THE GIRL WHO STAYED FOR ONLY ONE SUMMER
Chapter 7
The call came on a Monday morning.
Maya was sitting on the porch when her phone rang.
She answered.
“Hello?”
Ethan was inside making coffee.
He heard her voice change.
“How soon?”
Silence.
“Tomorrow?”
Another pause.
“Okay.”
She ended the call.
Ethan came outside.
“Everything okay?”
Maya looked at him.
“No.”
He sat beside her.
“What happened?”
“I got the job.”
Ethan didn’t understand.
“What job?”
“The one I told you about.”
He remembered.
A photography position in San Francisco.
She had applied months earlier.
Before Greyhaven.
Before him.
“Congratulations.”
She looked at him.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Say congratulations.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not happy.”
Ethan stared at the ocean.
“When do you leave?”
“Friday.”
It was Monday.
Four days.
He nodded.
“Okay.”
Maya’s eyes filled.
“That’s all?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know.”
“You wanted this.”
“I did.”
“Then you should go.”
She looked away.
“You’re making this easy.”
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“I’m making it possible.”
