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You.I loveyou.
So, so close.
But he didn’t want to hear those words from London unless she really meant them. Whether or not that would ever happen was something he refused to dwell on, especially when they had only one night in this hotel and he had such a tough job ahead of him tomorrow.
Instead of sharing words of love, he’d show her what their world could be like if only she gave them a shot at forever.
28
Drew’s anxiety began to ramp up the moment they drove past the old post office with theWELCOME TO HISTORIC HYEsign painted on the brick facade. It had been a year since he’d come here. If not for Elias running the biggest guilt trip on him, Drew would have gone the rest of his life avoiding this picture-perfect town that had captured his mother’s heart.
It’s not that he had anything against Hye. In truth, he was grateful to this tiny town and the tiny number of people who lived here. It was quaint and safe and had provided his mother with the kind of peaceful existence she’d dreamed of after years of running from one place to the next. The residents had embraced her as one of their own, and Drew had reciprocated in kind, becoming a silent benefactor to Hye and several of the small towns that dotted this stretch of highway 290.
He’d anonymously funded the science lab at the high school, bought new computers for the local library, provided a new roof for the veterans’ home, and paid off the mortgages of more than a dozen struggling families. He’d given to just about everything in this area.
Except the local hospital.
Drew tightened his hands on the steering wheel. His biggest regret would forever be the lack of attention he’d paid to the local hospital, naively believing that it was adequately managed.
Because of that hospital, just saying the word Hye left a bad taste in his mouth. It was difficult for him to disassociate the town from the place where his mother had first sought treatment for the cancer that she’d kept from him. It was hard for him not to blame their lack of resources for being a contributing cause to her dying at fifty-three years old. After everything she’d endured because of his father, she had deserved to live a long and happy life.
As he turned onto the road that would take him to his mother’s house, the turmoil in his gut had Drew on the verge of losing the light breakfast he’d shared with London before leaving the hotel this morning. If it had been at all possible, he would have gladly paid Larissa to come to Texas and take care of this for him. But Elias was right; this was a task that only Drew could perform. How could he allow someone else to decide which of his mother’s possessions he wanted to keep?
There had been countless times over the past few months that Drew had picked up the phone to call the Realtor and tell her to just box everything up and put it in storage. Maybe if he gave himself another year or two, he could eventually bring himself to go through her things. But it would be pushing off the inevitable, and in his heart, Drew knew that a thousand years wouldn’t be enough time to heal the wounds he suffered. Or to assuage the guilt he felt when he thought about his mother’s final months.
He pulled the Cayenne up to the yellow house with moss-green shutters and felt his heart lurch.
“How adorable,” London said. “I love a carriage-style house.”
She was out before Drew had the chance to open his door. He took his time leaving the safety of the car. London met him at the front bumper and grabbed hold of his hand.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He nodded. “I’m good.”
“It’s okay for you not to be okay,” she said. “In fact, I would expect you to not be okay.”
“I’ll never be one hundred percent okay when it comes to facing the fact that she’s gone,” Drew said honestly. “But I need to do this.” He squeezed her hand.
“Is this your first time returning to her home since she passed?”
He nodded again.
She wrapped her arms around him, and Drew’s immediately closed around her. He melted into her hug, clinging to the meaning behind it and drawing in every single ounce of comfort she offered.
“Thanks for coming with me,” he whispered against her ear. “I promise this won’t take long.”
“We have the whole day, Drew. Take however long you need.”
He reluctantly released her, and she took hold of his hand once again. Together, they traveled up the walkway. Drew fished the single flat key from his wallet and prepared for the assault on his emotions when he walked through the door.
It was worse than he’d imagined.
The house still smelled like his mom, a combination of Bath & Body Works Cucumber Melon scent and whatever type of hairspray she used. It had been over a year; there was no way those scents still lingered in this house. Yet, just being here evoked memories that clutched Drew’s throat in a vise grip.
He let out a slow breath and steeled himself against the pain.
“Can I just say that I adore your mother’s sense of style?” London said as she looked around the living room.
