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I heard the swift intake of breath. “God, Rhea, I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks,” I murmured. After a beat, I continued, “He’s got good days and bad days. The day you came into my shop for ice cream and met my mom and grandma was one of his bad days. It was also his wedding anniversary.” I twisted my neck and looked back up at Wyatt. He felt my movement and turned to look back at me. Only then did I speak again. “Never, not once in all the years that they’ve been married, has my grandfather forgotten about the day he married the love of his life. He committed himself to her here on this farm. They raised their son here and watched him fall in love with the woman who became his wife on this farm. And my grandparents were there every step of the way when I was born on this farm. Apparently, I wasn’t ever one to do what someone else wanted or expected of me. Stubborn as ever, I decided to come when I was ready, and my mom never made it to the hospital.”
I heard Wyatt’s soft laugh beside me. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
I smiled, lifted my hand, and pointed to the land in front of where we were standing. “This is the part of the land your family wants to purchase. We could sell it off, and considering it wouldn’t necessarily mess up our operation, we’d probably be smart to do it. But we can’t. I can’t. My grandpa is going to forget everything. Now, more than ever, when a man I love dearly who played such a crucial role in my life is facing the horrific reality of eventually forgetting all the wonderful things that he and the rest of us held so dear for so many years, I feel this overwhelming need to preserve every last bit of this farm and the memories it holds. The memories can’t be replaced.”
If I’d learned anything about Wyatt over the last month, it was that he wasn’t unkind. He was a compassionate and understanding man, so I expected him to respond accordingly. In a way, I guess he did, but I wasn’t prepared for all that I got.
Wyatt turned fully to face me and reached both of his hands out to mine. Once we were facing one another, I saw the tortured look wash over his face. “I don’t know if there are any words I can say to let you know just how sorry I am. I’m sorry for what you and your family are going through with your grandfather’s diagnosis. Nothing I say will ever fix that or make it better, and I hate that I can’t do that for you, Rhea. Beyond that, I want to apologize for any additional stress that was placed on you or your family when you received that letter from us. I’m sorry. I wish I could go back and undo it all.”
“I wouldn’t want that.”
There was so much I wanted to respond to in the words he’d said. It was becoming clearer to me with each moment we spent together that Wyatt was feeling something for me, that I meant something to him. It filled my heart to bursting, and the way he made me feel was entirely unexpected in all the best ways possible.
But I couldn’t agree with his last statement, and he needed to know that.
“What?” he asked, clearly confused.
“I appreciate the sentiment behind your words and the intention of wanting to go back to a time when Westwood’s never sent that letter,” I started. “But if that hadn’t happened, you and I wouldn’t be standing here now. We wouldn’t have gone running together nearly every morning for more than a month now. You wouldn’t have given me that stuffed praying mantis that is now perched on top of a dresser in my bedroom. You wouldn’t have walked into my shop and tasted my ice cream. I wouldn’t have met your family. And the conversation we had last night in your car or the kiss we shared on my doorstep never would have happened. So, while I understand why you would want to go back and execute the expansion project differently, I’m not sorry it happened the way it did.”
Wyatt’s features softened, and he gave me all of a few seconds to take in that sweet look on his face before he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in close for a hug. I willingly went, circling my arms around his waist and inhaling the scent of him.
We stayed like that for a long time, neither of us saying a word. It felt good. It was nice. And I felt as though Wyatt and I had reached a new place in our relationship with one another. I hadn’t anticipated it being this way, but I found I liked knowing Wyatt understood why I’d reacted the way I had from the start.
Unfortunately, despite feeling like a massive weight had been lifted off of my shoulders, there was still a heaviness lingering. There was only one way I knew of that could fix it.
Keeping my arms wrapped around him, I pulled my face back from Wyatt’s chest and tipped my chin up to look at him. “Do you know what I think we need?”
His lips twitched. “No. What do we need?”
“Ice cream.”
“Ice cream?” he repeated. “Now? We haven’t even had lunch.”
I rolled my eyes. “You sound like my mom.”
“What?”
“My mom loses her mind if my dad comes into the shop and has some ice cream right before dinner,” I explained. “It sounds to me like you have the same problem with occasionally having dessert before your meal.”
Something changed in Wyatt’s expression. A smile spread across his face, and his eyes danced with happiness. He turned me in his arms, wrapped an arm around my back, and urged me in the opposite direction. “I have no problem with eating dessert before the main course, Rhea. And now that you’ve brought it up, I’m dying to taste a new flavor.”
The two of us walked together back toward my shop, and once we were there, I spent some time telling Wyatt a bit more about my grandfather’s diagnosis, how things had been prior to receiving it, and the way things were now. I gave him a bit more insight into my family—something he asked about. It felt nice to have him showing an interest in me. I liked that he wanted to learn more about me and the people who loved me.
Once we finished our ice cream, I asked, “Would you like to stay and have dinner with me tonight?”
He lifted a brow, a small smile playing at his lips. “I’d love to. Will we be having an actual meal for dinner, or are we doing dessert again?”
“I’ll make real food,” I promised.
“That works for me. I would have stayed either way.”
So, he’d wanted to tease me and make it seem like he cared about what we ate when the truth was that it was more important to him for us to simply spend the time together. I’d had weeks of being surprised by Wyatt, and yet, I still hadn’t gotten used to it. I wondered if I ever would. More importantly, I wondered how I was supposed to resist it.
We made it back to my house, and we hadn’t been inside for more than a few minutes when my doorbell rang.
My parents.
