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“Trust me, I’ve given him a piece of my own mind over that every day. I wish he’d let that fear go and listen to his heart.”
I shrug.
Savanna chews on the inside of her cheek before she takes a deep breath and looks at me. “Are you planning on leaving once you’re all healed up?”
“No.” As much as it will hurt to be here, I know now that this is where I’m meant to be. Surrounded by people who love and care for me but who also don’t know how to mind their own damn business. “I’m here to stay, I promise.”
She smiles at that and wraps her arms around me gently, not wanting to hurt me anymore than I already am. “I hated the idea of you being gone.”
“Honestly?” I say with a smile of my own. “Me too.”
“So why did you go?”
“The idea of seeing him around hurts too much, but I don’t want that to drive me away from the one place I feel most at home.” Those are not the words I had ever expected to hear myself say, but I can’t deny how right they feel. I’ve clung to the idea of leaving for so long that I didn’t stop to think about how wrong it was. “Do you think Bethany will forgive me?”
Savanna scoffs. “That girl has already forgotten about it and is planning another girls’ night for the three of us while you get better. I think you’re good.”
“And Easton?”
It isn’t lost on me that maybe the reason Easton won’t give us a chance is because I left the way I did. I had no intention of saying anything to him and only planned on speaking to Bethany once I was far enough away, which obviously hurt him more than I thought it would. That doesn’t make what he did okay, but it doesn’t mean I can’t understand a little bit of where he’s coming from.
“I think he’ll be okay,” Savanna says. “I can’t believe he did that to you.”
I place my hand over hers and give it a gentle squeeze, then shrug my shoulders. “He has his reasons, even if they don’t make sense to any of us.”
The more I think about it, the more I wonder if I’m the reason he won’t take the big leap. What if he’s worried I’ll keep trying to leave town? It’s not like my leaving was something that I kept to myself; he knew before I even went to work for him that I had plans on leaving. Maybe he wants more stability for him and Bethany which would make sense. It also doesn’t help that I got into a car accident, which is what took Bethany’s mother away from her, and if I hadn’t chosen to leave, the accident never would’ve happened.
Is that what he’s been thinking?
“I think I want to fight for him, Sav. Show him that I’m here to stay and I’m not going anywhere.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do? I can’t promise that he’s going to open his arms to you, Autumn, not with that fear still taking hold of him.”
“What kind of person would I be if I claimed to love him and watched him fall without showing him I’ll stick by his side through it all?”
I never should’ve walked away from him. He’s going through a lot and if I love him as much as I claim, I would be by his side encouraging him. It’s what I should’ve done from the beginning and exactly what I’m going to do now. He can kick me off his front porch all he wants, but I’ll sit outside his house until he finally lets me inside.
Savanna hugs me tighter against her and smiles. “Well, when you put it that way.” A spark lights in her eyes and she nudges me with her shoulder. “We could be sisters, you know?”
“Babe, we are sisters.”
“True, but this could be much more permanent.”
With that, I lean forward and grab the remote while leaning back against the couch. Savanna lifts up and gives me another quick hug before walking away to get her work done, leaving me alone to think about how I intend to win Easton over.
Life is too short to let love pass you by, so I’m going to do everything I can to show Easton that I’m here to stay. The only thing I have to hope is that he’ll kick that fear to the curb and give us a chance.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Easton
Ifigured Savanna would call me to come over and have the talk with me that she’s been desperate for since I asked her to go to the hospital and check on Autumn. I didn’t anticipate it taking days for the call to come.
She didn’t seem upset when I answered the phone, more like she was hiding something and that isn’t helping the nerves racing throughout my body. Maybe I should’ve asked her to come to my place and fight with her in the comfort of my home.
Too late now.
I’ve barely driven into town the last few days because everyone has had something to say every time they see me. The only thing I’ve been leaving my house for is to get some much needed work done, which has also kept me from thinking too much about everything.
