Chapter 29
“Um…excuse me, everyone. I know you’d rather continue dancing in the middle of the square or enjoying the delicious food prepared by the Woods Family Inn, but you’re going to have to pause for just a few minutes to let me steal the spotlight from the bride.
My name is Haddie Martin. I’m the maid of honor, and I’d like to say a few things to Emma and Matteo. ”
Levi dropped the meatball on a toothpick he’d been twirling around his plate, his head jerking in the direction of the square.
There, standing in the parklike area of the town’s main square, beneath fairy lights that had been strung from the branches of last summer’s newly planted trees, stood the woman who’d eluded him all night—and for the past four weeks.
He abandoned his plate on top of a trash can where many others were piled and weaved between various high- and low-top tables peppered along the sidewalks and barricaded streets until he was standing on the perimeter of the square, close enough to see that the whites of Haddie’s eyes were tinted pink as if she’d just been crying.
“As many of you know…” she continued, “Emma and Matteo’s story began long before I met either of them, but I like to think that I’m the reason for them finding love a second time around. I say this because I was present when it happened, and therefore it must have something to do with me.”
She grinned, and Levi found himself laughing along with many others around him.
“Actually,” she continued, “I have always been quite the skeptic when it comes to matters of the heart. But Emma and Matteo, and many other wonderful people I’ve met since moving to this town, have made me question my beliefs…and quite possibly all my life choices.”
More laughter burbled through the crowd, but Levi’s chest grew tight. Was Haddie being self-deprecating for the purpose of the speech, or did he dare to hope there might be an admission hiding between the lines?
“Happily ever afters are alive and well in Summertown, everyone. And nothing makes me happier than being able to raise a glass to two people who deserve the overflowing joy they’re experiencing tonight.
” She lifted her champagne flute, and everybody else did the same.
“Ems…Matteo…may the rest of your life continue to overflow. I love you.”
Applause, cheers, and several Awes rang out. Then silverware chimed against crystal as wedding guests insisted the bride and groom kiss, which they were more than happy to do.
“And now…the best man.…brother of the groom…Levi Rourke.” Haddie set the microphone down on a stool that had been next to her, but before she walked away, she looked directly at Levi as if she’d known exactly where he was for the entirety of her speech.
She gave him a soft smile, and everything inside him lit up like a thousand fireflies illuminating a summer sky.
He wanted to follow wherever she went, wanting anything other than taking his eyes off of her and losing her once more in the crowd. But he was next at the mic, and the one thing he would not do tonight or ever again was disappoint his brother.
So Levi made his way to the center of the square, swiping his own flute of champagne from where several were lined up for the taking along the outdoor bar and lifting the microphone that had just been in Haddie’s hand.
He shivered from the inside out, imagining—remembering—her touch.
Then he cleared his throat and pulled out his phone, not wanting to forget a single word.
“Good evening, everyone. I’m Levi, the groom’s older brother.
You might know me from such things as growing up in this town, playing ball for the Muskies, and quite recently from a little mishap that was lucky enough to make it onto national television.
” Unlike Haddie, Levi’s attempt at levity only earned him a few uncomfortable laughs.
“I’d say you were a tough crowd, but you’re right.
I shouldn’t make light of the things I’ve done that I’m not proud of.
None of us should. But here’s the thing.
I’m not the guy I was ten, fifteen years ago.
Hell, I’m not the guy I was ten, fifteen weeks ago.
“Truth is, I look at the second chances at love bestowed upon my brother and Emma…” He glanced to where his brother and sister-in-law stood hand in hand on the opposite end of the square.
“Upon my father and his new fiancée.” He gave his dad and Tilly a nod.
“And I think about how much their stories have changed in the span of the years we’ve all been stumbling around this town or country or planet.
None of us are the people we’ve always been.
We aren’t the mistakes we’ve made or the losses we’ve endured.
Those things are a part of all of us, but they aren’t the whole story. ”
He scanned the crowd for Haddie but of course couldn’t find her.
“Someone once told me,” he continued, “not to let others tell you someone else’s story.
So I’m not going to tell you Emma and Matteo’s or my father’s—or anyone’s story, for that matter.
What I will say is that we cannot rewrite the chapters we’ve already lived.
But the ones not yet written are so full of possibility, and I cannot wait to see what my brother and Emma—now my sister—write next.
” He held his glass high. “To Emma and Matteo and the best parts of the story yet to come. Cheers.”
He saw Emma swipe a tear from under her eye and caught his brother mouthing the words Thank you, and Levi knew that his whole family’s story still had so many more good chapters to come, even if he had to live them without Haddie.
***
When an hour had passed and Levi swore he’d scanned every face in the crowd, had peered into every possible nook and cranny of the closed-down square, he finally gave up and made his way to the pop-up bar in front of the town hall.
He was opening his mouth to order something strong when a voice from behind interrupted before he could.
“I’ll have whatever he’s having,” she said, and for a moment, Levi lost the ability to speak or move or pretty much anything.
