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“I don’t see how that has anything to do with why you were trying to take the book tour away from him.”
“Because he doesn’t need it,” she said with exasperation. “I do. It’s something that would help me thrive. All he’s doing is digging himself a grave. He doesn’t want to run the coffee shop. It’s making him miserable to meet his quotas. It would be so much easier to just let it go.”
“But that’s not what he wants, Megan.”
Her gaze cut to Gabby.
“I’m sorry, but it’s true. You can’t force a man to do something he’s not ready to do. One day he might realize that he wants to be on the ranch and he’ll go for it. Or he might not. But it’s not for you to decide. He’s got to make that choice all on his own.”
As much as Megan hated to admit it, Gabby was right. Even if she’d been able to convince him to stop trying to keep his head above water and to take the life raft that ranching would offer him, he wouldn’t feel right about it unless he had made the choice on his own. He could end up regretting his decision and then resenting her for pushing him to do it.
She flipped the book closed and pushed it aside before placing her head on her folded arms. Even in this position, there was no stifling the groan that escaped her lips. She didn’t know where to go at this point.
Daniel was the first guy she’d allowed herself to fall for. She could tell he wasn’t happy at his job—not really. But telling him to walk away from it wasn’t going to do either of them any good. Gabby was right. He needed to make his own decisions even if they were the ones she didn’t think were best for him.
“You okay?” Gabby’s quiet voice broke through her thoughts.
Everything she wanted to do at this point in time seemed impossible.
“No,” she mumbled into her arms.
“What are you going to do?”
Megan rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She clasped her hands over her stomach as more tears drizzled from the corners of her eyes. “What can I do? There’s literally no options for me at this point.”
“You can’t honestly believe that.”
“Yes, I can. I’m stuck no matter how I look at it. If I go to him and tell him I’m sorry, then I’m going to have to sit back and watch him be miserable as he does something that will just make him continue the status quo. While that takes place, I have to work even harder to get my bookstore to where I want to be. I can’t exactly confront him and tell him he’s being an idiot because I’ve already made this whole problem about me. I’ve told him that I want the book reading to be at my café and all he’s going to hear is me demanding he shut everything down to please me. That makes me selfish.”
“Well… to be fair… youwerebeing sorta selfish.”
“I know,” she moaned, “that’s why I can’t do any of that. No matter what path I take, I’m going to end up at a cliff with nowhere to go.” She shut her eyes tight as if doing so would help her think more clearly.
It wouldn’t matter how long she had to mull things over. She would never be able to come out of this in a way she wanted to. Even if she left things the way they were and just focused on her business, she’d be left heartbroken.
“The way I see it, you really only have one option.”
Megan rolled onto her side to stare at her cousin. “What’s that.”
“Well, answer this question first. Do you love him?”
Once again, her throat tightened, closing her lungs off from the oxygen she so desperately needed. “Yeah. I do,” she wheezed.
“Would you rather live without him and only focus on your bookstore, or would you rather struggle a little but have him by your side?”
There was no contest. Already, Megan knew what her gut was telling her. “Daniel is more important than any business venture I might chase after,” she whispered. “He’s the one who makes it feel like it’s all worth it.”
“Then you can only do one thing and that’s go talk to him. Tell him you’re sorry. Tell him you want to work things out and you want to support him the way he has supported you.”
“Even if he’s making himself miserable?”
Gabby leaned forward and took Megan’s hand in hers. She offered a small smile, one that gave Megan the sense that she wished she had a better answer than the one she was about to give.
“One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t change anyone—not even the people who love you and that you love back. They have to make their own mistakes and it’s going to really frustrate you sometimes but eventually they’ll get it right and that’s when you can celebrate with them. In this situation, you just have to support him and tell him you want him to be happy—whatever that might look like to him.”
Megan squeezed her cousin’s hand. “How did I get so lucky to have you as my best friend?”
Gabby laughed. “I don’t know how lucky you are, but it sure is nice that we’re family. I don’t know where we’d be withouteach other. I still expect you to help me with decorating the living room. For the life of me, I can’t decide where to put the bookshelves.”
