32. Felix
THIRTY-TWO
FELIX
“Where are we going? Where are we going?” ask the girls from the back seat. I try to keep them calm but Hayworth looks at them through the rearview mirror and smiles.
“It’s the last day of the Season of Love festival, so we’re going out to celebrate!” he says.
Elsa glances at her sister conspiratorially and then at the mirror. “Are we celebrating you two being official boyfriends?” she asks.
Hayworth shrugs. “I don’t know, Felix. Are we officially boyfriends?”
I purse my lips and tap my fingers on my chin when Elsa groans and rolls her eyes.
“Yes we are, silly. Why else would Hayworth spend so much time with us this week?”
And it’s true. We’ve been glued to each other. Hell, we even went to a scented candle workshop on Tuesday. Turns out being in love doesn’t make you suddenly love all these cheesy events. But hey, at least we got a couple of candles for the house out of them.
He parks up at the city park parking lot and we walk just around the corner to the back of the Town Hall where there’s a big graffitied wall with a big red heart and a little chubby cupid in the top corner and a painted banner across the heart that reads Love Locks . In front of it is a fence full of locks and to the side is a stage where a band is playing rock music and on the other side is a pop-up bar from the Forbidden Maple, serving drinks.
“What is this?” Arya asks.
Hayworth lifts her in his arms. “This is the Love Locks concert,” he says. “See that fence over there?”
Arya nods.
“The town put it up to stop people from putting locks on the bridge outside of town because it was weighing it down and hurting the river underneath. And every year, the Season of Love festival ends here, with a concert and where people can lock in their love.”
“That’s so cute. Are you going to lock your love with Daddy?”
“Arya!” I start but Hayworth chuckles.
“Come on, girls. Do you want a drink?”
Elsa stalks up beside Hayworth and I watch them line up at the pop-up bar and bob my head to the music.
“You must be Felix,” someone says behind me.
I turn to face an older woman with short pink hair and a floral blouse that reminds me of one of my own and I smile. She’s arm in arm with a tall, sexy man with brown hair and striking hazel eyes who’s beaming at me.
“I am indeed. Do I know you?”
They both approach me and she offers me her hand. “I’m Hayworth’s mom, Olivia.”
“And I’m Jason. Hayworth’s friend,” the man says and shakes my hand too. “It’s so good to meet you.”
My smile deepens. “You too. I’ve heard so much about you, Mrs. H,” I tell her.”
“Really? My son talks about me? And please, just call me Olivia.”
“I meant from my daughter, Elsa.”
“Ah yes.” She nods. “Elsa is a wonderful, talented kid. You should be proud.”
“I am. Thank you.”
She shakes her head, lets go of Jason and grabs my hand with both of hers. “No! Thank you!”
I chuckle. “What for?”
“For that!” She nods behind me and I turn to look at Hayworth talking to the girls and laughing in the line for the bar. “You made him believe in love again. As far as I’m concerned you’re a superhero.”
I laugh again. “Oh I’m no hero,” I tell her.
“I beg to differ,” she says and pats my hand.
“Me too,” Jason adds. “You have no idea how long we’ve been waiting for Hayworth to see the light. We thought it was going to take a miracle.”
“Well, it sort of did,” Olivia says.
“And I can officially say I knew it! ” Jason grins.
I frown.
“You knew what?”
Jason shrugs. “For all his anti-love talk, Hayworth is a softie underneath. I knew it would be hard to bring that version of him back to the surface but whoever did, would be special.”
“And you are!” Olivia says. “If anyone can tame that pain of a son, he’s pretty darn special if I do say so myself.”
I can feel my cheeks warm up and rub them both with my hands but I’m sure there’s nothing I can do about the redness.
“Anyway. I’ll see you around, Felix. My home and store are always open for you. Just…don’t let him see you come to me. I fear if he sees us talking he’ll get scared and hide again.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let him hide again.”
She takes a deep breath and smiles. “I don’t know what deity brought you in our lives but I thank the stars they did.”
And with those sweet words she loops her arm through Jason’s and they walk away just in time for Hayworth to turn and wave at me. The girls mimic him and Elsa runs over with my drink in her hand.
“Everything okay?” he asks when he reaches me.
“Never better,” I grin and look to the stage where the singer of the band finishes a song and everyone applauds.
“Folks, don’t forget to stop by the library today, and write a love letter to your future selves,” he announces on the mic.
I look at Hayworth with a raised eyebrow. “A love letter to your future self? Really?”
He chuckles. “It sounds silly, but it’s…cathartic.”
I choke on my drink. “Wait. You’ve done it?”
“A few years ago.”
“But you were anti-love.”
He shrugs. “Yeah, and I wanted to remind myself to stay like that.”
“Of course.” I roll my eyes and take another sip to clear my throat and the band starts another song. “Oh, that reminds me…”
I hand my drink to him and unhook the backpack from one shoulder and dig in for the gift before I take my drink back.
“This is for you.”
He frowns. “You got me a gift?”
I stop and sway from side to side. “Kinda. The girls wanted me to send you a Secret Admirer Gift but we ran out of time…”
“Because that ended back on Valentine’s day.”
“Yeah, but I got you something anyway and it took a little longer to personalize. Open it.”
I encourage him with a head bop and he hands me his drink so he can unwrap it. When I hear the paper tear I hold my breath, bite my lip and wait for him to study it.
“Wha-what is this?” He turns the book over and over in his hand a few times before he opens it and frowns.
“It’s Pride and Prejudice . The first genre romance ever written, or whatever. But it’s defaced. See?” I point to a few lines that have been blacked out and some doodles of emoji on the sides of the pages. “I erased all the lovey-dovey bits. Oh, and the happily ever after is missing. Because I know you hate those.”
“That’s…” he starts and leafs through more of the pages and I go back to holding my breath. “That’s amazing.” He looks from the book to me and smiles. “I love it. Although…”
“Although what?”
“There is one thing missing,” he says.
“What?” I grimace.
“The happy ever after?”
“Well, yeah. You hate those. That’s why.”
He takes a deep breath and presses his lips from side to side before he says: “What can I say? I had a…change of heart. I think I like them now.”
“You do?” I take a step closer to him and he cups my cheek.
“Oh heck yeah.”
The statement sends shivers down my spine, just like his touch. There are so many things I want to say but I don’t want to rush into things and besides, half the things are not kid-appropriate. Or public-appropriate. So instead I bite my lips and stare at his mouth.
“I’ve got something for you too,” he says after a moment and puts his hand behind him and when he brings it back around he’s holding a red lock that reads F+H . “What do you say? Should we make it official?”
The girls jump with joy when they see the lock and glare at me until I nod and they drag us both to the fence.
They take the drinks and the book from our hands and watch us stand in front of the fence as if we’re standing at an altar.
Hayworth puts the lock around the wire and stops. “Are you sure? Once it’s locked there’s no turning back,” he asks.
“I can always buy bolt cutters.”
He puts his hand to mine and his expression turns serious for a moment that makes my throat tight and my heart heavy.
“Please don’t,” he begs.
I squeeze his hand reassuringly. “Since you asked so nicely,” I whisper and bring my other hand up, put it around the wire and lock and push the shackle down.
He lets go of the lock and I wrap my arms around him and kiss him, this time to a lot of fanfare from the two little devils who caused all of this.
And I couldn’t be happier.