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Tyler’s face carefully smoothed over. “I said I’d deal with it, and I will.”
Our business was established enough that we could do extras like this. Not only would it help the company’s reputation, but we’d enjoy helping others too. Satisfied that one part of my life was working, I said, “I need to talk to Natalie.”
Now that we’d discussed what I should do, I was eager to get on it.
“Good luck,” Tyler said as he walked out to his truck.
Sam lingered. “You’ve got this. Just remember to do a lot of groveling.”
“I gave her the ultimatum because she was shutting me out. Shouldn’t she come to me?”
“You need to be honest with her about your feelings and give her a chance to respond. Weren’t you just saying Tyler needed to be more grown-up?”
“I said something like that,” I grumbled.
Sam clasped my shoulder. “If she loves you, and I think she does, it will be okay.”
Dread pooled in the bottom of my stomach. Sam wasn’t intimately familiar with women dumping him. He’d had one serious relationship, and yeah, he’d screwed up at the end, but she’d taken him back. Who could blame him for stumbling when his ex showed up in town to give him trouble? I didn’t have that same excuse. I’d messed things up on my own.
“I have faith you’ll figure it out.” Then he was gone, and I was alone.
Needing to see Natalie, I locked up and headed over to the B&B. Hopefully, she was still awake.
When I knocked softly on the door, it opened slowly.
Natalie wore a tiny sleep outfit as she held the door slightly ajar. “Mac, what are you doing here?”
“I was hoping we could talk.”
“I was in bed,” she said, not letting me in.
“I’m sorry about the other day when I walked out. I didn’t give you a chance to respond. I’d like to talk about it.”
Her eyes flickered with interest as she straightened and opened the door so I could walk inside. “Okay.”
On the couch, she wrapped a throw around her shoulders as if to protect herself from me.
“What I said must have been a shock.” Suddenly, I was worried I’d come over without a plan. Was talking enough? Or should I show her how I felt?
She licked her lips, adjusting the blanket tighter over her shoulders. “You mean when you said you loved me?”
“I was worried you’d say it was one-sided.” I could barely look at her; I was so nervous.
She palmed my cheek, forcing me to look at her. “I love you too. I wasn’t sure what it was because what I feel for you is so much more than what I ever felt for Carter. And you were right, I was so wrapped up in the B&B’s opening, I shut you out. I didn’t ask you for help or follow your advice.”
I didn’t want to talk about her ex or be compared to him. But I was beyond all of that now. I was stronger than I was back then. I could tell this woman how I felt and deal with whatever her response was. “I’m sorry I walked out.”
“I understand why you did. But please, don’t do it again, and I promise not to shut you out. I’m advertising for a front desk person. I’m hoping to find someone who’s retired and wants to work for a few hours a week. Alice has promised to cover most of the evenings until I can find someone.”
“That’s great news.”
“And I’m advertising for a cleaning person. Not a service, because they were too expensive, but someone who’d work directly for me. Maybe a mom who has kids in school and is looking for a few hours a day of work.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”
“You were right. I tried to do too much by myself. I realized I don’t want to live here. I know I said I did—”
“Hey, it’s okay to change your mind.”
