Chapter 32
Natalie
Tip #32: Communicate, communicate, communicate!
T he luxurious sunroom was bathed in the soft glow of afternoon sunlight filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows and casting intricate patterns on the plush carpet.
I sat comfortably on the well-cushioned wicker couch, sipping my delectable chocolate peppermint tea as I listened to Estelle.
“… It was Walter who insisted on taking me to the Paws and Claws rescue in person. He said I needed a companion after the loss of my husband.” Estelle pursed her lips without smudging her flawless lipstick.
“And of course, you came with me most agreeably, without complaining or arguing the entire drive there,” Walter grumbled.
Estelle chuckled. “I admittedly wasn’t sold on the idea. When we got there, I requested to see their ugliest dog out of sheer spite. They brought out Chuck, and how could I not fall in love with such a handsome fellow?” Estelle beamed at her pampered pooch, who was still sitting on Walter’s lap but wildly wagged his stubby tail when he realized Estelle was talking to him.
“It could have been worse,” Walter summarized as he petted Chuck. “She could have ended up with several dogs before the day was over.”
A phone chimed with an incoming message. Jenna glanced at her phone and abruptly stood up. “The delivery’s here. Come on, Isaac. You too, Logan.”
Jenna bumped Logan’s leg until the intimidating man stood, and Isaac was just a moment behind him.
Estelle gracefully stood. “I suppose I should make another pot of tea as this one has cooled, so I’ll come with.”
Estelle picked up her porcelain teapot as Jenna, Isaac, and Logan all slipped through the sunroom entrance into the dim mansion innards.
“Come along, Walter,” Estelle called over her shoulder.
Walter looked up from scratching Chuck’s belly. “What? Why?”
Estelle smiled guilelessly. “Because you need the walk. Now, let’s go.”
“I’d be happy to help,” I offered.
“Nonsense,” Estelle said. “You are our guest. You should relax and enjoy the pretty view. Come along, Walter!”
Walter grumbled as he stood up, Chuck still nestled in his arms, and followed his daughter-in-law out of the sunroom.
I was a little confused by the abrupt exit of all the Warners, but maybe they wanted to chat privately or—more likely—they were trying to give me some space.
I hunkered down deeper in the plush seat cushion and watched the wind kick up snow, which glittered in the sunshine.
A minute or two passed before I heard footsteps approaching the sunroom.
I set my teacup and saucer down on the coffee table and, assuming it was Estelle and/or Walter, called out, “Are you sure you don’t need help with the tea after all? I can bring the tray.”
The footsteps halted, but there was no reply.
My curiosity piqued, I twisted so I could better see the sunroom entrance and found myself staring at Samuel, his forearms braced on the doorframe.
He looked rough, as though he hadn’t slept properly in days. His dark brown hair was tousled and unstyled, and he was wearing jeans and a black Henley that underlined the roughness he usually hid behind his suits and charm. Matching his image, his gray eyes held an intensity that burned right through me.
A sudden, inexplicable heat burned my chest. “Samuel,” I managed to say, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Can we talk?” Samuel asked.
I wasn’t sure I could handle whatever he wanted to talk about, but I cared too much about Samuel to ignore the urgency in his demeanor.
I sucked in a deep breath. “Sure.”
With a slow, deliberate grace, Samuel sauntered into the sunroom and took a seat in a wicker chair next to my couch.
The silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating, unlike the easy, companionable silence we’d shared countless times before.
I glanced at my teacup, contemplating another sip of the chocolate peppermint tea, but my hands trembled so much from my nerves I’d probably slosh it everywhere.
“I spoke with Owen,” Samuel began.
Seeing the chance to potentially lighten the moment, I took it. “Did you talk to Owen, or did my nosy, bossy older brother find you and not give you any other choice except to talk to him?”
It was hypocritical of me given that I’d spent the past few months pushing Owen and Jenna together, but I’d do anything to break the tense strain between us.
Samuel didn’t smile, but I was rewarded with a softening of his gaze. “It was possibly the latter.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “Jenna, Logan, and Isaac found me and brought me here to talk to your family, so I guess the same thing happened to me.”
