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She fits so perfectly.
“We’ll pick this up when I come back, okay?”
She lifts her head and kisses my jaw. “Sounds like a plan to me. I’ll go brew some coffee for you.”
She moves to get up, but I tug her back to me, and she yelps.
I claim her mouth before she can say anything else. “Five more minutes.”
I knew I shouldn’t have gotten out of bed this morning, but my regret only grows stronger now that I’m at town hall.
“He’ll be with you shortly,” the receptionist says. She looks to be in her late forties, sporting thick round glasses.
“Thanks,” I mutter as I drag a hand down my face.
So much has happened since we got back, and so quickly, that I haven’t had time to sit down and actually process what my decision to bring Charlee back here means. In the moment, it felt like the easiest choice I’d ever made, but now that I’m about to tell Rob the news, the finality of it is sinking in.
The door swings open, and a big man with graying hair pokes his nose through. “Oliver, come in.”
I exhale sharply and follow him, closing the door behind me.
Rob sits behind his desk, his fingers linked on top of his protruding stomach. “What can I do for you, Oliver? Are you finally here to make me an offer?”
I sit in the other chair. “No. I’m here to ask you to reconsider selling to Oscar.”
The chair creaks when he leans in. “We’ve already gone over this. This deal is good for the town. It’s good for business and for the people here. You know how it gets during fall and summer. We need the space for tourists, and Oscar will give us that.”
“Part of the reason why we have so many tourists, Rob, is because of places like Jerry’s.” I rest my elbows on my legs to stop them from jiggling. “Give me a year. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I can bring you the money in a year. You have my word.”
Rob shakes his head. “What happened to the cash you were supposed to get really soon?”
I got my girl back, that’s what happened.
I’ve always known she was the love of my life, even if we never uttered the words that would have spoken it into existence. But I felt it all the same. Even more so now that I know the feel of her on my body, now that her scent is imprinted all over me. She’s mine and I’m hers, and there’s no need for words when I feel it so deeply in my bones.
“It’s a long story,” I say, forcing my focus back on the mayor. “It might take longer than planned, but I’ll get the money. I just need more time. Please, Rob, you know how important this is to me. You agreed. I gave you everything I could each time I had a bit of money to pay the taxes. I’ve been pitching in for building maintenance. You told me you’d wait. If not for me, then do it for Carol and Jerry’s memory.”
Shadows flash through Rob’s eyes. “Look, Oliver.” He holds his palm up on his desk. “Your grandparents were friends, and I’ve known you since before you could even walk. When I told you I’d look after it until you got your stuff together, I meant it. But I also have to look out for this town, and I’m sorry, I really am. There’s nothing I can do. I have people breathing down my neck about this, and I need to make a decision soon and sell the damn place. I’m not thrilled either about Jerry’s going to someone like Oscar, despite what you or the people in this town may think, but it’s the only viable option I have right now. It’s been on Pine Falls’s finances for too long, and it needs to go. I’ve given you five whole years. I gave you time, kid. If you can’t buy it back now, then it’ll go to Oscar. My hands are tied.”
I take the punch to the gut without letting it show. I failed them. Again and again. It was a long shot, but still, I held on to a glimmer of hope that I’d be able to sway him. Unfortunately, the fondness he used to harbor for my grandparents wasn’t enough, and this was the last card I had to play.
“Thank you for your time, Rob,” I say and get up.
He rises, meeting me at the door. “Don’t beat yourself up, Oliver.” He claps a big hand on my shoulder. “Eyes on the future now. Stop looking behind. You did everything you could.”
“Thanks.”
The door closes behind me, and with it, my family’s history.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
SWEET
Oliver
“Charlee?” I throw my boots in the entryway. I’ve only been gone a few hours, but I remember her mentioning wanting to get some fresh air, as much as she could with her ankle anyway.
“On the couch.”
