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He’s wise, calm, and patient.
He uses his thumb to stroke my hand. “I know you have stuff going on, Gem. You’re not a simple, surface-level kinda girl. I get that. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
Love?
Did he just say the ‘L’ word?
The confusion already swirling in me turns into a tornado.
He studies me. “Sorry. We’re not saying stuff like that.”
I get to my feet. “Let me figure out this Broad Hollow thing.” I try to make it sound casual, but really my ‘Broad Hollow thing’ feelshuge. Potentially life-shattering.
“Think you could give me a ride back to the cabin, so I can grab my car?”
“You bet,” he says, his tone somber.
After he delivers one pie to the volunteers, and we both put up a good front, wishing them luck for the rest of the day, we walk to the truck in silence.
When we get there, he opens the door for me. “One thing I gotta say, and then I’ll back off.”
I stick my hand in my pocket, because he looks perfect right now in this golden lighting, strong arm propped against the door he’s holding for me, and I’m tempted—so tempted—to reach for him. “Okay…”
“I don’t want you to get back together with that guy.”
“That’s not my plan—”
“Not right now, maybe, but you’re going there to see him. I know some part of you needs closure with him. I can’t control how that’s going to go. I don’t want to see you get with him. I wantme and you, Gem. I want us to be together. And I know you’re not sold on that idea.”
“It’s complicated…” I say miserably. I wish it wasn’t complicated.
“I know, baby. It’s over my head. If I knew how to fight for you, I would. But I can’t figure out what I can do, and all I can think is that I have to let you go sort through this on your own. Is that what you think, too?”
“I put a lot of myself into my work. I believe in it. Or, I did—and now everything’s on the line. I’ve made mistakes. I want to set things right… and to do that, I have to go to Broad Hollow.”
He nods. “I know you, and how you work, Gem. Go, if that’s what you gotta do. I’ll be here when you come back.”
Chapter22
Gemma
How do you drive away from a guy you feel out-of-control, terrifying feelings for? A guy you loved with all your heart, once, who you’re starting to love all over again?
You keep your foot pressed to the gas, that’s how.
Because if you don’t, you might turn around.
I can’t run from the problems in my life. I have to face them.
This tangled mess I’m in with my company has to be sorted through. I won’t stick my head in the sand and hide out in Vacation Land, even if that place includes pie, warm kisses, and kittens named Max.
When I reach the Broad Hollow Conference Center, I have a headache. My neck and shoulders are stiff from clutching the wheel.
I spent half the drive talking with Carly, but even our long conversation didn’t help me get to the bottom of what I have to do next.
All I know is that I have to set Mortimer straight. We’re over.
The fallout from that conversation might be the end of my company.
