Chapter 19
Chapter
Nineteen
T heo was pissed.
He was standing outside the Merry Falls Lodge on a bright, sunny, albeit cold, day after one of the best weekends—hell, one of the best Christmases —of his life…saying goodbye to the woman he’d fallen in love with.
“I can’t believe he’s sending you to the farm after all,” he told her with a scowl.
She was supposed to be getting on an airplane with him. But her boss had called and decided that now that the roads were open, there was no reason she couldn’t make the trip up to the Monroe Family Farm.
Steve didn't care about their huge light show, their sleigh rides, the Christmas trees, or reindeer anyway, so the fact that she’d missed Christmas there didn’t matter. He wanted her to see the inn, the rooms, the nearby town, and talk to them more in-depth about their plans. Then he wanted Savannah to give him a presentation in two days about how they could renovate the place.
She didn’t want to do it.
She thought the farm should stay as it was.
She also wanted to go back to Louisiana today. With Theo.
“I know, but what choice do I have?” she asked. “I mean, I don’t have to get back to work like you do. This is work for me.”
“Is Mark going to be there?” Theo asked with a scowl. He didn’t know how he would pull off staying longer and going with her, but if some other guy who was going to hit on her the entire time was going to be there, Theo would find a way to protect her.
“No,” she said. “He decided it was too much trouble with the weather and the flight delays and cancellations.”
Well, at least that was working out. “Good.” His hands were resting on her hips as they stood next to the rental car in front of the lodge. He pulled her closer. “Just quit. You’re going to anyway. Just do it today.”
“I can’t quit without another plan in place.”
He understood that. But he already missed her, and he hadn’t even left yet. "This sucks," he told her.
She looked sad too. "I know."
His plane ticket could've been switched just like hers had, but Steve wasn't paying for his. And Theo did have to get back to work.
"At least this time you’re in first class," she told him with a small smile.
"I don’t give a shit where I’m sitting if you're not next to me," he told her, cupping her cheek.
Henry was giving her a ride up to the Monroe Farm. It was an hour away, but Lucy, Henry, and Scott knew the Monroes. Then Henry had said he could give Savannah a ride back to Asheville on the twenty-seventh. He’d assured her that there were plenty of supplies he could go get and it was no problem.
Savannah was insisting on paying him even though both he and Lucy argued it wasn’t necessary. Theo’s money was on Savannah winning that battle, but Lucy was tough.
Theo almost smiled thinking about the people here at the lodge that they’d gotten to know in their short stay. But he couldn’t quite muster a grin.
This was not how he’d planned for this all to end up. He wasn’t done with Savannah Lee. But he wasn’t sure what to say or do to make sure she knew that, yet not push too hard at the same time.
"Are you coming to Autre when you’re done here?”
She grimaced. "No. I have to be in Alexandria on the thirtieth and thirty-first."
“Alexandria, Louisiana?”
"Yeah. It’s a renovation Steve just completed. His favorite one so far. He’s throwing a big New Year’s thing and we’re all supposed to be there.” She paused. “You’d hate it."
“Why is that?”
"Super fancy. Tuxes and everything."
Theo could admit he wasn't really a tux guy. But he wasn't sure he’d hate it. Plus, Savannah would probably be wearing some slinky sexy dress that he would very much love to see.
"When will you be back in New Orleans?"
"Probably on the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth,” she said. “Unless something comes up. “Steve said something about going to some Texas winery. But he was still trying to work it out."
"I want to see you."
She nodded. "I want to see you, too. But…"
"But what?"
She sighed. "Just that this will be what it will be like, Theo. My job will have me traveling. We’ll barely see each other. I mean, I’ll come to Autre. Sometimes. Like I always have. But just here and there.”
"Yeah. But you are going to quit, right? You don't want to keep working for Steve."
Dammit, fucking relax. You are not going to insist she quit her job, jackass. That is definitely pushing too hard.
She frowned. "Right. But that will take some time. If I do the travel agent thing, I need to prepare. I need to get set up."
He nodded. Of course. That made sense. Dammit.
"Okay, well… I guess we'll talk,” he said, not knowing what else to say when I’m in love with you, please tell me we can make that work was all that was on his mind and tongue.
"Yeah.” She nodded and gave him a forced smile. “I'll…text you…and stuff."
Great. She'd text him and stuff.
He kissed her and then got in the car. And waved goodbye to the woman he was pretty sure was the only woman he’d ever want again.
W hich was how Theo ended up sitting in Ellie's bar on December thirty-first at noon, wishing he was anywhere else.
No, that wasn't true.
He wanted to be somewhere else with Savannah .
He also wanted to be away from all the people who knew him very well, had realized that he'd fallen madly in love with Savannah, and were giving him all kinds of opinions about that.
Especially opinions about him being in Autre, and her being somewhere else.
“You have tons of vacation time. You never take time off. Plus this is a slow time of year,” Zander said. For the second time.
