Chapter 43 Chloe, Welcome Home!
Chloe had always occupied a deeply hidden, sacred place in Eugene’s heart.
Even now, decades after he had built a life, married, and had children of his own, just hearing her name stirred a quiet, dull ache in a sealed corner of his soul.
His greatest, most agonizing regret from his youth was falling in love with a girl before he even understood what love meant. By the time he finally realized he wanted to claim her, the quiet, terrifyingly brilliant Nathan Archer had already systematically barricaded himself by her side.
Eugene had never even gotten the chance to properly confess. He had been forced to stand on the sidelines, forcing a polite smile, offering them his blessings as they got married.
And then, before he could even properly process his lingering jealousy and let her go, she had vanished from the earth entirely. She became a permanent, untouchable ghost in his memory.
Over the years, in his darkest moments, Eugene used to compare himself to Nathan with a bitter, lingering resentment. He used to convince himself that he had only lost because of geography—that if he had gone to a university in Chicago instead of staying in Duluth, Chloe would have absolutely chosen him.
But as the decades bled on and he watched Nathan systematically destroy his own life, his health, and his sanity to search the globe for a ghost... Eugene’s resentment had crumbled into profound, humbling awe.
He finally realized the truth: even with a thousand perfect opportunities, he never could have won against Nathan Archer.
Nathan was simply a terrifyingly superior man.
If Eugene had been in Nathan's shoes, grieving a missing wife, he would have grieved, healed, and eventually moved on. He would have given up.
Standing outside the hotel now, Eugene had to violently admit to himself that he was absolutely no match for Nathan. He lacked that man's absolute, borderline-insane devotion. He lacked the feral, enduring passion that could keep a man faithful to a corpse for twenty-three years.
Before Nathan and Eugene even reached the heavy oak door of the private dining room, the boisterous, chaotic laughter inside was already echoing down the hall.
The expensive banquet had been ordered hours ago, yet the massive circular table was laden with entirely untouched food.
Four women were huddled tightly together, their hands violently clasped, practically sitting in each other's laps as they shrieked with laughter, desperately trying to catch up on two decades of life.
The men stood on the periphery, drinking beers and chiming in with sarcastic jabs.
Chloe’s eyes were crinkled into tight crescents as she laughed until her stomach hurt. "Oh my god, I still can't believe it! It genuinely feels like yesterday we were taking tequila shots in your dorm room. And now you're telling me your son is a sophomore in college?!"
"Listen, if things don't work out with Nathan, my boy is single!" Lisa joked loudly, sloshing her wine. "He wouldn't mind a slightly older woman! You look incredible!"
"Are you insane?" one of the men scoffed from across the room. "Marry Chloe? Your poor kid wouldn't survive a week! Everyone knows Nathan had to be completely trained like a domestic show dog to handle her temper!"
"Hey!" Chloe gasped, offended. "He was the one always terrorizing me!"
"Oh, please! We all had front-row seats!" another woman laughed. "Senior year of high school? You practically held Nathan hostage, making him color-code all your class notes! Don't act like we didn't notice!"
"Exactly! The valedictorian did all your group projects while you filed your nails!"
"Yeah, and back then you aggressively swore to all of us that you two were just purely platonic 'study buddies'."
"Who were you trying to fool?"
"That was years ago! Why are you dragging my name through the mud?" Chloe defended herself, her cheeks flushing bright red. "We were just classmates! I was focused strictly on academics! I didn't have any impure thoughts about him back then!"
"Yeah. And I'm the Pope," Lisa snorted.
"Why are you singling me out?!" Chloe turned her fire on Lisa. "When Mr. Henderson caught you writing dirty love letters to the quarterback from the rival team, I took the fall for you! I had to sit in after-school detention for a month because of your hormones!"
"Whoa! Are we just airing all our dirty laundry tonight?!"
"Alright, alright, shut up and eat!" Eugene called out, clapping his hands to bring the chaotic room to order. "We are definitely doing shots tonight, no matter who has to work tomorrow!"
The table finally settled down, wiping tears of mirth from their eyes as they filled their glasses to the brim.
Eugene stood at the head of the table. The easy humor faded from his lined face, replaced by a sudden, heavy earnestness. He raised his glass.
