He nodded but didn’t move closer. “I shouldn’t have let my pride stop me from calling you. If I’d only picked up the phone or come out here to visit you in the past five years, we’d never have drifted apart like we did.” The golf ball-sized lump in my throat made it hard to breathe. “What did Garret want?”
“What does he always want? Money. And, of course, I was stupid enough to give it to him so he’d leave Willa alone. He found the perfect leverage over me—her future.”
No longer sad, his face now looked livid. “Exactly how long have you been paying off his debts?” His words came out clipped.
Nowthatwas a question I’d rather not have to answer. “Ten years.” My voice was barely audible, the shame of how weak I’d been too great. “Give or take a few.”
“I should have done more than punch him.” The bunched muscles in his neck peeked out beneath the collar of his shirt, and his body looked ready to burst out of his clothes. “How did you keep this a secret for so long? We were friends before everything changed in Aspen. Didn’t you trust me enough to know that I’d help you?”
I shook my head, moving things around that I’d already put back in their place. “I was ashamed. Of where I came from. Of how weak I was. Of what you’d think of me. Besides Willa, you were the only good thing in my life. I couldn’t risk losing you.”
Only I did in the end anyway.
“Fuck,” he cursed, then stalked to where I was busy rearranging muffin tins. I didn’t have a chance to react when he crushed me to him, his mouth finding mine.
He kissed me like I was his oxygen. And I returned the kiss with abandon. I held nothing back, giving him all I had, putting all my pent-up feelings into the kiss. My back hit the counter, the pile of muffin tins clattering at the impact.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Maisie said as she waddled into the kitchen.
We broke apart, heaving for breath. The feelings swirling between us were so raw, I couldn’t step back even if I wanted to, the contact the only thing holding me together in that moment.
“Aha, there they are. Please, continue.” Maisie disappeared as slowly as she appeared, clutching the paper bag I’d made up for her to her chest.
Grayson tilted my head up that had been studying his chest for fear of what I would find when I looked at him. I shouldn’t have worried. “I love you. I have for years.”
Feeling lighter than I ever had, a huge smile overtook my face. “I love you too.”
He touched his lips to mine. “Let’s clean up so we can go upstairs.”
For the first time since opening Sweet Dreams, I closed the café thirty minutes early.
Twenty
Willa rushed past me with a ladder under one arm, bucket under the other. “Sorry, coming through.”
“Dare I ask?”
She put the ladder against the door and hung the bucket from a hook on the ceiling.Since when is there a hook on my ceiling?She then ran string along the bucket and door handle.
“Payback. Landon drew a mustache on my face when I fell asleep at the office.”
Willa was still helping at her husband’s garage and frequently used the couch to nap.
Worried she’d get one of my customers with whatever was in the bucket instead of Landon, I studied her contraption. “What if someone else comes through the door?”
“Kinsley is here. I give him five minutes before he shows up.” Willa pointed to Kinsley, who was on her lunch break. She now worked full time at Posy Pushers since I had taken over the paperwork again.
“Promise you’ll stop anyone else trying to come through the door or I’ll take the bucket down.”
She huffed but agreed.
Satisfied none of my customers would receive an unwanted surprise when they came in, I went back to wiping down the glass on the display cases.
Willa stashed the ladder behind the counter and went back to cleaning up the inside of the cases. “Is Mae still coming today?”
I nodded, excited to see her again. “She messaged me this morning before she got on her flight. She should be in Denver by now.”
Mae had insisted on coming out to Humptulips to talk about our venture and finalize the contract. I’d offered to pick her up from Denver, but she refused since she didn’t want me to go on the four-hour round trip. Instead, she rented a car and would drive out here herself.