Theo’s co-worker, Bailey, nodded. “We didn’t even miss you while you were gone.”
“Thanks, Bailey,” Theo said dryly.
She just grinned at him.
“Savannah is never going to beg you to stay with her. Or go somewhere with her,” Becca said.
She was the only one actually frowning at him. Everyone else seemed confused and a little exasperated with him—no one seemed to be on his side, he noted—but Becca was the one who seemed actually annoyed.
“She prides herself on being independent and doing things by herself and not needing people,” Becca said.
His chest felt tight. He knew that. But he didn’t want to tie her down, make her feel like she had to include him in her plans. “Becca, I know that. But I don’t want her to feel…stuck with me. I want her to know she can come and go, that I’ll be here when she’s ready, but that she can also leave me when she needs to or wants to. And then come back to me. She’s always felt like she was disappointing her family with the things she wants. I don’t want to be someone else she has to worry about.”
Becca’s frown deepened, but she didn’t argue with that.
Because he was doing a good job, dammit. He was right not to pressure her.
Theo scrubbed a spot on his chest that was aching. So why did he feel so shitty?
Zander leaned in. "Okay, so you're trying to be cool and not pressure her. Let her have her space, do her thing. But you did make it clear that you want her here, right?"
"I told her she was welcome here anytime and that she has an open reservation at my place."
Zander gave him a funny look. Theo scowled back at him.
Dammit, that moment had been sweet. When he'd given her the ornament, he'd seen the emotion in her face. It had been good. It was just hard to explain to a bunch of people sitting around a bar table.
"She knows how I feel," Theo insisted.
"So you said the words I love you and want to be with you no matter where that is, or how that looks ," Zander said. "I mean, if you said those words then yeah, she knows."
"I didn't say those exact words, no,” Theo said. “But things changed between us while we were gone. We got a lot closer. She knows we’re not just friends."
Zander sat back in his chair, looking disappointed. Disappointed in him.
Theo glanced around the table. Fuck. Zeke, Mitch, Beau, and the rest of the in-love assholes all looked disappointed too.
"What?" he asked, frustrated. He was trying to do right by Savannah first. These guys might have more relationship experience, but they didn’t know Savannah . She was his to know and take care of and love.
"I think what they're not saying is that you're a big grump who lives alone in a cabin clear down on the bayou by yourself because there are no other people down there,” Kennedy Landry said. “In fact, you stood up in front of the city council and fought Savannah to keep it that way.” She lifted a brow at him, though she was smiling. “It's pretty clear that you don't like a ton of people around and that you like things a certain way and that you’ve made your life the way you want it to be. So…you're exactly the type of person who needs to say when you’re ready to make a change and tell people when you want them around."
Kennedy wasn't just the mayor. She was a cousin and sister to the Landry boys. Theo had basically grown up with her.
"I'm not grumpy with her ,” he said, grumpily. But he was feeling grumpy toward all of them . Just not Savannah.
Kennedy laughed. "Okay. It still remains that you're not exactly a social butterfly. If you want to be a part of someone's life, and want them to be a part of yours, you have to be a little more obvious about it."
Theo thought about arguing that he'd socialized with the people at Mary Falls Lodge. But had he? He and Savannah had kept to themselves a lot. He'd been friendly, but most of the conversations at dinner and around the fireplace had been kept up by Savannah. And hell, they'd all been stuck together. It wasn't like he'd gone to the lodge on purpose or sought out a big group of strangers intentionally.
Suddenly he frowned as a realization occurred to him.
Hey," he said. He looked first at Zander then at Becca. "Savannah and I were stuck together. For three days. Completely. No escape.”
Becca nodded, her eyes wide with no shit clear in her expression. "Yeah. We know."
He leaned in. "She hates that. That's her biggest nightmare. She hates being stuck somewhere she can't get out of when she wants to. That gives her all kinds of anxiety."
Becca nodded slowly. "Yeah. It does."
Theo felt a small smile curling his lips. "But she didn't freak out at all in North Carolina. She wasn't anxious a bit. At least, not after we got off the road. The driving made her a little nervous, but once we got to the lodge, she didn't hate it at all. We had a great time. In fact, she was disappointed when they got the roads cleared earlier than expected."
Understanding dawned on Becca's face and she smiled as well. Then Theo looked at Zander. His friend was grinning and nodding.
"Well…wow," Theo said.
Zander laughed. "She's in love with you too, buddy."
Theo felt warmth bloom through his chest. "Yeah, she sure is." He frowned and looked at Becca. "Do you think she knows that?"
Becca thought about that for a moment. "Maybe. If she does, it's going to take a little bit for her to admit that to you, though. Or maybe even to herself."
Theo pushed back from the table. "You know what? I think I'll tell her. Just in case she doesn't know."
"You're gonna go tell her that you're in love with her?" Becca asked. "Or that she's in love with you?"
He grinned down at his future wife's best friend. "Yes."