"This is for Chloe," Eugene said, his voice thick with raw emotion. "Chloe... we are truly, unbelievably happy that you are alive."
His eyes reddened as the entire room of forty-somethings stood up, holding their glasses high. Smiling through their tears, they echoed in a single, unified voice:
"Chloe! Welcome home!"
Chloe stood there, clutching her wine glass, violently sobbing like an absolute fool.
Nathan stepped up right behind her, his large hand coming down to roughly, affectionately ruffle her hair, grounding her to the earth.
Everyone downed their drinks, and the reunion stretched from the late afternoon deep into the freezing Minnesota night.
When the party finally began to disperse, Lisa refused to let Chloe go. She clung to her friend on the sidewalk, sobbing uncontrollably into Chloe's shoulder.
"Chloe, thank god you didn't die. Thank god," Lisa wept, her fingers digging into Chloe's coat. "You have absolutely no idea how completely destroyed Nathan has been. You didn't see him."
Lisa pulled back, her makeup entirely ruined, grabbing Chloe by the shoulders. "You absolutely have to stay with him this time. You're the only couple from our generation who actually made it! Do you hear me? Be good to him. Please."
"I know," Chloe nodded vigorously, tears sliding down her own face. "I know, Lisa."
"You missed my wedding. You missed both of my weddings," Lisa sobbed, her voice cracking. "It hurt so goddamn much. You're my person! Every time a guy broke my heart, I needed you to help me plot revenge, and you were just gone! It's been so hard without you!"
"Stop crying, you idiot," Chloe sniffled, gently wiping the mascara from Lisa's cheeks. "I'm back now. I am still your emotional dumping ground. Whoever hurt you, we will ruin their lives together. I'm right here."
Lisa hadn't been happy. Her marriages had ended in brutal divorces, and she was exhausted from single motherhood. The happiest, most vibrant era of her life had been when she and Chloe were young and untouchable. When Chloe vanished, the loss had permanently scarred her.
Seeing her alive now felt like the universe had finally granted her a miracle. Everything was going to be okay.
"Alright, it's freezing out here, and Chloe has a big day tomorrow," Eugene interrupted gently, stepping out of the restaurant to wrangle the stragglers. "Let's call it a night. We'll have plenty of time to catch up later."
The friends reluctantly unhooked from each other, piling into waiting cabs and designated drivers' cars, heading back to their complicated, middle-aged lives.
Nathan and Chloe grabbed their room keys from the front desk and headed out into the night toward their hotel.
It was only a block down the street, a brief, freezing walk. Nathan had politely declined Eugene's offer to drive them, preferring to walk alone with Chloe.
Chloe was slightly buzzed, her eyes red from crying, her mind entirely overwhelmed.
She thought about the people she had just left. The years had ruthlessly ground them down—divorces, stress, aging, regret. Yet, the absolute, unconditional love they held for her hadn't decayed for a single second.
They shared a history that couldn't be erased. For the first time since waking up in a hospital bed a month ago, she didn't feel like an alien trapped in the wrong century. She felt like she belonged.
And Nathan had orchestrated this entire night.
He had deliberately set this up to cushion the devastating blow of visiting her parents' graves tomorrow. He had systematically rebuilt her safety net so she wouldn't feel so agonizingly alone.
Nathan...
Unable to contain the sudden, violent surge of affection in her chest, Chloe suddenly quickened her pace. She practically tackled him from behind, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and burying her face between his broad shoulder blades.
"Thank you," she whispered against his coat.
Nathan paused, his hands coming down to cover hers where they were locked against his stomach. "Thanking me again?" he murmured, his voice a low, rough rumble. "What exactly are you thanking me for this time?"
"Everything," Chloe breathed, squeezing him tighter. "Just... everything about you. I'm so incredibly grateful for you."
Nathan stood frozen on the freezing sidewalk. He looked down at her small hands gripping his coat. His dark eyes instantly flooded with heat, a violent stinging sensation rising in the back of his throat. He clenched his jaw so tight it ached.
He laced his fingers through hers, squeezing her hands back with desperate, crushing strength. He closed his eyes against the biting wind.
Me too, he whispered silently into the dark.
I am so endlessly grateful for you. Thank you for coming back to me.