Chapter 59

The sun had sunk outside; he unchained his bike from the fence and sent Luke a quick text before setting off. And despite having the news that they didn’t want, despite knowing he would soon be losing Wheatley and having to start all over again somewhere else, Shane felt…

Okay. Finally, Shane felt okay. 29

Rebecca met him at the kitchen door of Rose Cottage. Light spilled out behind her, setting that red hair on fire, and she took one look at his face and knew. Her own crumpled.

“You’re going.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh,” she said, and Shane opened his arms. She pressed into the hug like she was afraid to let go, and Shane squeezed back like he could just pour all his strength into her.

“Bex?” Luke called.

She drew him inside by the wrist, strong for her size; Shane paused to lose his shoes in an automatic fashion, and it must have been written on his face, for Luke appeared in the kitchen doorway, and his whole body froze.

“You’re going.”

“Yeah,” Shane repeated.