The Last Autumn We Shared のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 20

Yara wouldn't have asked a question like that unless she was certain of the answer.Caleb's whole body went rigid.Suddenly, he remembered the day he'd been supposed to drive Yvette's mother to the hospital.They had barely left the house when Yara forwarded him one of her social media posts with a private message attached.[Caleb, you're the only person who can see this post for the next ten minutes. If you don't come to the city hall for me, I'll take that as proof I imagined everything between us. Then I'm making the post public and marrying the first guy I can drag in there with me.]The hospital and the city hall were in opposite directions.Caleb had spent the drive torn between the two, deliberately dragging his feet until Yvette's repeated urging finally snapped the last thread of his restraint. He'd pulled over, ordered Yvette and her mother out of the car, and immediately turned around.That choice had earned him Yara's radiant smile.He'd been so exhilarated afterward that h

Separated from him by a pane of glass, Yara rushed forward in obvious distress.An officer had to remind her to pick up the phone. Only then did she grab the receiver, tears in her eyes."Caleb, don't worry. You're going to be fine. I don't care how much it costs, I'll get you out of here."Caleb's gaze fell on the faint prints her hands had left on the glass when she'd thrown herself against it, and his brows drew together almost unconsciously.It was so undignified.Couldn't she see the officers looking over at them? Everyone was watching as though they were some kind of spectacle.Yvette would never have behaved like this. She had never embarrassed herself in public.If Yvette were here, she would have looked at him calmly, with that quiet steadiness of hers, and told him she'd already found a lawyer.She would have brought him whatever essentials he needed instead of loudly announcing that money could fix everything.Caleb didn't even realize how much his thinking had changed.Befo

I was surprised when the message came through.What had Caleb done now?I replied immediately.[I moved on from him a long time ago. Why? Has he been giving you guys trouble?]My former coworker, Amanda Pierce, sent back a disappointed [Okay] and didn't say anything else.I frowned, but before I could think too much about it, one of my new coworkers, Emma Reed, came over and excitedly handed me a report."Yvette, you're incredible! You've only been here a month, and you already led our team to the best numbers we've ever had. We're number one!"I took the report and ran my fingers over the ranking at the top, then smiled."This is only the beginning."I'd barely finished speaking when my boss, Natalie Carter, came looking for me."Yvette, you've done an amazing job. I want to promote you straight to supervisor and raise your salary to twenty-five thousand a month. How does that sound?"Twenty-five thousand.Back home, Caleb had paid me three thousand a month.Only now did I realize jus

Xavier caught me by the back of my collar and yanked me out of the car's path, but the force sent him crashing to the pavement. He landed hard on one elbow, his face twisting in pain.The blond guy behind us, who had been staring at his phone, immediately panicked."I'm sorry! I wasn't telling you to go. I was playing a game!"Xavier's face had gone pale."Yvette, are you blind? You can't even tell when the light changes?"My heart was still pounding."Sorry, I... I'm red-green color-blind. I can't tell the traffic lights apart. I'll call an ambulance right now. Just hang on."Xavier stared at me in surprise."So that's why you always wait for someone else to start crossing first. I thought you were just ridiculously careful."Once the danger had passed and he'd caught his breath, a grin tugged at his lips. He tried to lift his right arm, only to discover that he couldn't."I just saved your life. Don't I at least get a date out of it?"He was already joking again, but he really had ju

I woke to the feeling of fingers against my face and found Xavier looking straight at me.He didn't pull his hand away. Instead, he gave me a gentle smile.I jerked upright and pushed his hand aside. "What are you doing?"Disappointment flickered across his face, but he withdrew his hand with a shrug. "You looked cute sleeping."My heart had started beating far too fast. I forced it back under control and said seriously, "Xavier, I don't know what you're trying to do, but I genuinely have no interest in dating anyone right now. Please don't do things that could give others the wrong idea."You'll be discharged in a week. After that, we're even."The smile disappeared from his face. His mouth turned down as he put on an aggrieved expression."Yvette, does everything have to be so black-and-white? If we can't date, can't we at least be friends? I did save your life, after all."I hesitated.Had I really misunderstood him?Maybe I was just once burned, twice shy.After a moment, I gave a