s been this constant pull—like part of me is still tangled up in him, craving him at all hours of the day.

I shake the thoughts off and glance at Nora. She’s staring out the window, chewing on her lip, a thousand miles away.

I reach for my drink, then pause. “You ready to see them?” I ask quietly. “Mom and Dad?”

Her eyes flick to mine, her grip tightening around her cup.

“Mom! I got a new high score!” Cali’s excited squeals travel through the diner. A few onlookers smile at her enthusiasm, not at all bothered that she’s shouting across the restaurant.

Even if my sister isn’t ready to see our parents, I can see in her eyes she’ll do it for Cali.

“They’re gonna love her, you know. I know I do,” I tell my sister, a genuine smile beaming on my face.

We both turn to find Cali doing a hilarious victory dance in front of a pinball machine, the youth on her face not yet jaded by life. She’s fully present and living in the moment. A lesson my sister and I can learn from.

No more running.

“I’m ready, Tia. I’m ready to go home.”