The Time Between Us

Homecoming

The airplane wheels touched down on Millbrook Regional's single runway with a bump that made Maya Chen's stomach lurch—though she suspected it had less to do with the landing and more to do with what waited for her beyond the tiny terminal's glass doors.

Five years. Five years since she'd last breathed the salt-tinged air of her hometown, five years since she'd walked these streets or felt the particular way the Pacific fog rolled in over the coastal hills. Five years since she'd seen *him*.

Maya gripped her camera bag tighter as passengers began shuffling toward the exit. Through the small oval window, she could see Millbrook spread out below the afternoon sun—a postcard-perfect coastal town that had barely changed since her childhood, except for the buildings. Even from this distance, she could spot them: sleek, modern structures that definitely hadn't been there when she left. Buildings with clean lines and sustainable design elements that made her chest tighten with recognition.

Ethan's work. She'd know his architectural signature anywhere.

"Ma'am? We've landed." The flight attendant's gentle voice broke through her paralysis.

"Right. Sorry." Maya forced her legs to move, following the thin stream of passengers off the plane and into the terminal that was somehow both exactly as she remembered and too small to contain all the emotions threatening to spill out of her.

The baggage claim area buzzed with the kind of easy conversation that only happened in towns where everybody knew everybody else's business. Maya kept her head down, hoping her baseball cap and five years of world travel had changed her enough that she might slip through unnoticed. She had three weeks to get through Sophie's wedding festivities. Three weeks to survive in a town that held every memory she'd spent half a decade trying to forget.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Sophie: *Maya!! Are you here yet?? I'm literally vibrating with excitement. James made me promise not to camp out at the airport but it was HARD. Can't wait to squeeze you!! See you at the lighthouse B&B at 6 for dinner? The wedding planner wants to meet you too—apparently, he has some ideas about photography angles. This is going to be PERFECT! ❤️*

Maya stared at the message, her stomach doing another unpleasant flip. Wedding planner. In a town as small as Millbrook, there couldn't be many options. But it was probably just someone new, someone who'd started their business in the years since she'd left. It had to be.

Her black duffel bag tumbled down the conveyor belt, followed by her equipment cases. As she hauled them off the carousel, Maya caught her reflection in the terminal's tinted windows. Sun-streaked brown hair escaping from her cap, skin bronzed from months documenting fishing communities in Portugal, laugh lines around her dark eyes that hadn't been there at twenty-three. She looked like exactly what she was: a travel photographer who'd spent five years collecting stories from every corner of the world except the one that mattered most.

The rental car counter clerk was a kid who couldn't have been more than nineteen, all eager smiles and small-town friendliness. "Maya Chen? Welcome back to Millbrook! I heard you've been taking pictures all over the world. That's so cool. My cousin Derek said he saw your photos in that travel magazine last month."

*So much for staying under the radar.* Maya managed a polite smile as she signed the paperwork. "Thank you. It's good to be... back."

The words felt foreign in her mouth. Good to be back. Was it? She wouldn't know until she found out whether her heart could survive being in the same zip code as Ethan Rodriguez again.

The drive from the airport to the Lighthouse Keeper's Inn took her straight through downtown Millbrook, and Maya couldn't help but slow down as familiar landmarks rolled past. The Rusty Anchor was still there, though it had a fresh coat of paint and what looked like a completely renovated deck. The old movie theater had been converted into an art gallery. And there, on the corner of Main and Harbor—

Maya's breath caught. Where Fletcher's Hardware used to stand, there was now a stunning three-story building with floor-to-ceiling windows and rooftop gardens. The design was unmistakably modern but somehow perfectly in harmony with the historic buildings around it. A small plaque by the entrance read: "Rodriguez & Associates, Sustainable Architecture."

Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. Ethan had done it. He'd built the practice he'd always dreamed of, right here in their hometown. The boy who used to sketch building designs on napkins at their favorite coffee shop had become the man reshaping Millbrook's skyline.

Maya drove past without stopping, but she couldn't shake the image of that building from her mind. It was beautiful. It was exactly the kind of work Ethan had always talked about doing—architecture that enhanced rather than dominated its environment. He'd made it happen without her.

