“You’re not a project. Although I would never deny you any kind of help.” His breath fanned her cheek. “I’m not here for Levi or your precious festival. I could’ve sent anyone on my team to handle that.”
“Then why?”
“Open a vein,” he muttered to himself.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Why? Because I love you, Grace. I’ve always loved you. You’re everything.You. You’ve given me the best memories and deepest heartache. All the effort, everything I’ve built was, at the core, for you. For us and the life we could have together.”
He was holding her hand and everything inside her went quiet and still. Oh, how she wanted to accept him. To lay her head on his shoulder and hear his heart beating as he held her. Somehow, she held her ground.
“I’m not that girl anymore,” she whispered. “My dreams have changed. Brookwell isn’t a problem or crisis holding me back. It’s home. Loving you won’t change where I need to be.”Her heart was shattering, tiny broken pieces scattering across the deck. “Loving you, I can’t ask you to fold yourself into this smaller life. We just don’t fit anymore.”
“You’re wrong, Grace.”
Oh, how she wished that were true.
“I-I can’t do this.” The longing and hope were too much to cope with already. His life wasn’t here and she knew she would never thrive in New York. Not now.
“Grace. We deserve a real chance to recapture what we lost.”
“We don’t want the same things anymore. You should leave, Cal. Please.” The months ahead would be challenging enough without adding any romantic issues to the mix. Turning away, she dashed for the stairs and the lower deck, desperate to get some distance before she lost her composure entirely.
The restroom was clear when she rushed inside and she nearly texted Willow to come help, but that would only guarantee tears. Leaving the party with a puffy face and red eyes would be worse than getting caught kissing Cal after the committee meeting.
There had been enough pity and sympathy aimed her way when her mom died, she wasn’t about to have the whole town looking at her like that again over a man.
The man she still loved.
When the angry color faded from her cheeks, she slipped out of the restroom and away from the party. At her car, she breathed a sigh of relief as she unlocked the door.
“Grace.”
Her heart leaped into her throat. “Go away, Calvin.”
“No. That’s not happening.” He stepped into the circle of light from the streetlamp. “Levi asked me to handle things on site. To give this project my full focus. Still, I could tell him no.”
“Then do that.” It would be so much easier to battle this out with someone she didn’t care about.
“Not happening,” he said again. “I’m staying. We deserve a second chance to have everything we dreamed of. I can work remotely. You won’t be alone anymore. We can be together.”
Her gaze fell to the keys in her hand, but only for a moment. He needed to understand she would not budge on this. “I’m not alone, Cal. I have friends. A business that’s doing way better than you seem to think.”
“You won’t even try to make room for us?”
He was offering her everything she thought she wanted. But if he stayed for her it was bound to fall apart as soon as he realized Brookwell was too small for him—or that her scaled-back dreams weren’t exciting enough. Given the choice, she wouldn’t put either of them through that kind of pain.
“No,” she said, staring him down.
His face was pale under the streetlamp, the shadows emphasizing the hard line of his jaw. Then he blinked. “I’m staying. I’m choosing you.”
“Yours isn’t the only vote. I won’t choose you.” The lie was bitter in her mouth. “You seem locked on this fantasy that our years apart don’t matter. It’s not as easy as hitting the restart button.” She swallowed another rogue wave of emotion. “It feels like you’re determined to create a relationship because you feel guilty for the years we lost. But I made the choice for us. For me and you. There was no reason for you to lose your scholarships and change up all your goals.”
“And I didn’t. Which means I can stand here and offer you the world. I can support your dreams.”
She wrenched open the car door. “Brookwell and the family boutique is my dream. Whatever you remember about college me, that’s the fantasy.”
“You don’t mean that,” he protested.