Because if he turned to face her and it wasn’t Haddie, he was pretty sure his heart would turn to dust and he’d basically disintegrate along with it.
If he turned and it was Haddie, then what?
He got his hopes up and she got scared and bailed again?
“He hasn’t ordered yet,” the bartender said.
“Then I’ll order for both of us,” she told him. “Two old-fashioneds.”
“An extra cherry in hers,” Levi added, finally finding his voice.
The bartender nodded and got to work mixing their drinks.
When she didn’t say anything else, Levi decided he couldn’t take the silence any longer, so he turned slowly until he caught the familiar shade of green in the corner of his eye. And then, there she was…holding at least ten Toblerones.
He barked out an unexpected laugh.
“I never paid you back,” Haddie told him, her voice wobbling.
Levi shook his head. “I only gave you two.”
She bit her bottom lip like she was trying not to smile, like she was as terrified as he was to take the next step in whatever this reconnecting was.
“Two old-fashioneds,” the bartender announced. “With an extra cherry for the lady.” Levi grabbed both of the tumblers and nodded for Haddie to follow him to an empty table several feet away.
He set their drinks down and then reached for the Toblerones. “You look ridiculous holding all of those. And there is a whole table full of Mrs. Pinkney’s homemade sweets. I don’t want to insult her.”
But Haddie hugged them closer to her chest. “Not until I say something first,” she told him.
Levi gave her a slight bow. “The floor is yours, Birthday Girl.”
She jutted out her chin. “Thank you, Mr. Tux.” Then she took a steadying breath. “You might be good at petitions, but I’m good at lists. So this is my list of ten reasons why…um…you should stay. In Summertown.”
Levi’s heart leaped into his throat, and it took everything in him not to just blurt out what he’d been trying to tell her all night. Not when Haddie was finally letting him in.
She blew out a breath and set the first candy bar on the table. “One… Your family is here.” She deposited bar number two. “Two… Rumor has it you are kind of a local football legend, which means you’d probably get the all-star treatment if you moved back home.”
The corner of his mouth twitched.
“Three…” she continued. “You look really good in Muskie purple.” She paused to look him up and down. “And also tuxedos. You should wear them more often.”
Levi laughed, and Haddie continued.
“Four… Your best friend is here, and he calls you Five-Oh-One, and you should never be too far from someone who gives you a great nickname.” She paused, swallowed, and blinked a few times before setting down Toblerone number five.
“Your students and colleagues care about you so much that they signed a petition for you to stay, and while I haven’t had the privilege of seeing you in the classroom yet, that’s all I need to know that you’re a great teacher.
” Bar number six. “Six, you are also an amazing coach, no matter the sport, and those students don’t want you to leave either.
“Seven… You have put so much work into your team, which I think means you love them as much as they love you, and so I’m guessing you’ll probably miss them if you leave.
And I know you probably also miss the team you were forced to leave, but I can’t help thinking that your connection with your students here hits different. But… I digress.”
She dropped the eighth Toblerone. “Eight… I asked Tommy about the budget proposal for the school board, and he told me it was all your idea.” She sniffled.
“You went against Coach Crawford for these kids, which kind of piggybacks on number seven, so… See the footnotes for that one.” She tossed the last two bars onto the table, but tears were suddenly streaming down her face.
“Nine and…” She hiccupped. “Nine and…” But she couldn’t get the words out.
She fished her phone from some secret compartment in her dress and started hammering away at the screen while simultaneously swiping at her falling tears.
Levi wanted to reach for her, but before he could, his own phone vibrated in his pocket.
She looked up at him with a teary smile and nodded toward the phone now in his hand.
Birthday Girl: 9. I love you, and I would really, really miss you if you left.
But also, 10. If getting your football coaching job back is really your dream, then I will support you 100 percent.
And I will fight for us even if it scares the hell out of me that I could one day lose you because it turns out that being without you is just as scary.
He dropped his phone on the table and stepped toward her, his hands cradling her tear-streaked cheeks.
“Haddie, I sent Chancellor Barnes my resignation two weeks ago.” He swallowed.
“And letters to every player on my team thanking them for their hard work, apologizing for my reckless behavior, and promising to do better with my new team.”
Her breath hitched in her throat. “Your new team? You’re…you’re staying?”
He nodded. “I’m staying.” His hands were shaking. “You…love me?”
She let out something between a laugh and a sob but nodded her head too. “I love you.”
He brushed his thumbs softly over her cheeks, catching the falling tears he still couldn’t believe she was shedding for him. “I’m going to kiss you now. Okay, Birthday Girl?”
Her teeth skimmed over her bottom lip, and she finally, finally smiled. “Okay, Mr. Tux,” she told him. “You can kiss me.”
And then, with a light, tentative, careful brush of his lips over hers, he did.
Despite their many starts and stops, kissing Haddie now felt like kissing someone brand-new and also like they’d fit together like this for years.
“Come home, Haddie,” he whispered against her, and he felt her lips part into a smile.
She clasped her hands around his neck and pulled him closer. “I’m already there,” she told him.
Yeah. Come to think of it, Levi was too.