Then left it untouched.
Because guilt, he discovered, did not fade.
It fermented.
Four years after Audrey vanished, Julian received a letter.
Handwritten.
No return address.
Inside was a single sentence.
If you ever truly loved her, come to Waverly Cove before it’s too late.
No signature.
Julian stared at the words for nearly an hour.
Then he booked the first flight to Maine.
Waverly Cove looked nothing like his life.
No steel towers.
No black cars.
No polished performance.
The town smelled like saltwater and pinewood smoke. Fishing boats rocked gently in the harbor while gulls screamed overhead.
It felt painfully real.
Julian hated it instantly because Audrey would have loved it.
And somehow, that made him love it too.
He found the bookstore first.
The bell above the door chimed softly as he stepped inside.
An older man behind the counter looked up from a novel.
Then froze.
Not because Julian was famous.
Because he recognized him.
“You shouldn’t be here,” the man said quietly.
Julian’s throat tightened. “Is Audrey here?”
The man hesitated too long.
Fear stabbed through Julian’s chest.
“Is she alive?”
The bookstore owner’s expression shifted.
Confusion.
Then pity.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “But if she didn’t call you herself…”
Julian interrupted. “Please.”
The word sounded broken.
The man studied him for a long moment before finally scribbling an address onto a receipt.
“White cottage near the cliffs,” he said. “Blue shutters.”
Julian’s hands shook as he took the paper.
The cottage stood near the ocean behind a crooked garden gate.
A child’s bicycle lay tipped sideways in the grass.
Julian stopped breathing.
Children?
His pulse thundered violently as he walked toward the porch.
Then the front door burst open.
A little boy sprinted outside wearing rain boots and a superhero cape.
“NOAH!” a woman shouted from inside.
The boy collided directly into Julian’s legs.
“Oof!”
Julian instinctively steadied him.
Tiny shoulders.
Warm little body.
The child looked up with storm-gray eyes.
Julian’s heart stopped.
Because he was staring into his own face.
Not exactly.
But enough.
Enough to make the world tilt sickeningly sideways.
The boy blinked at him. “You’re tall.”
Julian couldn’t breathe.
Another small boy appeared behind him, quieter, clutching a book against his chest.
And when Julian saw him, something inside him broke completely.
Because both boys had Audrey’s mouth.
And his eyes.
“Oh my God,” Julian whispered.
Behind them, Audrey stepped into the doorway.
Time shattered.
She looked older.
Not old.
Just real in ways she hadn’t been before. Softer in some places. Stronger in others. Her hair was shorter. Her sweater sleeves were pushed carelessly to her elbows.
But her eyes
Those same honest eyes widened in absolute horror.
The color drained from her face.
“Boys,” she said sharply, “inside.”
Noah frowned. “But—”
“Now.”
Something in her voice made both twins obey immediately.
Julian barely noticed them disappear.
He could only stare at Audrey.
“You were pregnant,” he said hoarsely.
Not a question.
A wound.
Audrey closed her eyes briefly.
“Yes.”
The ocean crashed violently behind them.
Julian laughed once.