Samuel nodded slowly. “And what did they say?”
“Basically, they don’t hold any grudges about our... situation. They wanted me to know that they aren’t mad about the fake relationship that they obviously found out about.” I paused, afraid of the answer. “Do you know who else knows?”
Samuel ran a hand through his hair. “I’m pretty sure most of Fox Creek does by now. At least, everyone we know knows. I talked to a few of your relatives outside, and they expressed the same thing. They aren’t mad at us for lying.”
I sat up straighter, confused. “Wait, my family is outside?”
Samuel relaxed enough to crack a smile. “Yeah, the driveway is practically a parking lot with all the Mann cars out there.”
“Why would they do that?” I covered my face with my hands. “Poor Estelle doesn’t even know she’s got the Mann clan on her front lawn!”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure she knows. Owen and Jenna have been texting back and forth.”
“Yeah… that was mentioned.” It dawned on me that Jenna’s incoming text message about a delivery must have been about Samuel.
Samuel cleared his throat. “I know we need to get on the same page about our relatives, but that’s not what I actually want to discuss with you. We need to talk about us. I’m sorry?—”
I cut him off before he could get any further. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. I’m just grateful that we were able to resolve the family feud, even if you had other goals in mind.”
“You’re right,” Samuel ruefully said. “I had an additional goal I was working toward for the entire duration of our fake relationship. However, it isn’t a goal you should be so understanding and quick to accept.”
Samuel stared at the ground, gathering his thoughts as my heart sank all the way to my feet.
It looked like my worst fear was founded. If Samuel was warning me not to be so understanding, just what was his hidden agenda? I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t betray me and secretly be plotting against me, but what did this mean about our friendship?
I swallowed hard. “Then what’s this other goal?”
Samuel finally looked up and met my gaze with a vulnerable intensity I’d never seen from him before. “The truth is, Nat… I’ve been in love with you since college.”
My heart, which was still figuratively down in my feet, flopped like a dying fish. Was I hearing this right?
I blinked, certain I must be having a stroke. “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that. Can you repeat it?”
“In college I made a long-term plan with the goal of marrying you… because I’m in love with you,” Samuel repeated.
“What?” was all I could manage, my ears ringing with disbelief.
“Remember when you worked as a waitress at the Fox Creek Country Club during winter break your college freshman year?”
“Yeah,” I said, trying to wrap my head around where this was all leading.
“During that time, I came into the country club multiple times per week, whenever you had a shift. Sometimes it was with Isaac or Logan, sometimes with my parents, and occasionally with friends to get appetizers at the bar,” Samuel continued, watching my face for any sign of recognition.
“Yeah, I remember. You were hands down the most obnoxious customer I ever had. You’d constantly stop me to ask for more ice, then less ice, then a lemon for your water, but then you didn’t like the lemon so you wanted a new water, and on top of that you’d request updates on your food every five minutes.”
A rueful smile twitched across Samuel’s lips. “I never said I was any good at expressing my love for you. But it started then. I was desperate to be around you, as I hadn’t seen you much since summer because we went to different colleges.”
For a moment, I felt both guilt and amusement, as at the time, I had more than once considered spitting in Samuel’s food as payback for all the extra stress he put me through at the country club. (His propensity to leave outrageous tips and my conscience were the only things that prevented that.)
“You’re saying you’ve been trying to win me over since then. Did your grand strategy involve ticking me off and driving me crazy?”
Samuel started to reach for me, then seemed to think better of it and rested his hands on his knees. “I know it doesn’t make much sense when you put it like that. But after I realized how important you were to me, I became a mess whenever I saw you.”
I wrung my hands as I tried to make sense of it . My emotions were in shambles, and I could barely think straight. Samuel loved me? But… what?
I took a deep breath. “OK. Let’s say I believe you. Why didn’t you just tell me how you felt after college—when you should have known better? We’re both almost thirty. We could have dealt with this like adults instead of playing mind games like bothering me at the country club.”
