Somewhere New (Isle of Doughnut #1)

Chapter Thirty-Five

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

ASTER

‘ T his is incredible,’ I babbled. ‘I’m going to be a flower scholar. I will literally be paid to research and chat about flora. Lecture halls full of people will have to listen to me. We will be colleagues.’

Returning home had become a bleaker prospect as the day I would leave Doughnut neared. At least now, as I stumbled home an even more broken-hearted wreck than when I left, I’d have a good job. It would add variety to my life; I could weep over missing Callum at home and at university.

‘Since I’m assuming the detail was lost on you, I did say job prospects. Plural, not singular.’

‘Oh.’ I fidgeted on the sofa. ‘Having applied for no jobs, you’ll have to forgive me for not realising there were multiple offers on the table.’

‘You probably shouldn’t broadcast that you didn’t apply for either of these positions.’ Kristen’s fingers clacked against her keyboard. ‘Your peers might murder you.’

‘My lips are sealed. At least until someone asks, and then I’ll tell them everything. ’

‘Of course you will.’ Kristen sighed. ‘Job number two is a little different.’

I wiggled into the cushions. ‘Hit me with it.’

‘I assume you’ve talked to Bonnie? She’s the mayor on the island.’

‘We have conversed.’ Now wasn’t the time to reveal the weird and wonderful interactions I’d had with Callum’s sister. I’d wait until I was back in London and could witness Kristen’s pinched expressions.

‘She applied for funding on your behalf.’

My mouth dropped open. ‘She did what?’ I asked, the words slurred by my slack-jawedness.

‘She said you met with the council about it?’

I thought back to my lunch with the dowdy council members. Maybe Bonnie telling me to wear something smart really had been her version of helpfulness. It was hard to tell.

‘This job would be based on the island. After you finish your master’s, you would return for a five-year study of the island’s flora, which would constitute the research part of your PhD. You could make a book out of it, if you were that way inclined. You would do occasional teaching, as we’d keep you affiliated with the university here, and I’m sure others would want a piece of you every time you ventured off the island.’

I’d have to let Dad know: the true way to render me utterly speechless was to offer me a job that not only sounded freaking amazing in its own right, but allowed me to stay with the man I loved.

Because I totally loved Callum. I could admit that now that I wouldn’t have to leave him forever.

‘I want that one. Option two. Where do I sign? ’

Kristen chuckled. ‘I remember a lot of enthusiasm for option one as well.’

I sputtered. ‘Uneducated enthusiasm. I didn’t know there could be something better.’

‘I don’t see either option as better,’ Kristen mused. ‘Anyway, the deadline to decide is in a month’s time. Have a think about it when you’re back here. You’ve been on that island for a while, you may have forgotten what a Starbucks tastes like.’

‘Fuck you, Kristen. I would never be that thoughtless.’ Although, come to think of it, my last Frappuccino was a distant memory. ‘I’m not going to change my mind. Option two all the way.’

‘And I’m not changing mine.’ Kristen used her supervisor voice, which meant I was the lowly student and had to listen to her. ‘We’ll chat once you’re home and make the decision together.’

‘Fine.’ I stuck out my tongue, resisting saying there was absolutely no way I wasn’t jumping at the chance to come back here.

‘I can sense you’re thinking obstinate things, so I’m going to go.’

We said our goodbyes, and I flung my phone onto the cushion beside me. Two seconds passed while I buzzed with suppressed energy, before I stood. Tim and Albert leapt up, using their impressive empathy skills to ascertain serious shit was going down.

‘I get to stay,’ I half shouted, half sang. ‘I get to stay here with Callum. Callum, who is simply the best not-human I know. And I get to do epically awesome work. And I don’t have to leave forever. ’

I climbed onto the sofa and did a jig. The goats joined me and hopped around.

‘I need to find Callum.’ I jumped off the sofa and out of the middle of a more hoof-heavy-than-anticipated dance party. ‘I need to tell him I can stay.’

I paused midway to the coat rack. ‘And tell him I love him.’

Wow. What a thing to do. I hadn’t said those words before to anyone besides Dad and Lukey. I’d thought I loved Kimberley, had thought I was falling in love with Mark, but they had nothing on Callum. This massive feeling in my chest, this overpowering joy that I didn’t have to leave him—this was love.

‘Follow me, goats,’ I commanded.

I tugged on my coat and boots. Tim and Albert ambled outside while I stood on the cabin’s threshold. This could be my home. I could stay here and do work I loved. Be with the man I adored.

‘Fuck yeah,’ I muttered as I closed the front door. ‘Right. Do either of you have any idea where Callum is?’

Tim wandered off to chew a patch of grass. Albert, however, took his mission seriously. He bleated, then hopped around the side of the cabin. With nothing else to go on, I followed him.

I was too amped up to stay still. Either I’d find Callum, or he’d use his wolfy powers to find me. And I’d tell him I loved him, and about the job. Then we’d hug, for the first time in the knowledge we wouldn’t have to one day let go.