Chapter 3 Unfinished Conversations

Joan sat alone in the garden behind the bookstore, her tea long gone cold. The air smelled of lavender and old stone, but her thoughts spun too fast to appreciate the peace.

Jules. Nathan. Together?

It felt like betrayal wrapped in confusion. Not because either of them had done something technically wrong, but because her heart had never really let Nathan go.

Footsteps crunched behind her. She didn't turn.

"I didn't know you two were that close," Nathan's voice said carefully.

Joan blinked at the ground. "We weren't. Not until college. But she was there when... well, when you weren't."

A long silence stretched between them.

"I should've called," he admitted.

She finally looked at him. "Why didn't you?"

Nathan rubbed the back of his neck. "My parents split. Everything got chaotic. We moved overnight. I didn't even get a chance to grab my sketchbook, let alone say goodbye."

"I waited," she said, her voice a whisper.

"I know," he murmured. "And I'm sorry."

Joan swallowed hard. "And Jules?"

He paused. "It was brief. Complicated. But... It's over."

Their eyes met again. Too many questions hung in the space between them, but Joan chose silence. For now.

Because part of her still wanted to believe the boy who once made her laugh until her stomach hurt could be the man she needed now.