Page 90 of Beautiful Place By the Sea

“When’s your surgery?” Oliver asks. I see the wheels spinning in his mind. I know he’s already thinking about how he’s going to drive her to the hospital, shop for her, and take care of everything at Shoreline. My heart swells.

“Amazingly, they had an opening in a week and a half. Cancellation.” She grins. “I snapped that up right away, let me tell you. I need to get this dealt with.”

“What can we do to help?” I’m not sure how long her recovery will take, but I imagine she’s going to be out of commission for quite some time.

“Well,” Maisie begins, “I’ll be out for a few days with the surgery itself, between pre-op and the procedure and the fun-filled anesthesia fever dream afterward.” Her face falls a little. “Then, I’ll be stuck at home for about six weeks. But I can handle administrative tasks remotely during that time. I may need your help getting my technology situated, though,” she says to Oliver.

He nods. “Of course. And Ivy and I will take care of everything here.”

“I can pick up as many hours as you need, Maisie.”

Her eyes fill with tears then. “I know you will, dear. And I appreciate it. I just don’t know what I’m going to do when you leave.”

The office goes quiet. I hear Oliver swallow hard next to me. I can’t say I blame him; I don’t want to think about the end of summer, either. And Maisie’s six weeks of recovery will last well beyond the time when I need to be back in Brookline.

“Let’s talk,” I say before I can think better of it. “Maybe I can extend my stay.”

Oliver’s head snaps toward me. I smile at him gently, reveling in the hope displayed all over his face.

Maisie’s brows go up at the wordless conversation Oliver and I are having, but she just asks, “What about your work at the library?”

I look down. “I’m not sure what my plans are with regard to that job.”

“Interesting,” she replies, looking none-too-subtly at Oliver to gauge his reaction. I’m pretty sure he’s blushing. “Okay. Why don’t you finalize your plans, Ivy, and then circle back with me. Will that work?”

“Absolutely.”

Her lips turn up. “Perfect. Now you two go get some sunshine.”

“How would you be able to stay?” Oliver asks me the moment we step outside.

“I haven’t really thought that through,” I admit as we sit down on a nearby bench.

He considers me carefully. “Could you take that much time off? Right at the beginning of the school year?”

“Maybe?” I’m not so sure my boss would be okay with it, honestly. Shaking my head, I quickly correct. “Probably not.”

Oliver seems confused; understandably so. I clear my throat. “I’m wondering if I might just…not go back.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Are you going to ask Maisie if you can work here indefinitely?”

I don’t know. Am I going to ask her that? This is all a little too convenient, given what’s happening with Oliver. I’d pretty much talked myself out of uprooting my life for him. Moving here for him feels like it could end so, so badly. And what good is recovering from the trauma of all things Kyle if I don’t learn from my mistakes?

I can’t help but wonder, though, if maybe I wrote off the idea too quickly. It’s sort of hard to ignore the way the obstacles are starting to fall like dominoes.

My brain is swinging wildly back and forth between scenarios like the flipper in a pinball machine, and I’m struggling to keep up. As my thoughts accelerate into a whirling crescendo, I feel my anxiety whoosh into its usual spot, clenching my sternal notch and making my heart race.

I take a deep breath, desperate to seem unaffected. “Maybe? I need some time to think it over.”

Oliver looks concerned. “Are you okay?”

Can he see the wild look behind my eyes, the fluttering in my chest? I normally pride myself on how well I hide my anxiety, but the worry plastered on his face suggests he sees all of me.

Taking another shaky breath, I nod. “I’ll be okay. Just feeling a little panicky.”

He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. “What can I do?” he asks against my hair.

“This is enough,” I whisper.