“He does have a pretty smile.” A tear slips but I smile at the thought of him.
“I know growing up without a father caused a lot of internal struggle, I see how hard it is for you to allow people into your life. But I also saw how easily Henry fit right into yours and how comfortable he made you feel. I don’t want you to let that go, even if that means thatyouchoose not to stay.”
“But what about the diner?”
“What about it?”
“You can’t run it on your own.” I look up at her. “Grandma left it to the both of us.”
“If following Henry is what you want, I willneverhold you back. You deserve to live your life whether or not it’s here or in the city. And if it for some reason doesn’t work out, you will always have a place here in Ruby Lake.” She places a kiss on myhead. “And if you want to stay, I’m always going to support every decision you make.”
I wipe my eyes as I start to tear up more at her words. I think part of me was scared she wouldn’t want me to leave.
She wipes more tears from my face. “I stayed here becauseIwanted to. My mom gave me a good life and I wanted the same for you. Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes worried I wouldn’t be able to give you everything you deserved because I was doing this parenting thing alone.” She squeezes my shoulder. “At the end of the day, though, it was always us together. I never needed a man to be fulfilled in life. I had you and that was the happiest moment of my life. Plus, I had all the family and support I needed.
“At the time I didn’t know what the effects of not having a father figure in your life would bring or else I would’ve tried harder. But that being said, when I had you, I wanted to make sure I gave you the best life even if that meant doing it on my own. You make me so proud to be a single mom. You grew into such an amazing, loving, talented, and incredible young woman. I amsoproud of you, Maisie.”
A sniffle escapes me as I cry more, but this time it’s happy tears. “I love you, Mom.”
“And I love you.” She taps my nose with her pointer finger.
“I just have such a hard time letting people in because I’m so scared they’ll leave. I grew up so loved by you but always wondered why I wasn’t good enough to be loved by the other half of me.”
“I too wonder why life worked out the way it did, you deserved to have both parents in your life. I won’t lie that I’m selfishly grateful I got to love you enough for two parents. I will always make sure you feel the love of both, if not more. I know I just said this but you make me so proud to be a single mom and I don’t think I tell you that as much as I should.” She now swipesa tear from her own eye. “Also being a single mom meant I didn’t have to be attached to amanmy whole life. Yuck.”
Her last statement causes crying laughter to fill the air around us. “Henry might be the only saving grace for mankind,” I say. “Miles too.”
“And that’s why you’re going to go after your man and get your happily ever after.”
We swing back and forth on the bench, taking in the moonlit summer air and I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders after her words.
“He is my happily ever after, isn’t he?”
45
HENRY
“You want me toworkfor you?” I stare at Miles, dumbfounded.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and not only would being the bookkeeper for the Inn allow you to find a job with your expertise, but it would allow you to stay here in Ruby Lake… to be with Maisie.”
“Where am I going to stay?”
“Unless you hate living with me, I was hoping you’d want to continue being roommates.” He nervously laughs. “Don’t let it get to your head but I like having you around, it’s nice not being alone all the time.”
“No, I want to, I just—” I pause, still in shock. “This just feels too good to be true.”
“You helped bring this place back to life,” he looks around his office we’re sitting in at the Inn, “why wouldn’t I want you to stay? I honestly didn’t expect you to want to, which is why I never offered it in the beginning. I won’t lie, I thought what you had with Maisie was a fling but then I saw you two together and knew I might as well ask if this is something you wanted.”
“I do,” I answer without hesitation. “I want this. I want to stay and help you.”
“And be with Maisie.” He smirks. “Also, since you put in a lot of work here, I actually had another question.”
I quirk an eyebrow at him in response.
“I was wondering if you wanted to put your name on the lease… making you a co-owner with me.”
“What?” I choke. “You’re joking.”
