Chapter 19 #3
Bluegrass music filled the air along with laughter from kids and adults alike.
The tug-of-war game was the most raucous, with the teams shouting and taunting good-naturedly as the advantage went back and forth between sides.
She walked with Clayton to the fringes of the party.
He stopped by the open tailgate of Sam’s big pickup truck.
Cases of water and some boxes marked “T-shirts” filled half the bed.
“Will you sit with me for a minute?” Clay asked, nodding toward the tailgate. “Please?”
No one would hear them out here. Sam had parked far from the action, perhaps so he could leave quickly if necessary. But they could see the party from here.
“Sure.” She turned to hitch herself up, but Clay’s hands curved around her waist as he lifted her easily.
The memory of his touch stayed on her skin long after his hands fell away. He hopped up alongside her, close but not touching.
How could she miss the feel of him so soon?
She folded her arms around her waist, tucking her hands under her elbows so she didn’t forget and slide her fingers through his.
Instead she focused on her feet dangling off the tailgate.
Her short red leather boots and jeans had been such fun, optimistic choices this morning when she’d tugged them out of the closet.
“Gabriella, I’m so sorry I didn’t speak to you first this morning before I bombarded you and Mia with my grand plan.
” He gripped the edge of the tailgate with both hands as he spoke, his arms tense and muscles defined.
“I was so sure that you’d both be excited, it never occurred to me that you would have ideas of your own about a future.
” He hung his head for a second before he shook it slowly.
“It sounds so obvious to say it out loud now—so clear that my plan wasn’t going to end well.
But in my head, I thought it would be exciting for everyone to have a fresh start. ”
“No one has ever said, ‘I love you’ to me before. Not, like, romantically.”
Clay shifted toward her, his knee bumping hers.
“Then there are some damn fool crazy men out there, because you’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.
And I’m sorry I robbed you of such a special moment because I wasn’t thinking straight.
With the break-in last night, and my father nearly dying—hell, I’m not trying to say that’s an excuse.
But I’m not good at this stuff. I realized as soon as I started to unveil the plan that I should have spoken to you privately first.”
She nibbled her lip and braved a look his way, her arms still wrapped around herself to keep from touching. To make sure she listened and thought instead of just felt how much she loved him. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake about something so important.
But the bluegrass music and squeals of laughter all around the party couldn’t help but inspire some optimism. Some hope.
Besides, Lorelei Hasting had said Clayton might be hardheaded but never hard-hearted. It burned her throat to remember the way she’d said it—with so much pride in her son. So much trust in his goodness. Gabriella wanted that kind of trust in him, too.
“Then let’s say we were going to do things differently,” she suggested, daring to imagine a better outcome. Or at least, hoping for one. “What would you say this time if we were to pretend this morning never happened?”
Clayton covered her knee with one hand and the warmth of that touch soothed some of the hurt inside her. His brown gaze latched on to hers.
“I’d say, Gabriella, I was going crazy last night imagining something happened to you.
When I couldn’t get in touch with you, I’ve never been so scared in my life.
” He reached to stroke a finger along her jaw with his other hand, his eyes reflecting the fear he’d felt for her.
“Moments before that, I made peace with my father, and I couldn’t wait to tell you about it.
To share it with you and thank you, and tell you how right you were about that. ”
“I’m glad,” she told him honestly. She’d been so caught up in her own ordeal, she’d forgotten how much he’d gone through last night, too. Mia had told her how Pete nearly died before his condition had stabilized.
“But when Mia told me about Connor and I figured there was a chance he might know where she was living, all my thoughts were about you and how I’d left you alone at that house.
” He thumbed aside a strand of windblown hair, tucking it behind her ear and making her skin tingle all over.
“I had a bad feeling in my gut right away, and when you didn’t answer the phone, I—”
He cut himself off, the hand on her knee fisting. He closed his eyes for a second.
“I think I knew even then that I loved you. But when I got to you in Zach’s basement and that door opened between us—I knew right then for sure. I loved you more than I’ve ever loved anyone.”
Her heart did a backflip, an unsteady somersault that left her a little dizzy. And melty. All her defenses were melting away under the warmth of his words.
“I love you, too, Clay.” She hadn’t told him this morning because she hadn’t been sure of his real feelings. But she was sure of them now. “I knew before last night. On one of the nights when you were holding me and you stayed with me. I think I’ve been waiting to love you for a long, long time.”
If she’d had any doubts about him left, they would have vanished to see the way he looked at her. His shoulders shifted like he’d just shaken off the weight of the world. He sucked in a breath like he hadn’t had a good, deep one in years. His brown eyes lit with warmth. Happiness.
Lightly he kissed her. A fleeting, sweet kiss.
“I wanted to taste the lips that spoke the sweetest words I’ve ever heard.” He lowered his forehead to hers. Threaded his fingers through her hair. “I never wished for anything as much as I wished you’d give me another chance.”
“What about the rest of it? The future you wanted?” She felt like things would be easier now that she felt his love all around her.
That it wasn’t going away just because they had different opinions or wanted different things.
They had something stronger than that. “I don’t know how I feel about Memphis. ”
“I’ve built a business there, but I’m damn good at my job.
