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A cotton candy station stood some distance away, and her gaze fell on Aggie handing out sticks of fluffy pink sugar to a group of teenagers.
Emilia patted Blaine’s arm. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
She slipped from his hold.
“On you go, dear.” Maureen nodded to Blaine. “I’m sure this one has a lot to tell me while you’re gone.”
Emilia gave him a sympathetic shrug and turned away. Aggie waved just as the teenagers moved on from her stand. “Nice to see you twice in one day.”
Rich crimson velvet embellished Aggie’s tiny frame, a plethora of gold costume jewelry hanging from her neck. She was a fairy-tale matriarch if ever there were one.
“I’d say you look somewhat different from how I left you.” Aggie’s eyes twinkled before she offered a cheeky wink. “And dontcha know, you’re doin’ a fine job of getting that gorgeous man to follow you around.”
Emilia rested her hand over the stand’s polished wood counter, the sugary scent emanating from the candy machine, warming her with a sense of childhood wonder. “He puts forward a compelling reason to leave the house.”
“Oh, ya got it all wrong, dear.” Aggie tsked, shaking her head. “If I were fifty years younger, me and that poor man wouldn’t be settin’ one foot out the front door.”
Emilia hacked back a rough giggle, her mind reeling while she waited for the burn in her cheeks to go down. “Lucky for both of us you’re not younger, Aggie.”
What with all the gun-toting and knife skills… Who was this woman?
Aggie sashayed around the table, a toothy grin in place as she reached out to grip Emilia’s forearm. “I’m so proud of you, ya know?” Her voice dropped to a fragile whisper, eyes peering up in an imploring sort of stare. “Not many kids around here pay much mind to what I have to say, but you did. You did. And look at you now.”
Emilia’s heart seemed to swell at Aggie’s acknowledgment. Even with her strange passion for weaponry, she’d been the first person in Harlow to hear Emilia’s problems and be the strong female figure she’d needed for so long.
“I’m so glad you were there for me that day on my porch.” She gave Aggie a soft smile, hoping her delivery now would convey just how much she appreciated this woman’s friendship. “That you pushed me to start a garden, work at the nursery, and to work on myself. You got me out of my head and breathed enough space into my life that I could consider letting Blaine in.”
And not just Aggie but Ally, and even Sarah too. All three women had acted so selflessly, and she owed each of them in different ways. Heck, she owed herself for all her leaps of faith.
“Oh, ya sure. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. That boy’s in love.” Aggie squeezed Emilia’s arm. “Help or not, Blaine would have done anything to get you back. Yous guys oughta give yourselves some credit too.”
Tears prickled at Emilia’s eyes, but she fought them off. That Blaine’s feelings were so obvious to everyone when, for years, she’d yearned for even the tiniest bit of affection anyone around her.
“I love him too.” Her heart gripped a little tighter. She hadn’t expected to say that out loud. “So much, it’s almost terrifying.”
Aggie’s gaze took on a glossy sheen, and she reached up to press her fingertips to Emilia’s cheeks. “It’s great, isn’t it?”
Emilia’s shoulders shook with gentle laughter. Aggie was right. These last few weeks with Blaine had been overwhelming but wonderful, and his conviction held strong through her every doubt.
He’d shocked her out of her comfort zone, challenged her into making plans beyond what she’d intended—plans grander than living out her days alone and on the run. He made her want to lay down roots. To hold strong. For once in her life, to grasp what she wanted and not let go.
And as horrid as her past had been, as ungracefully as she'd handled that past at times, she had someone she could talk to, someone who looked out for her and helped glue the fallen pieces of her shattered life back together.
He’d made her believe.
In a future. In a better future.
All while she’d fought him and pushed him away.
She had no doubts now. Blaine was her everything. Her one and only. She’d recognized that the first time she met him—ten years and another lifetime ago.
Because of him, she’d learned that having freedom didn’t mean doing everything on her own. And love didn’t mean sacrificing integral parts of herself to keep the peace.
She could have love and walk her own path at the same time.
“I know that faraway look.” Aggie’s sage smile pulled at Emilia’s daydream.
“You do?”
