Chapter 33
20,000 steps. That was how many steps I’d taken by the evening of the summer festival. Rainstorms and overcast skies didn’t deter the Texas heat or any of the festival goers. I had never seen so many people filling the streets of downtown. Some laughed up at the rain. Others popped open umbrellas with one hand, holding a big, icy lemonade in the other.
I worked straight through lunchtime. Gracie said hi while I monitored the mayor in the dunking booth. I finished her bag of buttery popcorn and sipped some of her sweet tea.
We had a concert with a popular, local country artist scheduled to perform for the last couple of hours of the festival as our grand finale. I was helping make sure everything was set up, brushing the sticky, sweaty hair out of my eyes while I instructed the crew when I spotted Olivia, Gracie, and my mom heading backstage toward me.
They waited in the back for me as I finished my meeting. After I dismissed the crew, they ran over to me.
“Guys,” I said, ready to explain I was too busy for a break, but Olivia put a tall, swirly, cone of peach ice cream in my hands before I could finish.
“Grandma made sure we had peach ice cream every year. You’ve kept the tradition going the past couple of years and I’m not going to let you miss it this year,” Mom said tenderly. Do not get misty-eyed over ice cream.
I took a few minutes from my work schedule and gave them to my family backstage, giggling with Gracie and my mom about shirtless Victor and the leaky roof.
“But…” Mom said between bites of ice cream, “how’d he look?”
Olivia squealed and I buried my face into her shoulder shaking with laughter.
“Did Mom show you guys her Love Local profile?” Gracie asked, and I almost dropped my cone.
At sunset, the concert began with guitar strumming and a banjo echoing through the city. I snuck out from backstage to watch from the sidelines, swaying to the music and humming along. Adam appeared by my side.
“I’ve been looking for you backstage,” he said next to my ear, sending shivers everywhere.
A breeze rippled through my hair, my dress. It was a relief after such a long, hot day.
“You found me,” I said, leaning back into him.
He sighed against me. An undeniable sense of home found in each other’s arms. “I can’t focus—” His voice was muffled as the band bellowed their chorus.
“What?” I shouted.
He grabbed my elbow gently and weaved me through the dancing crowd, through the streets of downtown full of people shopping and shouting until it was just the two of us in a little alley at the edge of the festival. A little pocket of quiet in all the noise.
We stood, face to face, his eyes intent on mine. “Is everything okay?” I asked, concerned.
“I can’t focus on anything but you today.” He laughed hoarsely. The concert echoed in the distance. “Every day.”
“I relate,” I said, a tentative smile forming. “I’ve got my pink dress. You’re winning wet tee shirt contests.”
“This is bigger than how insanely gorgeous you look today.”
“Okay?” I said softly, feeling the tension between us tighten.
“I wanted to wait to talk to you about the job until I’d really thought about it, but I feel like it’s the elephant in the room…” He ran a hand down his face. “This job would normally be a no-brainer. An automatic yes. It’s an obvious next step for me—great pay, great position, but…”
“But?” My pulse was thrumming in my neck.
“I should be thinking about this job nonstop, but instead, it’s you I’ve got on my mind.” Thunder cracked and a downpour crashed from the sky. The concert crowd started screaming and cheering in the distance at the interruption.
I didn’t care. Rain streamed over me but I didn’t even move a muscle. My focus was on Adam.
“I don’t want to be an idiot. You know, I have this whole five-year-plan thing? A career track. I also don’t know?—”
“Don’t know?”
“I don’t know what’s going on in here.” He tapped the side of my head. “What are you feeling?”
“I’ve told you how I feel about you,” I said. “I was up all night thinking about you and your job. It’s all I’ve been thinking about since I got back to town.”
“Then why haven’t you been talking to me about it? What do you think?”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say,” I said, unlocking the back room of my heart. “I want to be careful with my words, with you. I need to say the right thing.”
“I don’t want you to say the right thing,” Adam said, blinking away raindrops. “I want you to say what you feel. What you want.”
“I’m not going to be selfish with your future, Adam,” I said. My stomach knotted up in restraint, holding back what I wanted even as it stood in front of me, daring me to throw caution to the wind.
“Please, Lucy.” He stepped close to me, his hands lacing through mine. “Be selfish with me.”
“I really care about you, Adam. I could really love you. This could really be something. I don’t want to mess it up by being selfish or needy…”
“What’s so wrong with being needy?” Adam asked. His voice echoed in the rain, mingling with the music. “Maybe I need you, too. Maybe I’ve been looking all over the place, running from town to town, job to job, until I found my place right here with you. The two of us.”
“Well, if your place is beside me, what are you going to do about this job somewhere else?” I asked.
“Tell me what you want.” Adam’s voice was a rasp.
“I want you to stay,” I shouted through the storm. It felt right to say it. “When you came and rescued our little festival, you rescued a part of my heart. A part of my heart I hadn’t known was waiting for you to show up.” I felt my chin quiver. “I want you to stay. That’s what I want. Now, it’s your turn to tell me.”
A smile spread across Adam’s face. His eyes squinted in the rain. “I want that, too. I basically turned down the job already. I’ve been trying to handle it on my own and figure it out, but I realized I want to figure it out with you. I want to handle everything with you. Maybe I don’t have to do it alone anymore.”
Pressure floated off my chest. Tears sprung to my eyes. “You don’t have to do anything alone anymore. You’ve got me now.” I’d wanted to give him his space when Adam was wanting me to take my place by his side.
He brushed my dripping hair out of my face. “I’m gone for you, Lucy Rhodes.”
“I’m gone for you.” I lifted onto my tiptoes, bringing my lips to his. The rain was coming down in sheets now, heavy over us like a blanket wrapping us up in our own little world.
“Lucy, I’ve never felt anything like what I feel for you,” Adam said, sliding his hands down my waist. “It was so confusing when we first met because you were treating me like enemy number one, and to be honest, you were this wildcard that made me nervous. But even then, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I’ve been thinking about you nonstop since you first stormed into my office.”
“I’ve been thinking about you since I found you on that app,” I said, tangling my hands around the back of his neck.
“I was wandering all over Sweet River looking for that stormy redhead. I ran into you outside the restaurant and was so conflicted. This woman makes everything more complicated for me, but man, I wish I could take her to dinner. I’ve been desperate, helplessly trying to come up with reasons to be in the same vicinity as you. Can we try out this place for lunch for the festival? Can I help your sister mow her lawn? Can I drive you? Can I please just see you even if for a second? I guess I should be embarrassed, but the way I see it, anyone would be hopeless over you, Lucy. I mean, you’ve got me buying daisies. You’ve got me wandering around the art supplies aisle. I’m turning down jobs. I want to put down roots. I want to call your family my family. I’m thinking about summer festivals decades down the road with you.”
My sneakers were full of water as I said, “I want it all, too, with you.”
He lifted me up and I crossed my ankles around his waist, his thumbs dipping into my hips, as we kissed. He tasted like mint and summer rain. I trailed my fingers through his wet hair and down his neck. He shuddered at my touch. He pulled me in tighter. Our skin was slippery and wet as the rain poured over us. I could hear the band singing a cover of a Noah Kahan song through the storm.
“So,” I pulled out of the kiss for a second to ask, “you’re staying?”
He kissed up my jawline, then said warmly against my ear, “I’m staying with you.”