I could rebuild somewhere else.” His gaze was so serious.
“I don’t want to run from the people who care about me anymore.
I’ve been doing that for too long. I lost my brother, and it will hurt forever.
But I haven’t lost Lorelei and Daniel. I haven’t lost Sam.
I don’t want to turn my back on them again. ”
She rested her head against his shoulder.
“I’m so sorry about Eddy.” She understood why that hurt him so much.
He felt so responsible for the people in his life—stepping into the father role when Pete hadn’t done the job in the past. “But you’re right.
There are a lot of people here who care about you. ”
“No one I care about as much as you and Mia,” he reminded her.
“Speaking of Mia—full disclosure—I did promise her I would try to intercede with you to consider staying here.” Her gaze tracked around the party and all the people she’d come to care about all over again.
She noticed both Zach and Sam kept an eye on her where she sat with Clay.
She had the feeling those habits would be hard to break even when she told them she was ready to stand on her own two feet.
But then she couldn’t imagine a day where she’d stopped looking out for Mia.
She’d come to love the girl so fast and so fiercely.
“Can I ask you one question?” Clayton straightened as a victory shout went up from the lawn where the blue team pulled the red one into the mud.
A wet splash followed with a victory cry.
“What is it?” Gabriella shared a smile with him to see the blue team leaping around in the mud anyhow—twenty crazy Hasting fosters rolling around the huge puddle.
“If you didn’t have Mia to take into consideration, where would you want to be?”
“First of all, I would be truly privileged to take your family into consideration.” She liked this huge band of siblings connected by the ties of love triumphing over hardship.
“I love all the Chances, but I’ve discovered how special it is to expand who we think of as family.
” She’d felt connected to Mia before they’d ever met in person.
“But to answer your question, I would choose to stay here in Heartache. I didn’t realize how much I left behind here by focusing only on one bad night. ”
She knew that was minimizing what had happened to her. Yet, after ten years, she was more than ready to put that hellish summer in the background. It did not define her.
From all parts of the lawn, kids and adults ran to join in the muddy fun. They had to be freezing. It was warm for November, but still. A few dogs got in on the action, too, barking happily at the chaos.
“You would enjoy living here?” Clay asked, his dark eyes missing nothing.
“I’ve let myself feel like an orphan for too long. I’ve got roots here, the same as you. And I want to make more.”
Clay slid an arm around her shoulders, hauling her closer. “I had almost that exact same thought when I got to the town line today. I stared up at the Heartache sign and realized I didn’t want to leave this town any more than I wanted to leave you and Mia.”
Happiness filled her up like helium in a party balloon, making her feel so light she could float right away.
“Really?” She could imagine herself here, being a part of her brother’s life again.
Being a part of Sam and Amy’s life, too. Holding their baby. Maybe, one day, holding her own. Her belly fluttered at the idea, but in a good, happy way.
“Absolutely.” He nodded and she saw a joy in his eyes that she’d never seen before. “I hear that Crestwood will need an assistant football coach next fall, too. Maybe I’ll offer some time to the program. See those bleachers where I met the woman I would fall in love with.”
Her breath caught. Would she ever tire of hearing those words? She couldn’t imagine it.
“I think we would be happy here.”
“I already am,” he said softly, brushing a kiss along her jaw.
Her skin tingled. She closed her eyes to savor the moment. Then, as he straightened, Gabriella pointed to the mud mayhem.
“Besides, who wouldn’t love Heartache’s small-town charm?” She giggled as two men pretended to be swamp monsters, stomping and roaring through the muddy mess. “Our sophisticated parties?”
“There’s no place like it.” Clay’s eyes twinkled with mischief as his gaze shifted from the mudslinging back to her. “You know your brother’s house has a hot tub?”
“You mention this…why?” Her heart felt light. Happy. Normal.
Life with Clayton Travers was going to be filled with good times and laughter.
Family and friends. Because hardheaded or not, he understood her.
They were alike in so many ways—both wanting to do the right thing.
Both afraid of getting hurt and guarding their hearts.
But she trusted hers in his hands. And for her part?
She would guard his with her last breath.
She would protect this love and this happiness with all of her newfound strength and confidence.
“Just in case you’re ready for some old-fashioned Hasting family fun.” He nipped her shoulder playfully, lighting a warmth inside her.
She wanted to take him home, straight to that hot tub. But she wouldn’t trade a part of this day with his family—with her town and her friends—for anything. Her gaze swept the party, stopping at the coffee tent where two figures had found a quiet moment alone.
“Clayton, look.” She pointed to adorable Davis Reed kissing Mia sweetly on the lips. The two sat side by side on a picnic table, hands held between them.
“I’ll have to keep an eye on that boy,” he growled with the protective instincts of a good brother. “But he’s not the only guy who wants to sneak a kiss.”
“No?” she asked hopefully, her heart pounding like she was the sixteen-year-old today.
But she loved this man beside her with a love that went far deeper than any teenage romance. She trusted him—body and soul.
And he kissed her with all the love of forever on his lips, the sweetest promise of their shared future echoing in her ears.