I don’t want to get my hopes up. I don’t want to get my heart broken again.
But this sure feels…right.
When we reach the Falls Inn, I’m glad there’s not many cars in the lot. Desi parks next to my truck and gets out with me, walking around to stand by my driver door as I unlock it.
“I’m going to stop by the store for a few minutes on my way home and check on things,” I tell him.
“Okay. Be careful.”
“Yoube careful.” I brush a kiss across his lips and it calls to mind countless memories of the past.
Nearly enough to make me start crying again.
“I won’t be long,” he assures me. “I will be back. I promise.”
“Show, don’t tell. Love you.”
He smiles. “Love you, too.”
When I back out of the parking lot and pull away, I notice he’s still standing there, watching me with a slightly goofy smile on his face.
Dare I hope this means my future’s finally on the rise?
All I can do is hope and give him the chance to prove himself.
If he hurts me again, then I guess I only have myself to blame for letting him back into my heart.
Chapter Twelve
Desi
Honestly? I can’t believe my luck keeps shifting from bad to fantastic. For once, things are going right.
I hope.
As I watch Tomas drive off, part of me wants to dance around the parking lot in celebration but I’m afraid to jinx myself and this fragile new start between us. It’d still be too easy for me to do something wrong and screw this up.
Seems like the only thing Icando well in my personal life up until this point is screw things up. What other explanation is there?
Happiness finally seems within my reach. I know this isn’t a done deal, but I’m going to proceed with my plans as if it is. Once I finish all the paperwork for this deal and it’s filed, then I’ll notify my firm, tell them I’m moving, and see if they’ll work with me. If not…oh well. I’m moving regardless.
Then I’ll have to sell my apartment in New York, which shouldn’t be difficult. I’ll offload it before I sell the one in Miami, because all my things are in Miami, anyway. I’ll have to arrange movers for that. The New York studio, I bought it furnished and don’t keep anything there other than basic toiletries. I can have a cleaning service go in and freshen things up and then get it listed with an agent without even returning to the city.
Miami, however, I’ll need to do in person. I’ll have to pack, but it shouldn’t be difficult. Heck, a lot of the furniture I can sell with my condo, because I won’t need it.
I prefer Tom’s furniture, anyway. It’s not just comfortable, but comforting.
Cozy.
I’ve missed that.
Or, maybe I can convince Tom to take a week off, we can drive down, rent a truck, and drive everything back. Or I can drive down, start packing, and he can fly down for a weekend, help me load a moving truck, and we can drive back together.
Miami isn’t myhome. One of my mistakes was letting Mom have too much say in my life about my career, and too much of a hand in decorating my place when I moved back to Miami. It’s to her taste and standards, not mine, all done under the auspices of her wanting to “make life easier on me.”
Controlling me is more like it, but I threw myself into my work, thinking it would lessen the pain I felt over walking away from Tom and Maudlin Falls.
Being honest with myself means admitting that I’ve never felt comfortable in what’s supposed to be my “home.”