The Lighthouse Keeper's Inn sat on a bluff overlooking Millbrook Bay, its white clapboard walls and red roof a beacon that had guided ships safely to harbor for over a century. Maya had always loved this place—she and Ethan used to walk out here during college breaks, imagining what it would be like to stay in one of the charming rooms with ocean views.

"Maya! Oh my goodness, look at you!" Helen Morrison, the inn's owner, bustled out from behind the front desk with arms wide open. Maya found herself enveloped in a hug that smelled like lavender soap and fresh-baked cookies. "I can't believe little Maya Chen is back in Millbrook. And so exotic now! Sophie told me you've been everywhere—Africa, Asia, Europe. Tell me everything!"

"It's wonderful to see you, Mrs. Morrison." Maya returned the hug, surprised by how much comfort she found in the familiar warmth. "The inn looks exactly the same."

"Well, mostly the same. We did some renovations last year—updated all the bathrooms and added those lovely window seats in the guest rooms. Ethan Rodriguez designed the improvements for us. That boy has such an eye for preserving character while adding modern convenience." Helen's face lit up with genuine admiration. "You remember Ethan, don't you? I believe you two were quite close in college."

Maya's smile felt like it might c***k her face. "Yes. I remember him."

If Helen noticed anything strained in Maya's response, she had the grace not to comment. Instead, she handed over an old-fashioned room key attached to a small brass lighthouse. "You're in the Beacon Room—the best view in the house. Sophie specifically requested it for you. She said something about you needing to see the whole bay for your photography work."

The Beacon Room was on the third floor, with windows on two sides that offered a panoramic view of Millbrook Bay. Maya set down her bags and walked to the east-facing window, where the late afternoon sun was beginning to cast golden light across the water. She could see the town marina, where sailboats bobbed gently at their moorings. The old pier where she and Ethan used to sit and talk about their dreams. The cliff walks they'd hiked dozens of times, always ending up at their favorite spot overlooking the rocks where seals liked to sun themselves.

Everything looked smaller than she remembered, but somehow more precious too. Like a snow globe version of the place that had shaped her into who she was.

Her phone rang, and Luis's face appeared on the screen. Maya answered with relief—she needed to hear a voice from her current life, something to anchor her to the person she'd become.

"*Minha amiga*," Luis's warm Portuguese accent filled the room. "How is the homecoming? Are you surviving?"

"I've been here exactly forty-five minutes and I've already seen his building," Maya said without preamble, sinking into the window seat. "It's beautiful, Luis. Exactly the kind of work he always wanted to do."

"And how does this make you feel?"

Maya closed her eyes. Luis had been her assistant and closest friend for three years now, ever since they'd met during a project documenting fishing communities in the Azores. He was also the only person who knew the whole truth about why she'd left Millbrook.

"Proud," she admitted quietly. "And terrified. And... God, I don't know. Like maybe I made the biggest mistake of my life."

"*Querida*, you made the choice you thought was right with the information you had. That doesn't make it a mistake."

"Doesn't it? What if I was just a coward who ran away instead of fighting for what mattered?"

"Then you learn from it. You are there for three weeks, yes? Perhaps the universe is giving you a chance to find some peace with your choice. Or perhaps to make a different one."

Maya opened her eyes and looked out at the bay, where the sun was beginning to set in brilliant oranges and pinks. "He has a girlfriend, Luis. I looked him up online before I came. Dr. Sarah Martinez, a pediatrician at Millbrook General. She's beautiful and accomplished and probably never runs away from anything."

"And you are Maya Chen, who has documented disappearing cultures on five continents and whose photographs have moved people to tears. You are not the same girl who left five years ago."

"No," Maya said softly. "I'm not."

They talked for a few more minutes before Luis had to go, leaving Maya alone with the sunset and her thoughts. She unpacked methodically, hanging her few dresses in the antique wardrobe and setting up her camera equipment on the writing desk. The familiar ritual of organizing her gear helped calm her nerves, reminding her that she was here for a job. Sophie's wedding. That was all.

At exactly six o'clock, Maya made her way downstairs to the inn's dining room, where Sophie had reserved a table for their reunion dinner. The room was cozy and intimate, with exposed beams and a stone fireplace that would be crackling once the evening fog rolled in. Helen had set a table for four by the window—Maya, Sophie, James, and...

