42. Grace
Grace
“We’re going to have to break apart at some point, buddy.” I playfully shoved his body to the side before I threw on his T-shirt from the heap of clothes in the bedroom.
As if on command, Caleb’s stomach growled, and I couldn’t help but laugh as I strolled over to the adjacent bathroom.
At some point throughout the night, we made it to the bedroom after showering together. To conserve water, of course. I had only managed to grab a T-shirt from his dresser before we got tangled up in one another again. I wasn’t complaining though.
When Noelle insisted on me coming back to Grand Haven, I wasn’t anticipating reconciling quickly with Caleb. I knew it was going to be a work in progress, but I also knew I wanted to stick around and fight. Something I never did before.
Caleb forgiving me, after confessing the truth, surprised me, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a testament to the man he is and his unwavering ability to love. To love me. I wouldn’t take it for granted again.
I knew I needed to be the first one to be brave enough to say I love you after our reunion. He said it first when we initially started dating, and I was always the person with one foot out of the relationship. No longer would I have him questioning my status in his life.
I turned on the faucet to the sink, proceeding to splash some water on my face.
Just as a chill ran down my spine from the morning brisk air, Caleb’s strong arms engulfed me from behind. “Missed you, Grace. Seriously.”
I could see how serious he was based on how he stared at me in the bathroom mirror.
“I love you, Caleb,” I murmured, overwhelmed with the emotions brought on by our reunion. I cursed myself and proceeded to cover my mouth with my hands. I wasn’t sure how he was going to react.
Caleb’s eyes widened for a split second before he recovered, his warm, boyish grin splitting his face, his eyes twinkling with excitement, his arms tightening around my waist.
“Say it again,” he whispered, his eyes trained on my own in the mirror.
I swallowed hard, a lump in the back of my throat as I proceeded to remove my hands from my mouth. “I love you, Caleb. I don’t really think I knew what love was before you and Noelle. But I love you and I’m ready.”
“I love you so much. You make me better. Noelle loves you. The only thing that can hurt us is you leaving.” Caleb spun me around, hoisting me up and onto the bathroom counter.
“You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that.
I just wanted you to be ready. I know this town isn’t what you’re used to, but I think it could continue to grow on you. ”
I could feel how happy a part of him was growing, and I wasn’t about to ruin the moment.
I shook my head. “I love you and this town. I love Noelle, and I want to be here for her, in any way you let me. I want to be a part of it all. But I’m not running. I’m choosing to stay.”
I had a choice, and my choice would always be Caleb, Noelle, and Grand Haven. The life I left behind back in the city was gray, sterile, and colorless. Now, I had an assortment of wild, vibrant colors around me. I couldn’t go back and I didn’t want to.
“Well, we are never letting you go, either,” Caleb muttered as he crashed his lips to mine, stripping me of his T-shirt and making me scream before we had to be hushed when Noelle came back.
When I first ended up in Grand Haven, I was taken aback by most everybody’s friendliness.
Their openness and sheer willingness to help with zero ulterior motives.
Only now, the people in town I’d become closest to were apprehensive and untrusting of me.
Ironic. I caused this mess and I now needed to get myself out of it.
Once the snowplows cleared the roads, Caleb rushed over to grab Noelle and stop by the bar to set things up for the post-Valentine’s Day crowd tonight.
Caleb wanted me to come with him and hang out at the bar with him and Noelle, but I had to try to make amends with Fiona first. Ms. Kenzie, surprisingly, was much more forgiving.
Fiona came into the bakery one day when I was there and even Ms. Kenzie said, “Fiona, give it up. The poor girl made a mistake.”
But I understood Fiona’s anger. She’d welcomed me into her life when she typically hated everyone.
We had a bond of the misunderstood people, and I broke it by running out on her and the town.
Fiona felt betrayed and rightfully so. But like Caleb’s and my relationship, I would fight for the friendships I forged over my time here.
I walked on the pavers toward the small cottage behind the inn.
The crunch of the snow was just as loud as my heart beating out of my chest. I pushed the doorbell, hearing the sound of a rabid dog.
Fiona insisted it was her security system.
Not that you needed one in a town where everybody looked out for one another. I heard a faint, “Come in.”
I automatically got hit with the smell of those artificial fragrance plug-ins that I told Fiona were toxic, to which her response was “I don’t give a shit.”
I walked through the house, lingering in the doorway of the kitchen toward the back of the small home.
“Hey, Fiona,” I greeted. As she turned around, I smiled and held out the pie I’d purchased from Jena after a delayed opening at the bakery because the power went out on one side of Main Street. The whole strip was running on backup generators.
“Grace,” she said flatly, her voice gravelly with age and irritation, which normally wouldn’t bother me. But I wasn’t prepared for how much it hurt me when her disdain was so plainly directed at me.
Fiona grabbed the pie from my hands and set it on the counter, not even bothering to open it as she went back to her coffee machine.
“Surprised you even remember where I live,” she muttered, stirring her black coffee that she spiked with rum. Fiona thought nobody noticed the little flask she’d pull out at the coffee shop. It was one of her endearing qualities.
Her words stung, but I wasn’t expecting a warm welcome either. “I’m sorry, Fiona. I really want to make things right. I’m here to stay.”
“I thought so for a minute too,” Fiona spat, and then shook her head, composing herself. “I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
“You’re right. I disappointed a lot of people. I messed up. I’m sorry it isn’t a quick fix, but I’ll prove it to you and everyone. I’ve changed. I finally know that. I know what’s important. What I want.”
“You know I’m not the forgiving type. You think pie and those doe eyes will work on me like they do on CJ?” Fiona rolled her eyes and waved me off.
“I’ll be here to annoy you every day.” I smirked, knowing she needed to see results.
Fiona’s lips upturned slightly. “We shall see.”
“I love them, you know. Noelle and Caleb. I never meant to hurt them,” I admitted honestly.
“You did though.” Fiona shrugged, and while I didn’t like the truth, I appreciated that she didn’t sugarcoat it for me.
Last thing I wanted to do was gloss over my loved ones’ pain.
“I know what you’ve told me about your scandal in the big city.
But newsflash, darling, we don’t give a shit about any of that.
Although I do like some of those sparkly bags of yours.
Anyway, we care about how you treat our people.
Anne is one of my best friends, more like a daughter to me than my kid.
Ms. Kenzie and I were there for her and CJ from the beginning.
You’ll never get it. We saw the struggles. ”
“I know,” I muttered, looking down ashamedly, but I was quickly cut off.
“No, you don’t know shit. Not about what they went through. If you put him or that sweet girl, Noelle, through any more shit, I won’t hesitate to break your kneecaps like my last son-in-law.”
My eyes widened but I stayed quiet.
“We love ya, Grace. Now you just gotta love yourself.”