“I tried to reach out to you,” Samuel said.
“ When ?”
“The donations to the Fox Creek Friends of the Library—Warner Print didn’t donate until I started working there and you joined the Friends of the Library as a member.”
Samuel held my gaze and seemed to be waiting for some kind of confirmation, so I nodded.
“The donations started because I asked my dad to do it,” Samuel said. “We sold the idea to the board as an attempt at community outreach, but I requested it because I figured it would be a way to meet you under positive circumstances, something I hadn’t had the chance to do before.”
“OK, except you were a pain in the butt over the donations,” I said. “You always pretended you forgot the system for donating so it would take an excruciating amount of time to go over it with you.”
“Yes, because I wanted to spend more time with you. You were so disdainful of us Warners I knew I didn’t stand a chance of talking to you unless it was for a good reason.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek as I thought. “Is that why you only visited city hall during my work hours, and you always asked for extra help and explanations for necessary paperwork that you very obviously understood?”
“Yes,” Samuel said. “And I’m well aware I’d probably still be stuck at that stage if you hadn’t pitched the fake relationship idea to me. You have no idea how grateful I am that Jenna caught Owen’s attention.”
“But how could you be so bad at flirting?” I asked, my pitch going higher as I felt my incredulousness build in my heart. “I’ll give you that as adults you teased me and kept it to verbal banter, and you weren’t childish or cruel, but that is a low bar . You’re Samuel Warner! You’ve got it all—the looks, the charisma, the money, your family. There’s nothing you lack!”
“There is, actually. I lack you—although I’m gratified to learn you do find me charming and handsome because you didn’t react much whenever I kissed you, so I was starting to worry.”
“ Samuel .”
“Sorry.” Samuel was quiet for a moment as he thought. “I only have myself to blame for my awkwardness—it’s not your fault I couldn’t hold a genuine conversation with you. I tried to fix it, but the more time passed, the more desperate I got, and I couldn’t seem to overcome it because you mean so much to me. Still, I apologize—and I’ll keep apologizing for the rest of our lives if you let me—for bungling my approaches with you.”
I crossed my feet at the ankles as I studied him. Samuel met my gaze, unashamed. I could only hold the eye contact for a few moments before my nerves got to me and I looked away.
“If you want proof of my feelings, just think about our faked time together,” Samuel said. “I dove straight into my role as your boyfriend, whereas you had to work hard to make yourself believable.”
“You did immediately pull off the doting boyfriend act,” I agreed, “or Grandma and Grandpa Mann never would have accepted you. I assumed it was just because you were a great boyfriend.”
“I’m a great boyfriend to you . Because I got to do all the things I’ve always wanted to do with you, Nat.”
“Then what was with your proposal?” I scooted forward so I sat on the edge of the couch cushion. “I’m assuming it wasn’t actually you crumbling to family peer pressure?”
“I panicked when you mentioned that we might not have to pretend to be together much longer after Owen and Jenna went on their first date,” Samuel said. “I knew you didn’t hate me anymore, but I also knew you wouldn’t hesitate to break things off once our fake relationship had served its purpose. I thought the proposal would force you to stay with me for longer because you wouldn’t want to mess things up after all your work to fix our families.”
“Walter said Isaac and your cousins all supported him giving you his wife’s engagement ring because...” I trailed off, the pieces of the puzzle finally falling into place.
“Because they all knew I’d been pining over you for years,” Samuel confirmed. “That’s also why I didn’t want to leave you alone with any of my family members. I was afraid they would say something about the years I’d spent absolutely smitten with you.”
I thought back to the night I had hung out with Walter and Estelle alone and how Samuel had rushed in, harried and concerned. I had assumed it was because he didn’t trust me with his family, but now that I thought of it, he had frequently interrupted his family whenever they talked about why they were so happy for him.
“I broke probably half a dozen traffic laws trying to get to Mother’s house that night we were supposed to have dinner here,” Samuel admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “When I brought you around, there were multiple times my family almost gave me away.”
