Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Why are you still here?” the front desk manager asked as she lifted the pass-through and joined Willa behind the desk.
“Mrs. Archer’s checking out today, and I want to make sure her car’s here fifteen minutes early.” Willa smiled. “She’s always early.”
“Good to know. I’ll write that down. Now, go on and get out of here. Don’t be late.”
“Okay, I’m going.” Willa loved that she still got to solve problems. Only now they had faces, not clauses. “I just have to change my shirt, grab my keys, and go.”
Willa hurried upstairs, mentally reviewing the morning’s logistics.
The pie-throwing lanes needed one more rope barrier, the judges’ table still needed plastic sheeting, and someone from the youth program had texted her at midnight, freaking out because the town had run out of whipped cream.
There wasn’t a single can left in Calamity.
She’d suggested Cool Whip from the freezer section. It’d hold up better anyway.
The entire town had turned this fun idea into a full-scale civic event. She couldn’t wait to get to the fairgrounds and get it started.
Thinking about whether her white T-shirt was in the dryer or her dresser drawer, she entered the apartment and came to a hard stop. What was that smell?
Butter. Sugar. Warm chocolate.
Pie.
Her heart gave a sudden leap.
“Decker?” But that was stupid. He was in LA. Or somewhere preparing for tonight’s game.
Anywhere but here.
But oh, for a second, hope slammed through her so hard she’d lost her breath.
Stupid, silly girl.
Okay, but then who made the pie? Because it wasn’t for the event. They’d agreed on cream pies—easiest all around.
Her dad would happily eat it, but he wouldn’t bake it.
Still, the scent hung unmistakably in the air. And she hurried into the kitchen to find out whether the pie had a sunflower crust.
The room was quiet, clean. The morning’s coffee mugs were on the counter next to the sink. Everything exactly as she’d left it.
Except for the kitchen table.
Where she found a mud pie right in the center of it.
She stared in confusion. A gift from the staff? She didn’t know anyone who’d make her favorite pie.
No one but Decker even knew it was her favorite.
But as she stepped closer, she knew immediately it was his.
The crust was glossy and golden, the edge trimmed with a ring of pastry flowers.
Her pulse jumped.
Because instead of the sunflower Decker usually set in the center, this pie held something else.
A heart.
And inside the heart were initials.
D + W.
“Oh, my God.”
Her first thought was instant and electric.
Is he here?
She turned toward the hallway, already moving. “Decker?” she called, though she felt the emptiness of the apartment. Her dad had already left for the field.
She checked the guest rooms anyway, the ones where Decker and Birdie had stayed.
They were both empty, the beds neatly made.
The rush of excitement faded.
He wasn’t here.
How could he be?
Willa headed back to the kitchen and looked at the pie again. A soft warmth spread through her. Decker must’ve passed through town. He’d come back to this kitchen—the place where they’d spent those late nights, baking and laughing—and left this for her to find.
Wait a minute. How does he know I’m here and not in New York?
Dammit, what does it mean?
All right, well, now is not the time to puzzle this out.
I have to get to the fairgrounds.
By the time she reached the fairgrounds, the parking lot was already filling up. Families were spilling out of vans, kids yawning, parents pulling together supplies. Car doors slammed, and shoes crunched on gravel.
The field was packed with people wearing bright blue youth program T-shirts, volunteers hustling between rows of folding tables stacked with white cardboard pie boxes.
Thousands of pies.
Willa parked and headed over, immediately spotting familiar faces in the crowd. Finlay tipped a chin, arms loaded, Cody at her side. The McKenna brothers were clustered near the tables, ripping open boxes of shower caps and tossing them to anyone within reach.
What a great idea. No one on the committee had thought of that angle. Smart.
Eloise was setting up her camera equipment under the tent, and Molly was directing the parks and rec crew on where to place the garbage cans.
Her heart clutched.
This was her world.
These people.
This town.
She loved it.
When she reached the tent, Finlay flung herself at her. “How fun is this?” she asked excitedly.
“So fun.” She couldn’t resist asking, “Is Decker here?”
“Decker? No, he’s…” Her friend looked around. “I mean, not that I know of.”
Of course, he wasn’t.
The crowd gathered around the tables as the mayor tapped the microphone. The feedback squealed once before settling. “All right.” He raised a hand. “Let’s get started before someone eats all the pies.”
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
“First things first.” He scanned the sea of blue shirts.
“I want to thank the incredible people who made today possible. Let’s hear it for the youth program, for the volunteers, and for the businesses who stepped up—Coco’s, Joe’s, the Wild Rose—and everyone else who made this happen.
Oh, and the McKennas for making sure none of us go home wearing pie in our hair. ”
People laughed, clapped, and whistled. Excitement was high.
