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She studied him. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t be sitting here while Angela is headed back to the city.”
“Those wedding plans—well, she made them with her mother before her mother died. Her mother knew she wouldn’t live to see Angela on her big day, so she did the best she could by helping her daughter plan one of the most important days in her life.”
Carter felt like the lightbulb had just come on. Why had he never known this about her mother helping with the wedding planner? Why hadn’t Angela told him?
He felt absolutely awful for his insensitive remark. His elbows on his knees. He lowered his face into his hands. “If only I had known. I mean, I knew the book was important to her, but I just never put it together that she’d done all of it with her mother. I was never there when they worked on it.”
“Don’t give up. I’ve seen the love between the two of you. Show her how you feel.”
Just then, Charlotte stepped out onto the porch. Her gaze connected with his. She approached him. “I was afraid I’d missed you.” She held out an envelope with Carter’s name on it. “This is for you.”
He didn’t recognize the handwriting. “What is it?”
“Trust me. You’ll want to read what’s on the inside.” She walked away.
He turned to Grace. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”
Grace nodded. “I’ll just leave you to read it.” She got to her feet. “I hope you’re able to work things out.”
Once he was alone on the veranda, he opened the envelope. Inside were two folded papers. He unfolded them and found Angela’s writing.
The first sheet had a list of what she had planned to do this week. All of it was about their wedding. She was intending to spend the whole week making sure their wedding day was perfect. Guilt assailed him.
He’d been planning to work the whole week—at least he had been until he’d come to Vines Entwined and started to look at things differently. In that moment, it struck him that Angela had written this list on their first day at the B&B. Even then, she’d been planning to still marry him. She really did love him.
He turned to the next page. This was a list of adjectives to describe him. He remembered doing something similar for her. He wasn’t sure he wanted to read it. What if it was negative?
As soon as he realized that he was about to start another round of avoidance, he focused on the first item:organized.
He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not. But he noticed that she’d provided an explanation for each adjective.
Carter is very organized, which is good because I’m not that organized. He always knows where my keys are or how to find my phone. He keeps my life organized and gives me more time to enjoy his company.
Wow! He hadn’t written anything this touching. Now he really, really regretted not taking more time with his lists.
The other words were:caring, sweet, thoughtful,andloving.
It was the last word that he lingered on.
Carter is the most loving man I’ve ever known. When my mother died, he gave me the space I needed to sort through my feelings. When I was ready, he was there for me. He would just sit quietly and let me stare blindly at the television as I got lost in my memories. No one has ever done something so kind and loving for me. I don’t know if he ever knew how much I appreciated his quiet, constant presence. He was my rock.
A drop splashed onto the page. He reached up and found tears on his cheeks. He swiped them away. Was this the way she really saw him?
And what had he done? He’d said the wedding plans she’d made with her mother were silly. The memory tortured him. It wasn’t what he’d meant. He’d been trying to say that all he ever needed in life was her, and instead, he’d ended up hurting her.
Was there any way he could fix this? He wasn’t sure.
But sitting there wasn’t going to fix things. He’d come this far. He couldn’t let things end this way.
Maybe Grace was right. Maybe instead of avoiding talking about the problems in their lives, they should be candid about them. His weekend of avoiding talking about anything he’d thought would upset her had been a mistake.
Maybe if they’d have talked and put it all out there, they wouldn’t be alone now.
CHAPTER NINE
Itwasover.