I recalled the suspiciously blank expressions on the faces of Estelle, Walter, Isaac, Logan, and Jenna when I had insisted to them that Samuel didn’t have feelings for me.
It all made sense now. Their knowing looks, their poorly masked surprise, and their determined attempts to bring us together were all because they knew the truth.
“Is that why Jenna was so mad today?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “Because she knew you liked me and had just found out we were pretending?”
“Yes, except I don’t just like you, Natalie.” Samuel’s eyes searched mine. “I love you.”
The weight of his confession hung in the air between us, and I struggled to find the words to respond. “Why didn’t you say something earlier? Wait, I can answer that myself. It was because I didn’t hide how much I disliked you, right?”
Samuel shrugged. “If you want to give me an excuse, sure, but the truth is I didn’t do a great job at doing anything to change your opinion of me. As you pointed out, my efforts were… poorly done at best.”
Samuel smiled hesitantly, then got off his chair and knelt in front of me, taking my hands in his. “But I want to change how you see me—not just my terrible bids for your attention, but who I really am. Which is why the Warners will be renovating the old middle school and turning it into apartments available at affordable rent levels and making a sizable donation to start a fund for a community center.”
I stared at Samuel, shocked. “W-what?”
Samuel nodded. “I thought about what you and Owen said about luxury condos, and while there is a demand for them, I’m also aware there is a lack of good apartments at more affordable rates.”
“And your family is OK with this?” I asked.
“Yes. We pride ourselves in taking care of our employees at Warner Print.” Samuel squeezed my hands. “Housing costs affect them too. So the whole family was on board with the idea.”
I closed my eyes, trying to sort through the whirlwind of emotions. “Thank you, Samuel. Your family is so much more amazing than I ever gave them credit for.”
“Does that mean you think I’m amazing?” There was a teasing lilt to his voice that invited me to joke and banter with him. He was giving me an out, a way to end the conversation and move on instead of addressing the shock of a lifetime he’d delivered with it.
But I didn’t want to banter and move on. No. I’d been hurt—unnecessarily, as it turned out—by the misunderstanding because I loved Samuel. And while Samuel might have been terrible at communicating his attraction, I wasn’t going to accept that same low standard for myself.
I finally opened my eyes.
“Sam,” I started, then stopped. There was a lump in my throat that made it hard to speak.
Samuel, still crouched in front of me and holding my hands, watched me with an intensity that made my palms clammy.
I sucked in a deep breath. “I came to your office on Friday as a surprise because I wanted to talk to you.”
Samuel leaned back, and I saw some of the heat in his eyes extinguished. “So you don’t think I’m amazing,” he said, his voice neutral.
I could tell he was mentally heading in the opposite direction I wanted this conversation to go. Desperate to cut him off, I blurted out, “I was going to tell you I was in love with you.”
Samuel froze, his expression unreadable.
“I mean, I’m still in love with you,” I corrected. “When Owen and I met for lunch he said he and Jenna were official and I didn’t want to end things with you, so I showed up at your office with the plan to talk to you and…” I struggled to continue and found myself suddenly a lot more empathetic to Samuel’s fumbled attempts at communication with me.
This was incredibly awkward—and I knew he loved me!
“The point is,” I said, reining in my ramble, “I love you too. And I would like it if we could be together,” I finished, my voice barely above a whisper. My heart pounded in my chest, and I held my breath, waiting for his response.
In the blink of an eye, Samuel’s expression transformed from shock to unbridled joy. He moved to sit on the couch with me, then scooped me into his arms and pulled me into a passionate kiss.
Our lips met with an electric charge that made my fingers twitch. The kiss was sweet and intoxicating, filling my senses and making my head spin. Every fiber of my being felt alive, consumed by the realization that we both loved each other deeply, and this was just the beginning of our story together.
“I love you, Nat.” Samuel pulled back from the kiss just long enough to speak, his voice filled with awe and devotion, before he kissed me again—this time more playfully.
I laughed into his mouth as he threaded his right hand through my hair and cradled the back of my head as if I was the most precious thing in the world.
“I love you,” he repeated when we paused to catch our breath.
