Back to You by Natalie-Nicole Bates

that’s part of the reason I came back to Unity. Even though I tried to convince myself that we would never be together, I still hoped that there was some chance our love would survive two decades.”
    Her words immediately calmed him and a sense of peace filled him. “Okay, great.” He kissed her hair. “Just get some sleep,” he said, but she had already dozed back off. It was just as well. He had places to go.
    ***
    Lynsey awoke and immediately knew she was alone. She swept her hand over the bed, but Nick was gone. She got up from the bed and slipped a robe over her shoulders and tied it snug around her waist.
    When she got to the kitchen, there was no note from Nick—nothing. Where had he gone? Was he having some kind of crisis after what he had admitted about his late wife knowing about their love affair?
    It was unsettling, to say the least. She turned on the kettle and looked out the kitchen window. His car was gone. After stirring coffee crystals into the boiling water, she carried the mug with her onto the porch. There was a distinct chill in the air. It was nearly October and summer was long gone.
    She closed her eyes and rocked back and forth on the porch swing. Where was Nick? When she heard the gate open, she sprung up with anticipation, expecting to see him. But it wasn’t Nick, it was Caleb Smith. Her heart sank. Without being rude, she needed to send Caleb on his way as soon as possible.
    “Caleb, I wasn’t expecting you.” She said the first thing that came to mind.
    He walked closer until he stood before her, his dark red hair blowing in the chilly breeze. “I needed to see you. You won’t return my phone calls. I can’t get you out of my mind.”
    A hot blush started in her chest and settled in her cheeks. She reached down and tightened the belt of her robe. “Caleb…please don’t say that.”
    “Why? We had a good thing twenty years ago.”
    “That’s just it, Caleb. It was twenty years ago. I just can’t pick up where we left off, and the truth is, there wasn’t that much there to begin with.” She desperately did not want to hurt this man, but she needed to be firm with him.
    He snorted. “I know I was your rebound lover back then, Lynsey. I’m just asking for a chance now. You said you want to be married, and you want a family…I’m prepared to give you everything you want, and more. Don’t you realize that I will treat you like a princess?”
    He was saying everything he thought she wanted to hear. But she didn’t love him. “I’m sorry, Caleb, it’s just that I—”
    “—Love Nick. That’s what you want to say, isn’t it?”
    “Yes, I love Nick. I always have,” she admitted.
    He mumbled a slew of obscenities under his breath and turned to leave, running smack into Nick. An armload of papers fell from Nick’s hand and fluttered to the ground. Caleb stormed off the property without looking back.
    Her heart palpitated. She had so wanted Caleb to be gone before Nick got home.
    “What the hell was that all about?” Nick demanded and bent over to gather his papers.
    More than anything, she did not want to risk shattering everything with Nick, but she could not lie to him, either.
    “Caleb still wants to pursue a relationship with me,” she admitted. She expected a swift negative response from Nick.
    “Well, he’s just going to have to realize that’s not happening, right?”
    When he smiled, her heart filled with joy. He wasn’t angry. She had needlessly worried about nothing. He knew Caleb was no threat to their love.
    “Right,” she stated firmly. Now it was time to let it go. “So, what have you got there?”
    He sat beside her. “I went to the precinct to pick up the paperwork for the sergeant’s exam.”
    Relief swept over her. Nick finally accepted that the promotion to sergeant was something he had earned, and deserved. Hopefully, it also meant he had forgiven himself about the circumstances that surrounded Evan’s accident and