Chapter 25 #2
She gives me a hug, and when she goes outside, there’s a sense of loss. I wish she could’ve met Prescott. She could’ve met the girl I can’t get enough of. Instead of going to my mom’s the day before my birthday, I should’ve taken Prescott to Bourbon Canyon .
“She didn’t leave this morning.” My heart hammers against my ribs.
Iverson’s brows draw together. “Prescott?”
“She might still be here. Or she might be gone by now.” My mouth goes dry.
“But she’s only going as far as Rapid City tonight.
” My brothers exchange a heavy look, but I don’t interpret it.
I’m running highway calculus equations in my head.
“Fuck. Will Silas know where she’s staying?
What if she’s still in town? I’ve got to go after her. ”
The words are out of my mouth. They don’t make sense, but they make perfect sense.
“I don’t know if you noticed,” Iverson says wryly, “but Durban’s getting married in less than an hour.”
“I know.” Fuck . I can’t let them down, but the pull between me and Prescott is going to tear me in two.
“Wait a sec.” Durban holds his hand up. “You’re finally ready to admit you like her?”
“I more than like her.” I’m obsessed with her. I have been since I first saw her.
“Sounds like you’ve got to go,” Durban says simply.
“I can’t ditch your wedding. I can’t be like Mom.” But it’s not fair for him to have me standing there with nothing but Prescott on my mind. “But Prescott means everything to me.”
A smile stretches Durban’s lips. “Then you’re not like Mom, and it’s the best reason to miss my wedding.”
Iverson scratches the back of his neck. “You had the whole goddamn summer, but shit. You gotta go.”
My gaze jumps between him and Durban, waiting for them to tell me I’m a loser for abandoning them.
Durban grips me by the shoulders, his gaze boring into me.
“This wedding is a celebration, but I have Campbell no matter what. If I think back on this day and remember you’re not here, I’m also going to remember how proud I was that you got over your fear.
That you weren’t too scared to go after your woman and be as happy as me and Iverson. ”
Emotion spills over. I yank him into a quick bear hug.
I’m about to skirt around them to get out the door, but then a bride appears at my side.
Campbell’s in a gauzy white, off-the-shoulder dress that falls short enough to reveal her white-and-blush cowboy boots, and Jamison is in a dress just like what Avery’s wearing next to her.
“Hey, Haven,” she says, her gray eyes glittering with nothing but happiness.
“I’m sorry,” is all I say.
Her brow creases. “For what?”
“He’s gotta go after his girl,” Durban says without censure.
Campbell gasps. “Oh. Go. Go .”
Iverson opens the door and makes an ushering motion outside.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to be dramatic like Mom.”
Iverson shakes his head, and Durban scoffs.
“This is nothing like her drama,” Iverson says. “You’re running to the people you love, not away from them.”
“We’ll delay as long as we can,” Campbell says, her voice crackling with wedding planner authority. “Go get her and bring her back with you.”
“If she’ll come. Otherwise, I’m following her wherever she’s going.”
Prescot t
Tears stream down my face. “Kitty, kitty, kitty.”
Come on . I’m running out of time. I’m trying not to barge into the wedding of someone I barely know, but there’s a groomsman I need to accost.
“Kitty?” Grasses tickle my legs, and I hold down my skirt. The last time it blew up and flashed a passerby, it didn’t turn out so bad—until last weekend.
A tiny mew reaches me.
“Kitty? Don’t run,” I mutter to myself as I pick my way through the ditch. A furry little ball darts under the barbed-wire fence. “Not the fence.”
I’ve crawled over more than a few in my day, and I’ve done it in dresses before, but not when I want to go win the man of my heart.
“I’ll get him.”
I whip around. My heart’s in my throat—because I know that voice. My gaze lands on Haven. He’s more handsome than ever in pristine black jeans with black suspenders. His scruff is trimmed, and his hair’s combed to the side, but a lock’s falling over his forehead.
His long legs eat up the space between us until he’s right in front of me. He’s not real. He can’t be. How many times can a guy find a girl in a ditch?
“What are you doing here?” I ask, breathless.
“Looking for you.” He squints at my car. “What are you doing here?”
“A kitten darted across the road.”
The corner of his mouth cocks up. “Again?”
I swallow. He’s so close. I could reach out and touch him, but that might burst the fantasy. “Seems they’ve heard about my new profile and one hundred percent success rate for rescue placement.”
“I get the cat. I wouldn’t expect anything less.” He crowds even closer, his gaze intense. “What are you doing here? This isn’t the way to Chicago.”