Before I could answer he kissed me again, this one long and lingering, filling me with a deliriously delicious warmth.
Everything was so perfect I would have thought I was dreaming except, with my arms wrapped around him, I could feel the tense muscles in his back and the movement in his shoulder when he braced me so I could lean into him instead of falling over.
We paused to catch our breath again and savor the moment, wrapped in each other’s arms. I pressed my cheek against his chest, listening to the fast beat of his heart.
“I love you too, Samuel,” I whispered, tears pricking the corners of my eyes.
A loud bang echoed from inside the house.
I startled, but Samuel seemed more preoccupied with me than whatever caused the noise.
“Should we check on that?” I asked.
Samuel pulled his hand from my hair so he could tilt my chin up toward him. “Don’t worry, it’s probably just one of our family members.”
He kissed me again, momentarily distracting me, until I remembered that my family was wandering around Estelle’s front lawn.
I pulled back from the kiss. “We should go assure them we’ve made up,” I said, assuming I’d have to persuade him. To my surprise, he leaned back and studied me intently.
“Does this mean you’re saying yes to my proposal?” he asked, his voice cautious.
“Huh?”
“You shouldn’t feel any pressure.” Samuel tapped the family engagement ring, which I hadn’t taken off despite everything. “I’m happy to date you as long as you need, and I’m perfectly willing to propose again when you’re ready. But I want to know where we are in our relationship.”
“Samuel, you don’t need to propose again.” I chuckled. “Your first proposal couldn’t have been any more perfect.”
He smiled radiantly and swooped in for another kiss, but I stopped him with a finger over his lips. “Just so you know, though, we’re going to have a long engagement.”
He laughed, his eyes sparkling with love. “Natalie, I’ve waited a decade for you. Now that I know you’re going to be mine, I’m fine waiting for you as long as you want.”
We shared another short, sweet kiss.
“Since we’re officially engaged now, shall we go tell our families?” I asked.
Samuel nodded, and we stood up from the couch. Samuel tucked a strand of hair behind my ear while I smoothed out his Henley. Then, together we walked hand in hand, leaving the bright sunroom.
We followed the faint hum of talking all the way to the formal dining room. Samuel’s Aunt Jamie and Uncle Charles must have arrived at some point, as they were both there, handing out bottles of champagne, while Mom and Dad chatted animatedly with Estelle. The once-bitter enemies, the Manns and Warners, were now laughing together like old friends.
“Look who’s here!” Keely shouted, drawing the attention of the entire room.
The laughter died down, and all eyes were on us. I glanced at Samuel, who smiled down at me and squeezed my hand.
“Well?” Grandma Mann demanded. “What’s the status?”
Grinning, Samuel held up my left hand, the diamond-and-emerald engagement ring sparkling under the soft light.
“Who wants to help plan a wedding?” I asked.
The room erupted in cheers and excited chatter. Mom screamed in glee, grabbing Estelle’s hands and yanking them up and down. Estelle’s initial surprise quickly turned into pure happiness as she joined my mother, her usual reserve melting away.
Jenna, tears streaming down her face, snuggled into Owen, who playfully winked at me. Walter, ever the showman, popped a cork on a champagne bottle, sending foam spraying everywhere. Grandpa Mann, cradling a happy Chuck in his arms, shouted, “Congratulations, Nat and Sam!”
Isaac, standing closest to us, handed Samuel and me each a glass of champagne, his usually stoic face softening into a rare smile. “Congratulations on your transformation from enemies to engaged couple,” he said.
“Thanks,” Samuel said.
“Yeah, thank you for coming to get me, Isaac,” I said.
“Of course. Anything for the town Romeo and Juliet.” Isaac turned to face the room. “To our families!” he shouted.
“Hear! Hear!” Madison yelled.
Even Logan’s ever-stony expression cracked into the tiniest of smiles.
As we all basked in the warmth of our newfound family unity, Samuel caught me off guard by pulling me into his arms and planting a surprise kiss on my lips.
The room erupted with whistles and laughter, but I barely noticed, too lost in the moment with him.