“And Willa,” the mayor added, pointing toward her, “for quitting her fancy job in New York to come and organize a pie-throwing competition.”
Everyone cheered, and Willa’s cheeks heated from the attention.
“Lastly,” the mayor continued, “none of this would have happened without the man who came up with the idea in the first place, Decker McKenna.”
A roar swept through the field.
“Who, by the way,” the mayor added with a grin, “broke Masterson’s passing record.”
The cheers turned wild.
“Unfortunately,” he continued, “The Machine couldn’t be here today. He’s got another game to play and probably a few more records to break.”
Willa’s heart dipped.
Which was stupid because why would he be there?
Then a voice spoke from somewhere behind her.
“Actually, I broke my final record.” The deep, gravelly voice silenced the fairgrounds.
Willa whipped around, looking for him.
The crowd parted slightly as Decker moved forward between the rows of people.
He looked exactly the same—broad shoulders, sun-browned skin, that quiet confidence that made everyone strain to see who it was. “I retired,” he said simply.
“What? No,” someone shouted.
“He’s kidding,” another voice called. “He’s too young to quit.”
“Line up over here for shower caps,” Boone called, and she caught the look of gratitude Decker shot his brother for the distraction.
It got the crowd moving.
Except for her. Time stopped. She froze, watching Decker make his way over to her.
When he arrived, he gave a lazy grin. “You got a second?”
Flustered, she flapped a hand toward the tent. “I’m a little busy at the moment.”
Why is he here?
What does he want?
He chuckled. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“Don’t you have a game to play?” He said he’d retired. Was he joking? He had to be. Decker would never give up all his hopes and dreams and goals. He wouldn’t just quit.
“I don’t, no.”
Her pulse thundered, her mind spun, and she didn’t understand anything. “Well, it was great catching up.”
“Don’t forget your ponchos,” the mayor called. “We’ll start in exactly sixteen minutes.”
Decker stepped closer. “Sounds like I’ve got a few minutes to win you over.”
“Fifteen. I have to get my shower cap.” She touched her hair. “Or else I’ll never get the whipped cream out.”
“You gonna let me talk?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. Are you going to make me cry in front of the whole town? Because I’m an authority figure, people are counting on me.” She blinked back hot tears. “Why are you here? Why are you talking about retiring? I don’t understand anything.”
He crowded her now. “I think you do. Because you’re here, too. You made the same decision.” His fingers sifted through her hair. “I don’t want to lose what we have either.”
“You did not retire.”
“I did.”
“For Birdie? Because—”
“For me. I spent my whole life trying to beat records, and if she hadn’t come into my life, I might’ve kept trying to outrun myself.
But sweetheart, I don’t want to run anymore.
I want to sit on my porch, with you at my side and Birdie on my lap, and watch the sun set from our house in the woods.
I want to make you coffee every morning and bake pies together.
I want to do life with you because you’re the only thing that makes me happy. You get what I’m saying?”
She trembled from head to toe. All she could do was whisper, “I think so.”
“I want you in my bed every night for the rest of my life. I want us to be a family.” He tipped her chin. “Willa Holland, I’m in love with you.”
“I love you, too.” Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she threw herself into his arms. “I love you so much. And I was so afraid to believe in us.”
“Believe it.” He held her like the world was on fire, like he’d snatched her out of a burning building. He held her like he wouldn’t let go, even if they went up in flames.
And she needed it. Needed him. “Are you serious about retiring? It’s official?”
“Yes. I’m here to stay. I’m not going anywhere unless you’re by my side.”
“I don’t understand how I get to be this happy.”
He pulled back to look at her. “It’s pretty simple.
We both stopped chasing the wrong things.
” He kissed her. Right there in the middle of that crowd.
His tongue swept into her mouth and coaxed hers into the sweetest, most romantic dance.
After he’d melted every bone in her body, he pulled back.
“Nothing felt the same after I met my girls. No touchdown, no wins. Now that I know what this feels like, I can’t go back.
I missed you. I missed us. I can’t…I don’t want to be without you. ”
“You kissy kiss?” Birdie called as she toddled over, Moo under her arm. Gunnar stood behind, watching like her own private security guard.
“Birdie.” She rushed over and lifted the little girl into her arms and held her. “I missed you so much.”
The three of them held each other, Willa’s heart so full it ached with joy.
“I stay wif you?” Birdie asked.
“Yes.” Willa kissed Birdie’s soft cheek, pulling them both close as the crowd prepared to hurl pies. “We’re all going to be together.”
Thirteen long years away from where she belonged, and now, the circle had finally closed.
She was back.
She was home.
And she had everything she needed right there in her arms.