“No. It’s not.” It’s the way back to him. Wait— Isn’t he supposed to be somewhere? “What about the wedding? Is everything okay?”
“The wedding is fine.” He runs a tendril of my hair between his fingers. “I’m not. There’s this girl. I can’t quit thinking about her. I can’t quit wanting her. I can’t quit thinking that maybe…I could have something special with her.”
Oh my god, it’s too much. The sun shining on him. The way his dark eyes sparkle. This cannot be real. “She sounds hideous.”
He laughs, his breath laced with whiskey.
A small part of me shrivels. I cup his face with my hand. Did he need liquid courage for this? “Have you been drinking, Hennessy?”
“No, Red. Just a swallow as I was pouring out my woes to Avery and Thea. They asked the damnedest thing.” He grips my wrist and turns his face into my hand. His whiskers tickle my palm. “You wanna know what it was? Sure as hell got me thinking.”
I can barely nod. Yes, I want to know. Just like I have to know the reason why he’s here, on the side of the road with me, instead of at his brother’s wedding.
He strokes his thumb along my wrist. “They wanted to know if I asked you to stay.”
A small gasp escapes. If this is all in my imagination, I’m going to turn to dust and blow away. My emotions can’t take this. “No. You didn’t ask. ”
“No,” he echoes softly. His knuckles brush along my jaw. “I told myself it’s what you want. You never wanted to fall for some whiskey cowboy.”
“You’re more than that, Haven.”
“So much more that you’d let me make all your dreams come true from Huckleberry Springs, Montana?”
“You want me to stay?”
“I want you with me, in my house, in my bed, Prescott Keys. I want to come home to you wearing nothing but an apron in the kitchen. I want to build you your own studio. I want to travel with you to work with rescues. I want to help you track down strays.” He points toward the pasture.
“That little guy is watching us. He ain’t going nowhere but in your arms. I just gotta say some stuff first.”
I’m soaring, but my feet are on the ground. “You’ve said a lot, and I like what I’m hearing.”
“Will you like hearing that I’ve fallen in love with you?”
I make a choking sound trying to get my “yes” out. “You have?”
“So much. I love you, Red.”
He’s putting himself out there, and it’s something he’s never done. I’ve heard enough about his childhood and his mom to know why. So before I can throw myself into his arms, I have to give him something in return. “This isn’t the way to Chicago because I kept stalling. I couldn’t leave.”
“Why couldn’t you leave?” Our faces are inches apart.
“You.” I lift my chin, but a tremor runs through my body.
Fear. Excitement. Despite what he’s said, the anxiety that this is just a lucid dream won’t go away.
“I was hurt that you didn’t tell me about your visit with your mom, and instead of giving you grace, I used it as an excuse.
All week, I felt like I failed. Because I did.
You needed space, but mostly, you needed someone there for you, and I want to be that person. ”
“You already are.” He wraps his arms around my waist. “I’ve already been sharing my home and my secrets with you, and I should’ve trusted you about last weekend.
I knew it was a bad idea, and I guess I was afraid to be told again that it was.
When all along, I should’ve known you are the one person I can talk to about her. ”
“I love you, Hennessy.”
His grin deepens. “You do, Red?”
“I’ve been miserable the whole week. I like this town. I like being close to my dad even if he doesn’t want me around. I like your friends and family. I like your cowboy boots—the whole package. I love you.”
He places a gentle kiss on my lips. “I love when you call me Hennessy. Like I stand out in a trio of Hennessys.”
“That’s because you’re special—to your brothers, to everyone who knows you, to me.”
He kisses me again, a longer, lingering one this time. “You might be surprised about your dad. But you’re still going to Chicago.”
The stab to my heart hits so fast I can’t draw in a breath. He asked me to stay, and now he’s telling me to go?
“Quit worrying, my little rescue influencer.” He traces my lips with a finger. “I’m telling you that if you want to go to Chicago, I’m going with you.”
“I don’t want to move back to Chicago.”
“Then we won’t stay. But we’re getting you there for that interview. The animals need it.”
“Oh, Haven. You showed me that it’s not the size of the town that matters, it’s what I do in it, and I very much want to do you.”
He cups my face and plants his mouth on mine, delving deep. I meet each stroke of his tongue with a needy one of my own. Twining my arms around him is like securing my future. This man is mine, and I’m his.
“Mew.”
Haven breaks the kiss with a soft chuckle. “Let’s get your cat and get to the wedding so I can show you off.”