What helped me wake up every morning was the rising of the sun. It reminded me that each day was a new chance to start over. Opening my eyes I blew out my candle. I was about to take a bite out of my cupcake when someone knocked on the front door. I looked around thinking maybe Reece or Grant had left something, but I couldn’t see anything belonging to them. Another knock came at the door.

“I’m coming!” I said loudly.

When I pulled the door open I wasn’t expecting the person I found on the other side.

“Bitch, you better not be answering the door while you’re coming. That’s something you don’t share with others.” She smiled widely at me.

“Oh my god Harper!” I pushed the screen door open and flung myself at her.

We hugged and held each other tightly. I cried and sobbed, and she did the same.

“What are you doing here?” I said sniffling and pulling back to look at her.

“You didn’t actually think I was going to let you spend your birthday alone did you?”

I cried a bit more, hugging her again. “I’ve missed you so much! Oh god, I’m being rude. Come in!”

I let her go and we both walked inside.

“Wow, look at this place. No wonder you haven’t come home!”

I smiled at her. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice. You want to sit down?”

“I do, but only if you quit being so formal with me.”

“Done.”

She smirked. “Are you going to offer me anything to drink?”

“Get it yourself, kitchens behind you.”

Harper burst out laughing. She got up and grabbed a glass of water and came to sit back down.

“So, how’s my birthday girl?”

“Good. I went for a jog this morning down the beach, read a book earlier, and just had a cookout with some friends.” I replied.

“Any of these friends male?”

“As a matter of fact both of them are, but it isn’t like that at all.”

She raised her eyebrow. “Em, have I taught you nothing? If they have a penis and they are good to you it is more than certainly like that.”

I shook my head grinning. “Not unless one other is old enough to be your Dad, and the other is his son.”

Her face dropped. “Who in the hell have you been hanging out with Em?”

This made me giggle. “They’re good people. Reece owns the house, and Grant is his son.”

She nodded.

“So how are you?” I asked her.

“Pretty good. Business is booming right now since summer is around the corner. Everybody wants to sell their house.”

“That’s great! But what about Ky? Are you able to spend any time with him?”

“Ky’s been distracted with work and he’s been flying back and forth a lot. Even when he’s actually in Idaho, I don’t get to see him much.” She said.

I was confused. “Why is he flying back and forth?”

She looked down at her hands. “That’s part of the reason I came out here Em. Finn’s selling the house. He moved back to California.”

My stomach sank. “I guess that’s a good thing.” I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s not like I could expect him to stay in that little town waiting for me for figure my shit out. He has a life to live too.”

I put on a brave face but deep down I was hurt. If he had moved back to California, did that mean he’d given up on me? I was being selfish. I didn’t want him to wait for me, but I didn’t want him to move on either.

“He’s miserable Em. He’s been miserable since the day you left, and we tried everything to get him to snap out of it. Ky figured that not being in that house and some California sun might cheer him up. The guy even grew a beard and he started to smell funky.” She made a face. “Anyway, he left town a few weeks ago and asked me to list the house.”

“Does he seem to be doing better in California?” I felt terrible for hoping he wasn’t.

“Other than finally showering everyday, Ky said he’s about the same.”

My eyes welled up with tears.

“It’s my fault.”

“No, it isn’t. You had to take care of yourself before you could take care of anyone else.”

“I can’t stand the idea of him being miserable Harper.” The first of my tears hit my cheeks.

“What about you? Are you miserable?”

I had to think about that. Everything that I’d wanted to learn living on my own had happened, but when she asked me like that, I realized I was miserable. I missed Finn so much that I could hardly think of anything else during the day.

“Yes.” I sobbed.

She came over and put her hand on my back, rubbing it back and forth.

“Then go to him Em. Why are you sitting here in this beautiful beach house, unable to really enjoy it because the love of your life is clear across the country?”

“You are such a closet romantic Harper.”

“Don’t tell anyone. It’ll ruin my reputation.” We sat there for a moment in silence. “Well…”

“Well what?” I was wiping my eyes.

“What are you waiting for? Go pack a bag and get the hell out of here. Lover boy will probably keel over when he sees you!”

“But you just got here.”

“Pshh… I’m going to stay here if you don’t mind. I could take a couple of vacation days. Besides, if your pale ass can get a tan like that, I’m not going anywhere!”

“Wait! What if he doesn’t want to see me anymore? I don’t know if I could stomach it if he slammed the door in my face.” Just thinking about it made me want to be sick.

“Em, the guy loves you. He’s going to be so happy to see you that I wouldn’t be surprised if he strips you naked right then and there.”

Maybe she was right? I had to take a chance. It was Finn. And even if he loved me only a fraction of what he used to, I’d take it. I laughed and hugged her again. Kissing her on the cheek I jumped up and headed to my room yelling down the hall at her.

“You are seriously the greatest friend anybody could ask for.”

“I know!” she yelled back.

Belch!

I burped and Ky started waving his hand in front of his face.

“Oh my god that stinks. What did you eat, a baby diaper?”

I would have normally laughed but I couldn’t. “I’m a guy, you live with me… get over it.”

“Listen douchebag, you’re going to have to snap out of this…” He waved his hands in the air, “well whatever it is, soon because it’s getting old fast. Maybe we should have a party here or something. I could get a keg and invite a bunch of girls over.”

I really didn’t want a party. It wasn’t like we were still college kids, but maybe he was right. Being around people might help me get my mind off of the girl that walked away from me. I’d put everything off, including work. If I didn’t get my shit together soon, the record label would release me from my contract. The songs I’d been writing were terrible.

“Fine. But give me an hour to get ready, would ya?” I said getting up from the couch.

“No problem. I’m going to run into town and get the keg.”

“Hey wait a second! What about Harper? Won’t she be pissed at you for inviting chicks over?”

He turned, his eyes looking a bit lost.

“Yeah, about that… I’m not sure that’s going to work out. She’s too busy with work.”

I looked at him a second longer. “Sorry man. You two seemed good together.”

He shrugged, turned and walked out; essentially ending our conversation. Not that guys sit around talking about their emotions, but Kyler was my best friend and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was madly in love with Harper. She’d always had commitment issues, but hopefully she hadn’t royally fucked this one up.

I ended up taking a long hot shower, my muscles relaxing under the water. Em had been gone for a few months now and I still didn’t know what to do with myself. When she came back into my life, it had just confirmed that she was the only woman I’d ever love. I knew that there were a lot of people out there who were capable of loving more than one person, but I also knew that I wasn’t one of them. I was either going to be with her, or I’d be alone forever. A depressing thought considering I didn’t even know where she was.