Page 64 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

A rosy hue crept onto her cheeks and she smiled. “Thanks, but I don’t think he’s that stupid. I think he simply realized that he and I weren’t right for each other. By the time he told me, I was starting to realize that I wanted something else too.”

A question that had been lingering at the back of my mind ever since I’d first met her resurfaced and I nodded slowly, the pieces of the puzzle coming together. “You wanted to quit your job and become an interior designer, so after you broke up, you spoke to your best friend who told you about the art institute here, so you decided to fly the coop and start over somewhere else.”

“Exactly,” she said, wrapping her fingers around her cup and bringing it to her lips. “The pieces just fell into place so perfectly that I knew it was the right thing. I uprooted my entire life and I’m much happier now, so I haven’t second-guessed it once.”

I felt my brow puckering. “I’m not saying I believe what he said earlier, but I am wondering how you have the ability to just… move on? How long were you with him?”

“Three years,” she said and took a small sip of her tea. As she did, she tucked some hair behind her ear and let out a quiet sigh. “I don’t have the ability to just move on, but I can see how it would look that way. The fact is that I was glad when he ended things. I wanted to be free and I thought he did too.”

“You don’t miss him?” Fuck, haven’t you ever heard that you’re not supposed to ask questions you don’t want to hear the answers to? Shit. “You don’t have to tell me.”

She smiled and waved me off. “Ben and I never should’ve been together as long as we were. I promised myself a long time ago that I was never going to settle in life. I decided that if I wasn’t happy, I would change things. There are some things worth fighting for, and to me, a good, happy life is one of those things.”

As I stared back at her, another piece of the puzzle that was Lila Winslow snapped into place. “This is where your story comes in, isn’t it? Whatever happened when you made yourself that promise, that’s why you’re always so cheerful?”

“I’m cheerful because I lived,” she said, her voice ringing with earnestness as she looked me right in the eyes. “A lot of people don’t realize what a gift every single day is, but I do because there was a time that I wasn’t guaranteed tomorrow.”

My grip on the cup was suddenly so hard that I was afraid I would break it. I leaned over and set it down on the coffee table, not giving a shit about tea when I was finding out that there had once been a chance that I’d have lost her long before I ever knew of her existence.

“What happened?”

She drew in a big breath as she turned her head to look out at the ocean glistening under the moonlight. Her voice was soft but calm and measured. “When I was a little girl, I was sick. I remember so clearly just how sick I was and how hard it was on my parents. They’re these artsy, eclectic, happy people, and where I grew up in southern California, my life up until that point was all about painting, and drawing, and running on the beach. I was homeschooled and everything was sunshine and roses until my diagnosis.”

My heart thundered in my ears. “I’m so sorry, Lila.”

She turned back to me and I saw tears shimmering in her eyes. “Thank you, but I’m healthy now and I have been for a long time. I know how easily it could’ve gone the other way, though. One failed surgery or treatment that my body didn’t respond to the way it did, and I wouldn’t have been here. It made me acutely aware of how precious time is.”

“Which is why you promised yourself that you would live life to the fullest,” I finished for her. “You’re not staying here tonight, not alone.”

She laughed and set her cup down, scooting closer to me on the couch and wrapping her arms around my neck. “You’ve already said that, but take me home then, soldier. I’m just about ready to be done with this day.”

33

LILA

Several days of new relationship bliss later, I finally resurfaced on Friday night to hang out with Addy after my design class. We were grabbing some drinks at a beach bar not far from my apartment, the kind of place with woven fishing nets draped from the ceiling, ropes holding up exposed light bulbs, and salt-and-pepper shakers shaped like turtles on the table.

Briny, salty sea air wafted in through the open windows and soft country music flowed through the speakers. The whole setup was so very far removed from anything I’d been used to in New York that it threw my life before and after into sharp contrast.

Frankly, all I could do was thank God for putting me on the path that had led me here. Happier than I’d ever been, I listened to Addy telling me a story about a prank the students had played on her boyfriend.

Her fingers were wrapped around a glass of beer and her big brown eyes were soft and relaxed as she laughed. “So they set an egg-timer and hid it in his class! He was so confused about the noise and they pretended they couldn’t even hear it.”

I giggled, imagining her boyfriend walking around the classroom looking for whatever was making the racket while all his students just sat there, straight-faced. “That’s brilliant. I would’ve given anything to have seen his face.”

“Me too,” she said, leaning forward with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “At least he was a good sport about it. The guy always is, but enough about us. Tell me about Ford. How’s that going?”

Knowing the size of the bombshell I was about to drop on her, I leaned forward a bit and kept my voice as casual and easy as possible. “Well, he stood up for me when Ben showed up at my apartment this week, so there’s that.”

“What?” she shrieked, drawing the curious stares of several of our fellow drinkers our way. She cleared her throat, her gaze intent on mine, but at least she got her volume under control again. “Why am I only finding out about this now? I thought you hadn’t heard from Ben since the breakup and now, he’s showing up at your place. What?”

“It’s been a while since he last reached out and I haven’t spoken to him or read any of his messages, so I haven’t really heard from him, but he was waiting outside my building one night and he said he needed to talk to me.”

“About what?” She scoffed. “He had an opportunity to speak to you months ago and he didn’t take it. It’s too little, too late now, buddy.”

“Exactly.” My stomach did a slow roll as I thought back to finding him on the sidewalk, but I shook my head, taking a sip of my beer and swallowing before I sighed. “Thanks to Ford, Ben backed off and I managed to avoid him, but he said he would be in town for a few days.”

Her eyes widened as she dropped her voice to a stage whisper. “Is he still here?”