As I wait in line to get my boarding pass, it hits me.
It feels so right to be headed back to Destiny Falls. I was all alone in Boston and if I take the job here, I’ll be leaving behind my friends. My family.
Over the last six weeks, I’ve grown used to my new life in Destiny Falls. I like the slow pace of life there. I like the people and the sense of community that I have there. I even like working at the Mystery Cabin.
I think my mom knew that this would happen. She sure was on to something with her bucket list.
As I head down the terminal, a sense of rightness hits me.
I’m heading home.
22
By the time I’ve landed back in Michigan and then driven back up to Destiny Falls, it’s close to midnight. The town is quiet as I drive down Main Street and all of the lights are off at the Mystery Cabin when I pull up out front.
Teller’s truck and Lyla’s Jeep are still parked around back in the employee parking lot and my heart races at the thought of seeing Teller again.
I’m tired, exhausted from traveling all day, but anxiety starts to prick at the back of my neck as I climb out of my Beetle and head toward the back door. It’s unlocked and Bandit comes running up to me.
“Hey, boy,” I say quietly, bending down to scratch behind his ears.
He licks my face and I laugh. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until he’s jumping all over me.
“I missed you too,” I tell him, giving him one last pet before I stand.
“Hey,” comes a voice from the hallway and I jerk around to see Teller standing there.
His arm is bandaged up and he looks tired, but he’s still the most handsome man that I’ve ever seen.
“Hey,” I whisper, my voice coming out raspy with emotion.
I swallow hard, my eyes skittering away from his as I look around the back room.
“He’s in his office.”
I nod, wincing at the tone of Teller’s voice. His easy smiles and charming attitude are nowhere in sight and I don’t know if it’s because I broke up with him or if he’s just tired after today.
I follow him down the hallway and we both pause outside of the closed office door.
“How’s your arm?” I ask him and he just shrugs.
“It’s fine.”
I nod, looking away from him and I spot Lyla in the kitchen.
“Welcome back,” she says, coming up to me and giving me a hug. “I made him some tea.”
She passes me the mug and I take it from her, wrapping my fingers around it and welcoming the burn.
“We’ll get out of your way, but you can call me if you need help with anything,” she says and I nod.
She shoots one more nervous look toward the office door before she and Teller turn and head out the back door. Teller looks back before he heads outside and our eyes lock for one moment.
I open my mouth, wanting to say something, anything, but he turns and leaves before I can figure out what to say.
The cabin is quiet after that and I take a moment to compose myself before I step forward and open the office door.
My uncle is inside, slouched in his desk chair, and when he sees me, he hurries to wipe the tears away from his cheeks.
“Oh, you’re still here?” he asks sarcastically.
The bite in his words has me wincing but I still step closer to his desk and sink down into the chair across the desk from him.
“Lyla called me. She said that you were upset and that the mayor left here just as angry.”
“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” he snaps and I stare at him.
“Obviously,” I say dryly and he glares at me.
“I’m fine.”
“Right. I can see that.”
He huffs and I power on.
“What’s the deal with you and the mayor? Even Chet seemed to hate you, but no one knows why there’s so much animosity between you two? Why do they have such a problem with you?”
“That’s none of your business. Don’t you have some fancy job to get back to?”
“I don’t know if I got it or not… but I don’t want to move to Boston.”
“Not swanky enough for you?”
“Honestly? I missed this place more than I thought I would when I left. Destiny Falls is small, but I like the slower pace of life here.”
He looks away from me and I swallow, forcing the rest of the words out.
“I missed Lyla, Madelyn, and Iris. I really missed Teller and Bandit, although I think I might have blown my chance with Teller.”
“You haven’t. That boy has been in love with you for like a year.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Cause when your mom was here, she showed him a picture of you and you could see it then. He was dazed from that moment on. Your mom would tell us stories about you, and he would hang on her every word.”
“Well, he wasn’t acting that way when I just saw him.”
Stan rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his tea.
“I missed you too. You’re a cranky pain in the ass who hasn’t let me get close to since I got here, but you are my family. The last family that I have left and I still love you, Uncle Stan. If you’ll still have me, I’d like to keep working here… and living in your attic.”
That gets his attention and he looks back to me.
“I thought that I wanted some big life but I was miserable in Boston and I was only there for twenty-four hours. That job would have sucked the life out of me in under a year, and I would still be there trying to convince myself that I was happy if I hadn’t spent this summer here. If I hadn’t met you.”
We’re silent for a few minutes until Bandit starts scratching at the door and I lean back and open it for him. He stops by my side for a minute before he heads around the desk to see Uncle Stan.
“I’d love to have you here, Sutton. I didn’t want you to leave in the first place and I didn’t handle you telling me very well.”
I give him a smile as Bandit comes back to me and I scratch his ears.
“I know that I haven’t been very open with you since you got here. I-I have a hard time trusting people.”
I sit back in my chair, willing him to keep talking. He looks nervous, uncomfortable, as I stare at him.
“I’m gay.”
My mouth drops open. That is not what I thought he was going to say and I blink at him.
“I know that times have changed, but when I told my family back in the seventies, they didn’t take it very well. They cut me off, disowned me. They said that they didn’t want to have anything to do with a sick freak like me.”
“Uncle Stan,” I say, tears spilling over. “I’m so sorry. They shouldn’t have said that. They shouldn’t have treated you that way.”
I can’t even imagine being a twenty-something kid and losing my family, my home, my everything because of who I was.
Stan is crying too and it breaks my heart even more.
“That was why you never heard of me. I got kicked out and so I moved east until I landed here in Destiny Falls.”
I nod, tears still spilling from my eyes.
“What made you fall in love with Destiny Falls?”
“Lorne Morton.”