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“I love you, Sawyer, and it terrifies me that someday I may get a call that you were badly hurt on the job. But I’d rather hear it knowing I’ve spent hours and days, moments, with the man I love, than being miles away and having a few e-mails between us.” She took another shaky breath and when a tear crested and fell down her cheek, she let me release her hand and cup her cheek, my thumb brushing at the trail. God, I had so much I wanted to tell her but I was going to let her speak.
“I don’t want you to move to San Diego.”
I opened my mouth to interrupt her. Not move to San Diego? Did she not just say—
“Sweet Grace doesn’t need to be in San Diego.” She nodded as she spoke, her eyes not leaving mine. “It will probably be better for my anxiety anyway,” she said with a watery laugh. “Being near you,” she added quietly.
This time, she let me pull her in and I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, her cheek pressed to my chest. “You worked so hard for that place though, Gracie. Even if it’s just a place, if it’s not an actual store front, it could be again someday. The place is good for you.”
She lifted her head, her chin resting on my chest as she looked up at me. Her blue eyes were a bright aquamarine right now, and they still held a watery ridge, but she smiled all the same. “You’re better for me, Sawyer Meadows.”
“You’re pretty good for me, too, Gracelyn Dewey,” I whispered as I bent my head toward hers, my lips brushing hers lightly. She sighed against my mouth and we stood there, her eyes closed and our lips hardly a breath apart.
Suddenly, her eyes opened, staring directly into mine. “But you’re ok? I mean, you’re standing and you’re here and you’ve obviously been moving around and packing, but—”
I chuckled, kissing her worried lips again, smiling against the flesh before telling her, “I’m fine, Grace. I promise. Sore, but I’ll be a-hundred percent in no time.”
Two days later, Grace and I packed up her little cottage with the help of Sydney and Caleb, loading everything in one of the most uncomfortable U-Hauls known to man. My gut still ached on occasion, but this truck brought ‘body aches’ to a whole new level.
As Grace went to her landlady next door to return her keys, Sydney stood next to me, her own significant other in their truck, ready to head home. Sydney, however, wanted to say goodbye to Grace one last time.
“You’re stealing my best friend from me,” my sister pouted.
“You have Mia.”
She crossed her arms this time. “A girl can have two best friends, Soy.”
I chuckled. “I didn’t say that. I’m just saying Grace won’t be around, but Mia still is. I’m not stealing her from you, Sydney bean. I’m merely moving her away.”
“Yeah. Stealing her.” Sydney refused to look at me.
I reached around to hook her shoulders with my arm, pulling her close, in a side hug. “She’s still going to be your friend, Syd.” And because I couldn’t let a sad moment linger, “She just loves me more.”
Which earned me a gut shot. I put my hands over the spot, grunting, to which Sydney’s eyes got comically wide, her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God! Did I hurt you?” The worry in her voice was palpable and, like her eyes, comical.
Chuckling, I shook my head. “Wrong side, slugger. But you should probably be careful.”
Her hand was still over her mouth. “Oh my God. What if… Oh my God, Soy! I’m so sorry!”
Still chuckling, I pulled her in and kissed her forehead. “You didn’t, it’s good; it’s almost healed anyway.”
“Don’t let him tell you that,” Grace said, marching over with a smile on her face. I held my arm out and she folded into my side as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “He overexerted himself the other day—”
“Lalala!” Sydney said, her hands moving to her ears. “I don’t want to hear about sex!”
Grace looked up at me and smiled, and I cracked up laughing. “Moving a box, Sydney. I moved a box.”
Sydney wiped her hands together as if she hadn’t just been acting like a child. “Well, one can’t be sure with you two.” In the last two days, Sydney may have walked in on heavy make out sessions, but I swore that was all she saw.
Sobering up though and dropping the subject, Sydney pulled Grace away from me to wrap her in a hug. “I’m going to miss the crap out of you.”
Grace hugged her back. “We’ll be back next week for Christmas, silly! And I can visit anytime, otherwise. Or maybe you could get a fun casting assignment and we could go on a girls-only vacation.”
“Oh my, that sounds like a blast! Let’s plan something. I’ll let you know what my schedule looks like.”
I was well aware that this conversation was only at the beginning. What was meant to be a goodbye was quickly turning into a true conversation. Grace and I weren’t any closer to heading back to Utah now that she and Sydney were talking travel plans, but that was ok.
Sydney could have her right now.
I had Grace for always.
