AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Invite him to join in next time,” she says, shrugging her shoulders as though it’s that simple. “After all, you’re still in love with him, right?”
I swallow hard and glance away, not having enough courage to face that reality this morning. “Did I show you my paint job?” I ask, more than happy to change the topic.
Rena rolls her eyes. “Subtle.”
I smirk. “You wanna see it or not?”
“Show me.”
Grabbing the laptop, I walk around the house, showing off all the work I’ve been doing before leading her into one of the spare rooms where I have piles of boxes. She talks with me for a while, helping me make the final decision on some of Nana and Pop’s old things, whether they need to go into storage or be donated because I simply could not make the call myself.
Then on my way back to the dining table, she makes underhanded comments about my Christmas spirit throwing up in my living room. By the time I’m sitting back at my table, my stomach rumbles for lunch, and when Rena follows my train of thought and shifts, I realize the background is more than just familiar, she’s in my apartment.
“Woah. Hold up,” I say. “Is that my kitchen you’re sitting in?”
“You’re only just realizing now? We’ve been talking for over an hour.”
“You know I can’t function after a night of wild drinking. I’m lucky I’m even functioning today.”
“Good point,” she laughs before fixing me with a hard stare, worrying her bottom lip as though considering if she’s even going to tell me what she’s up to. “I was planning on saying that I was here to water your plants—”
“I don’t have any plants.”
“Yeah. The only downfall of my otherwise brilliant plan.”
“Rena,” I scold.
She lets out a heavy sigh. “Alright, fine. I’m packing up your apartment.”
My eyes bug out of my head, and I gape at her like she just told me she spent the evening with her fist shoved up a gorilla’s ass. “You’re doing what?” I screech.
“You heard me. I’m getting a head start on the inevitable,” she explains. “You might not know it yet because you’re so hellbent on denying what everybody else can so clearly see, but Blushing is your home. It’s where you’re happiest and have all of the memories of your nana and pop.”
“I get that, but New York is where I want to be. I put six years into building a career. I’m not just going to give it all up to go and be Nick’s pretty little wife.”
“No one is saying you need to give it all up. Hell, you’d be an idiot if you even considered throwing in the towel, but in this day and age, why do you need to be situated in New York to have everything you ever wanted? You have a great Wi-Fi connection over there in Blushing and have all the potential clients in the world. You’ve already proven yourself. You can be anywhere in the world and still make this business happen.”
“You . . . you want me to run my new firm as an online business?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she tells me. “You have all the connections over here in New York and plenty of junior publicists who would kill to work under you, so use that to your advantage. Train them to take the in-person meetings while you thrive over there in Blushing. And who knows, maybe even open yourself up to love.”
My gaze narrows, suddenly realizing this is so much bigger than just getting to remain in my hometown. She’s doing this specifically to have me fall back into Nick’s capable arms. She’s doing this to give me the best of both worlds, and while I want it more than ever, I’ve already fucked up everything here in Blushing. Nick doesn’t want me like he used to. I burned that bridge a long time ago.
“Look, I appreciate you wanting the very best for me, but I don’t know. It’s a lot to think about.”
“No one is forcing you to make a decision right now. You need to focus on what you want from Blushing first, and then we’ll see if this idea is even plausible, despite the fact that I know it is.”
“It all means nothing if Nick doesn’t want me.”
“I mean, if you stopped screaming at him on the side of the road, perhaps you’d be able to figure it out,” she says as I roll my eyes. Rena watches me for a moment, a seriousness coming over her. “You know, he’d be a fool to let you get away again. And as much as I would hate to see you leave New York and make new besties over there in Blushing, I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t at least try to help you find your happiness.”
“You really think I still have a chance with him?” I ask, knowing everything she said about having the new business being run online is completely plausible, otherwise, she never would have suggested it. Rena is renowned for doing her homework before making any moves. Unless it has anything to do with random yoga teachers or basketball players, then she’s down to throw caution to the wind.
“I think you rolling back into town without warning has probably rocked his world, and he’s terrified of getting hurt again.”
“How could you possibly know that? Have you been talking to him?”
“No, but it’s common sense, right? He’s human, and it’s clear from the way he keeps showing up for you, even though you’re fighting him every step of the way, that he still loves you. Because if he didn’t, he sure as hell wouldn’t go out of his way to help you get home from a Christmas tree farm when literally anybody else could have offered you a ride home. Not to mention, he spent hours the next day trying to get your pop’s truck out of a ditch knowing there would be nothing in return. No mind-blowing cock sucking session. No getting to bend you over and fuck you raw. He did it because he still loves you, because he wants you to be okay, and the thought of you going without or struggling sends him racing to your aid.”
