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I’ve changed. And maybe not for the better.
He changed me.
But I have no regrets. I didn’t get to be a strong and fearless Welsh woman with regrets weighing me down. In fact, I yearn to go back in time and relive the moments of bliss spent with Orion fightingandfucking.
No, that was making love.
It was finally how things were supposed to be. The person you love is supposed to be your best friend.
But I can’t be just his bestie anymore … and I can’t be his if he’s hung up on changing the past in detriment to our future.
ORION
Every other Saturday morning, I have coffee with Mr. Welsh, Peri’s grandfather.
I spent the week hoping Peri would see my side of things. I hoped she’d call or text me, tell me she’d be my date and that’d be the end of it. But deep down, I knew that was never going to happen. As sweet as Peri is, she’s twice as stubborn, and there’s no way she’s going to backtrack on anything she says. She says what she means and means what she says. One of the things that I admire about her and probably truly attracted me to her.
But if I don’t leave in the next few hours, I’m not going to make it in time for the reunion. My suit is cleaned and pressed, hanging in a garment bag in my truck. I’ve got a hotel room booked in the city, and yet, I don’t know if I should go.
Mr. Welsh takes his coffee black except on Saturdays when he takes a scoop of vanilla ice cream and lets the sweetness melt away into the cup like a sacred morning ritual. Seeing as it’s his house, I do the same. I normally take one sugar and a splash of cream in my coffee anyway. This is the perfect substitute.
I close my eyes and open them slowly, hoping to see what I should do in the creamy concoction, like some sort of coffee crystal ball.
“You got something on your mind, son. Say it,” Mr. Welsh starts, rocking slowly in his chair.
The sun pours over the land in a much-needed bath of light. It reminds me of Peri’s warm tan skin under my hands, under my mouth.
Fuck, I miss her.
“How did you know Mrs. Welsh was the one?” I ask him. Since he brought it up, why beat around the bush?
He mulls over the question, taking a sip of his coffee and staring out onto the still snow-covered mountain tips across the Long Ride Ridge Mountains. “Hard to say, really. We weren’t lovers right away. I think she was even engaged once before me. She took her time getting to know me. She didn’t care what bad side of town I came from or any of my baggage. She treated me with respect. She treated me like a friend. But most of all, she made me peach pie.”
Chuckling, I shake my head. Funny how fate puts us with the right people at the right time. “Those Welsh women know how to make a peach pie,” I concur with my mentor.
“It’s a talent. I think it’s because their hearts are as sweet as a late August’s plumpest peach.” He sighs, thinking fondly of his dearly departed wife.
“I think I’m in love with Peri, Mr. Welsh.” I wait to get admonished. My fears of not being enough still seated deeply in me.
But it’s his turn to chuckle. “Well, son, you betterknow, not think, if you’re going to be my granddaughter’s man.”
My heart pounds in my chest. The reunion is gone from my mind. A different future stretches out before me like the rising sun.
“I absolutely love your granddaughter,” I repeat with conviction. “I want to ask your permission to marry her.”
He shakes his head and takes another long sip of his sweetened coffee. “Never needed my permission, Orion. Just needed to trust yourself. You’ve fought a long time with yourself about what and who you should be. All you need to do is look to Peri, and to me too, and see how much we believe in you. Now fight to believe in yourself, fight for Peri or she’s going to knock you flat on your ass, Son.”
I bolt out of my chair, invigorated. My coffee sloshes, but I ignore it, my heart racing, my legs twitchy. I need to do it now. I need to go.
“You’re right. There’s no time for doubt. Life’s too short.”
Mr. Welsh nods his head in agreement. He’s lost more people than anyone I know.
I move to the steps. “I’m worthy of love, I really believe that. And I sure as hell love your sassy granddaughter, Mr. Welsh.”
He looks around and I hesitate my departure. He cracks a wide smile at me, laughing. “Well, what are you waiting for, Son? She ain’t here! Go get her.”
I skip the steps of his porch, leaping off the deck to the damp dirt. I rocket to my truck and swear. In my haste, I struggle with the door.
