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“Maybe, but what’s the use? I’ll only get busy. He’ll get bored waiting on me, and I’ll be heartbroken all over again.” I sound like a total ass.
“Gracie,” Mom commands. “Stop this right now. Landon hasn’t done anything wrong, and neither have you. You had a difficult week. He had a much more difficult week. You can’t spend your entire life protecting your heart. You’ll just end up lonely. If you love this man, you’re going to have to risk it. If you don’t, well, that’s fine too. But someday you’ll meet someone, and if you don’t take a leap, you’ll miss something really great.”
The line is silent, as if they’re waiting on me to say something. I’ve never heard my mother speak as if I might be in trouble.
Emma asks, “Do you love Landon, Grace?”
I burst into tears.
“I’m gonna take that as a yes.” Emma sighs through the phone. “Go find him and tell him.”
“Wash your face first,” Mom says in a much calmer and comforting, mom-like voice.
Emma laughs.
“What if he doesn’t want me?” I manage to squeak out.
“Impossible.” Mom sounds like she might be crying too. “Once you get all this sorted, and I know you will, bring him to Roseville. We’ll want to meet him.”
The idea of Landon being interrogated by an army of Lanes makes me laugh, and I didn’t think that was possible. “We’ll see.”
“If you don’t show up here, Dad and I will be on a flight to California before you know what’s happened.” My mom is both sweet and ferocious.
“Yes, ma’am.” I’m actually smiling. I’d have thought that an impossibility thirty minutes ago.
The doorbell rings.
“I’ve got to go. Someone’s at the door.” I get off the couch and wipe my face.
“Merry Christmas, Gracie,” they say together.
“Merry Christmas.” I shake my head and end the call.
I trot down the steps and open the front door.
Landon has on a big smile and a Santa hat. With one look at me, his smile falls. “You’re crying.” He pulls me into his arms.
“You’re here.” Wrapped in his arms is the most wonderful place to be.
“You didn’t respond. I wanted to make sure you weren’t locked in the break room without me.” He’s joking.
I pull away from his embrace. “I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to respond. I called my mom.” Leaving the door open, I trudge up the steps. “I thought I was going to get hurt. It wasn’t fair to you. Emma said as much, and so did Mom. If you and I are too busy to see each other on a week when we’re working at the same place, what will happen in the future? I was unreasonable. You had a fire. What an ass I am.”
By the time I finish rambling, I’m back in my living room, and Landon is standing at the top of my steps, watching me.
I throw my arms up and flop down on the couch. “So, you see, maybe love doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it’s not enough.”
He blinks several times. “Is that what I’m supposed to see from what you just rattled off?”
“Yes?” I’m not really sure what I’ve said, but I’m pretty sure I should be embarrassed.
Landon kneels in front of me. “I’m in love with you, Grace. I have been for two years. Pushing those feelings aside because I thought our lives were too complicated was the worst mistake I ever made. I’m not doing it again. If you’re not in love with me,or you don’t think you might ever be in love with me, then my heart will break, but we’ll move on.”
My heart is pounding in my ears. Mesmerized by how many times he said the word love, I’m struck dumb.
He tucks my hair behind my ear. “However, if there’s the slightest chance that you love me, or could one day, I’m not going anywhere.”
“What about our schedules?” I blurt out as a continuous word.
