A pair of large arms wrapped around my waist. A familiar, comforting smell enveloped me as Dan rested his chin on my shoulder and planted a kiss on my neck, startling me.
“Hey, love. It’s okay. It’s me,” he whispered, but he was so wrong. Nothing was okay. It would never be okay again, and it was all my fault.
“Dan, I can’t right now.” I disentangled myself from his grasp and took a few steps away from him to gain some distance. I couldn’tbring myself to look at him because I knew that if I did, I would start crying. “I’m making the final checks. There’s a to-do list a mile long to finish and…” He turned me to face him and, before I could take a breath, he pressed our lips together in a kiss. His embrace felt so warm and good and exactly what I needed in the moment, but I felt too guilty about what I had done to kiss him back. After a few seconds, he broke our embrace.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” he asked. Two betraying tears rolled down my cheeks in response, but I couldn’t speak. “Emma, I love you and you told me that you loved me. I thought we had… I can’t get my heart broken again. I can’t lose you, Emma.”
“Dan.” I placed my hand on his cheek and whispered, “I don’t love him. I’m beginning to wonder if I ever did.”
“If that’s true, then why did you leave the town hall with him? Why have you been avoiding me all day? It’s the middle of the night and I had to go searching through this whole damn place to find you. I know this has nothing to do with the festival because everything on your to-do list”—he pulled the clipboard out of my hands—“has been done. Everything was fine before that git showed up, and now it isn’t.”
He was right. Of course, he was right. Dan was the one person in my life that could really see me. He knew I was in pain, and he knew that Teddy was the cause. The only thing I wanted to do in the world was fly into his arms and confess everything about our conversation at Erica’s, but I was in no emotional shape to do that.
“Are you having second thoughts about us?” He curled his forefinger under my chin and forced me to meet his eyes.
“This isn’t about you, Dan.” I jerked my head out of his grasp.“This is about my responsibilities to the town. I just really, really need this festival to be the best one the town has ever seen, and I don’t have time forthis.” I snatched my clipboard out of his hands and continued to walk around the perimeter gate of the petting zoo, inspecting the latches, which both Dan and I knew had already been done. He made no move to follow me.
“I want to take you home, Emma,” he called into the night. “It’s late, and you need to sleep. You also probably haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, have you?”
He was right, but Dan being his loving, thoughtful self only succeeded in making me sink lower into despair. I wouldn’t only be destroying everything my grandparents helped build and ruining the lives of people who depended on me, I would be losing the one person in my life who loved me unconditionally and made me feel whole. My heart broke even more.
“I’m fine,” I called over my shoulder. “I’ll get myself home.”
“No, you won’t,” he yelled as I walked farther away. I stopped and turned to face him. “I’ve taken your car keys and I’m gonna wait in the truck until you’re finished. You’re not gonna stay out here by yourself in the middle of the night.”
I dug my fist into my hip, ready to reply, but Dan had already begun walking back to the truck. After a few minutes, I followed him and climbed into the passenger seat, and we rode home in silence.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The bed felt unnaturally cold and empty when I woke up the next morning. It took me a split second to realize that I was in my bedroom, not Dan’s. A split second later, my eyes were flooded with tears as all of the awful memories of yesterday resurfaced. Unfortunately, staying in bed all day and crying wasn’t an option. The festival was going to begin in a few short hours, and I needed to do what I did best: ignore my self-interest for the good of everyone who depended on me. It might be my last chance before everything came crashing down.
Dan was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a mug of tea. He rose when he saw me, pulled out a chair for me to sit down, and placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of me. We hadn’t said a word to each other since he’d found me on the festival grounds last night. Every second that passed between us felt like a heavy weight. After a sip of the coffee that was perfectly prepared because the man whomade it knew exactly how I liked it, I drew in a deep breath and opened my mouth to speak.
“No, Emma.” Dan placed his hand on mine, causing my chest to tighten in despair and the words to die on my lips. “Let me talk.” He turned his chair to face me fully. “I’ve never considered myself to be a jealous man, but seeing you with… Teddy yesterday…” He paused for a moment before shaking his head and continuing. “I can’t excuse the way I reacted. You are the strongest person I know, and I know you’re more than capable of handling yourself. I’m sorry I overreacted. It was childish and embarrassing. You were right. In that moment, the prospect of losing you to a bloke like that—well, to anyone really—made me react in a way I shouldn’t have.” He placed my palm on his cheek, and I moved my thumb back and forth over his beard while blinking my tears away. “I’ve seen you at this table night after night for weeks, working your arse off to plan this festival. I’m not going to ruin the opportunity for you to see all of your hard work come to fruition. We have a lot to talk about, but not now. It can wait until you’re ready. I couldn’t call myself a man who loves you if I didn’t also let you enjoy the things that matter to you. Because you matter to me, Emma, so, so much.” He leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on my forehead before leaving me alone in the kitchen.
As I stared into my coffee mug, watching the steam dissipate until it grew cold, I couldn’t help but think how much more emotionally mature Dan was compared to Teddy. I desperately wished that I could tell him everything about Teddy’s impromptu visit to town, but he was right. Now wasn’t the time. I had to focus on the festival.
“This year’s opening speech will be bittersweet. Bitter because this is the first Harvest Festival in all my years in this town we call home where I can’t look into the crowd and see George and Harriet King’s smiling faces. But it is also sweet because, in their absence, George and Harriet continue to rain blessings on us in the form of their beautiful, smart, and very generous granddaughter, Emmaline. She not only worked tirelessly, along with my beautiful wife, Belinda, to put together this day of celebration, but she has also given us hope that the legacy of the work that the Kings put in motion all those years ago will continue for years to come.” The crowd broke out into applause, and I tried to paste on a convincing smile. “Well, I won’t drone on for too long because I know you’re anxious to get to the deep-fried ice cream, so it is my biggest honor to welcome you to the fifty-second annual Harvest Festival!”
The crowd whooped and cheered, Belinda cut the ribbon, and the crowd filed into the festival grounds. There wasn’t really much for me to do besides walk around, make small talk, and admire my handiwork. My mind drifted to Dan’s words from this morning.
I’m not going to ruin the opportunity for you to see all of your hard work come to fruition.
My eyes scanned the crowded field until I found him competing with Melissa and a few of the other kids from town at the ring toss game. I had no idea how that man had managed to steal my heart so completely. He caught my eye and waved. I waved back. Though Teddy’s plan may have marked the end of this idyllic life I’d built formyself, I’d resolved to tell Dan the truth before the festival ended. He deserved to know.
“Emma.” Belinda’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I turned away from Dan to face her. “The reporter from theCounty Gazetteis here for the walk-through.” Her beauty-pageant smile told a different story than her eyes. Her dark brown irises bore into mine.
Watch what you say to these people.
“Are you ready, darling?” she asked, and delicately placed a gloved hand on the small of my back, urging me forward.
“Are you kidding?” I laughed. “This is the only thing I haven’t worried about getting wrong since I got here. PR is my life.”
She chuckled in response.
We were still laughing when we were approached by the mayor, who was deep in conversation with a man in his late twenties, holding a tape recorder. A photographer was rapidly snapping photos of them.
“There she is!” Mayor Cole and the reporter turned to face me. “Emmitt Fong, from theCounty Gazette, this is the young lady I’ve been telling you about. Emma Walters has been the town’s savior since she took over her grandparents’ farm.”
