Page 88 of View With Your Heart

“I’m Gavin Scott, and I have a vested interest in that land myself. No one is getting it except the current owner. No one.” I glare at her.

Slowly, recognition sinks in. “Are you related to Jack and Sarah?”

“I certainly am.” Our orchard is one of the largest in the area. “Now, may I buy you a tea?”

She shakes her head before holding it higher. “No, thank you.”

“Then get out.”

“Well.” She huffs before brushing past me. The bell over the door jingles, and then it closes. Jenna has turned from stocking tea and stares at me while Henry does a slow clap. “That was epic.”

“That was just like that movie . . .” Jenna begins, but her words fade out as all I can do is look at Britton. She stares back at me before slapping the towel over her shoulder down to the counter and disappearing into the back.

“May I?” I ask Henry, nodding toward the back.

“Anything you want,” he says. I step around the counter and enter the back room. The space is small and cluttered, but a desk is in the corner, neat and clear. Britton leans against it, and I softly say her name as I near her.

“What was that?” She turns on me, her face red.

“You wanted her off your back, right?” Her eyes widen, and I’m struck for the millionth time by how beautiful she is.

“I can’t pay that tax bill off,” she says, waving out an arm. “I had to fundraise to afford Cooperstown for Gee and me. I’m barely keeping things together here. I’m barely breaking even.” Both hands swipe through her hair, holding it all back as she cups the sides of her neck.

“I don’t know what I thought I was doing.” Her voice falls, deflated and defeated.

“What are you talking about?”

“Another round of that damn bill comes due soon, and I won’t be able to pay it,” she admits. Shaking her head, she lowers it, looking down at her feet as she falls back to lean on the desk, this time with her backside against it.

“I don’t know how I thought I could own my own business, be a single mom, and juggle that property.”

“Britton, come on. You’re doing fine. You said so yourself.”

“I had no business sense. When I came up here, I only knew this is where I wanted to be. I always felt like I belonged when I was here. Patrick . . . he did it all. He helped secure the loan and wrote the plan. He took care of me, and it makes me feel so weak sometimes. I really thought I could pull this off, but I never foresaw Leo leaving me that house, and then I just couldn’t give it up. It means so much to me.” Her eyes fill as she looks up at me, and I step forward.

“I get that.” I do. She loved Leo, and that place has so many memories, but it’s more than that. She belongs here. “This was your place. You’ve also said that. You like it here, and you’re doing great. Gee is happy and involved, and so are you, right? You’re happy here.”

Another question lingers in my voice. Could I be happy here? Is there a place for me?

I step even closer to her. “Let me help you.”

Britton shakes her head. “I let Patrick take care of me, and I always felt guilty. Always. He was such a good man, Gavin. He never made me feel like a burden. I believed he truly loved me, but I wasn’t right for him. I didn’t feel the same, not on the deep level I should have, and the guilt eats at me.” She bangs at her chest. “And then he set this all up for me, and I’m failing him again.”

“Stop,” I say, covering her shoulders and swiping my hand down her arms. I take a deep breath, then exhale before I speak next. “Britton, let me share the weight on your shoulders.”

“I don’t want to feel like a burden to you, too. I don’t want you to feel obligated to me. To Gee.” Her voice cracks.

“I don’t feel obligated. I want Gee in my life. I want to be in his . . ., and I want to be in yours.”

Her head pops up. “Let me in, Candy. Let me take care of you, of both of you.”

“How can you do that from twelve states away?” Her eyes fill with liquid.

“I’ll move.”

“What?” Her voice cracks.

“I’ll move here.” I sigh with relief as I say the words. “I don’t want to lose you or Gee, and I can’t be so far away. I can’t be an every-other-weekend dad or a once a month lover. I want to be in your lives all the time, every day.”