"Maya!" Sophie's voice rang out across the dining room, and suddenly Maya was being lifted off her feet in an enthusiastic hug. Sophie looked exactly the same—curly red hair, freckles, eyes that sparkled with mischief and joy. "I can't believe you're actually here! I was half convinced you'd find some excuse to bail at the last minute."

"I wouldn't miss your wedding," Maya said, and meant it. Sophie had been her closest friend since childhood, the sister she'd never had. If Maya could survive three weeks in Millbrook for anyone, it would be for Sophie.

"Maya, this is James." Sophie beamed as she introduced a tall man with kind eyes and an easy smile. "James, this is the famous Maya Chen I've been telling you about."

"Finally!" James shook her hand warmly. "Sophie's been planning this reunion for months. I feel like I already know you from all her stories."

"All good ones, I hope."

"Mostly," Sophie grinned. "I may have left out the part about you convincing me to sneak out senior year to go skinny-dipping at the quarry."

"That was your idea!"

"Was not!"

Maya felt some of the tension in her shoulders ease as she fell back into the comfortable rhythm of friendship with Sophie. This was why she'd come back. Not for closure or second chances or any of the other dramatic reasons her mind kept suggesting. She was here because Sophie mattered, and love—real, lasting love like what Sophie and James had found—deserved to be celebrated.

"So," Sophie said as they settled into their chairs, "I hope you don't mind, but our wedding planner should be joining us shortly. He's been absolutely incredible throughout this whole process, and he had some really creative ideas about photography for the ceremony. I thought you two should meet before—"

The dining room door opened, and Maya's world tilted sideways.

Ethan Rodriguez stood in the doorway, scanning the room until his eyes found their table. Five years had only made him more handsome—his dark hair was shorter now, with just a hint of silver at the temples, and his shoulders seemed broader in the navy blazer he wore over dark jeans. But it was his eyes that stopped Maya's breath. Those same warm brown eyes that had once looked at her like she was his whole world.

Right now, they looked at her like she was a ghost.

For a moment that felt like an eternity, they simply stared at each other across the dining room. Maya's heart pounded so hard she was sure everyone could hear it. Ethan's face cycled through surprise, recognition, and something that might have been pain before settling into careful neutrality.

Sophie, oblivious to the tension crackling between them, waved enthusiastically. "Ethan! Over here!"

He crossed the room with measured steps, and Maya noticed he still moved with that particular combination of confidence and grace that had always made her pulse quicken. When he reached their table, he extended his hand to her with professional politeness.

"Maya," he said, his voice deeper than she remembered but still carrying traces of the warmth she'd fallen in love with. "Welcome back to Millbrook."

Maya stared at his outstretched hand for a beat too long before taking it. The moment their skin touched, five years collapsed into nothing. She was twenty-three again, sitting in their favorite coffee shop while he sketched building designs and she edited photos, their hands intertwined on the small table between them.

"Ethan," she managed, her voice barely above a whisper. "I didn't know you were... I mean, Sophie mentioned a wedding planner, but I didn't realize..."

"Small town," he said simply, releasing her hand. "Limited options."

The silence stretched uncomfortably until James cleared his throat. "Well, this is... should we sit down? I think our server's been waiting."

As they arranged themselves around the table—Sophie and James on one side, Maya and Ethan carefully maintaining distance on the other—Maya caught Sophie giving her a curious look. Her friend wasn't stupid; she had to sense the undercurrent of tension, even if she didn't understand its source.

"So," Ethan said, opening a leather portfolio and sliding seamlessly into professional mode, "Sophie mentioned you'll be handling photography for the wedding. I've been working on a timeline for the day, and I think there are some opportunities to coordinate our efforts for maximum impact."

Maya blinked at him. *Our efforts.* As if they were simply two vendors collaborating on an event, not two people who had once planned their own wedding in this very town.

"Of course," she heard herself say. "I'm here to make Sophie's day perfect."

Sophie beamed. "This is going to be amazing! My two favorite people working together to create something beautiful."

Maya's eyes met Ethan's across the table, and she saw her own thoughts reflected there: *If only it were that simple.*

The evening stretched ahead of them like a minefield, every casual conversation topic a potential explosive. But Maya had survived war zones, natural disasters,, and homesickness in a dozen countries. Surely she could survive dinner with the man she'd once loved more than her own life.

Even if just looking at him made her wonder if she'd ever really stopped.