Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 74730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“You do belong with me.” I squeezed his hand. “I belong with you too. I know you think I’ve always had a place—my family, the firehouse, my friends. And it’s true, I’ve been blessed. But I never truly belonged until you. With you, I can be myself.”
“Yourself is pretty awesome.” Denver shook his head as he gazed back down the hall at the various townsfolk waiting to go back in. “Can’t believe you got all these people to show up.”
“They wanted to.” I licked my lower lip. “And…my dad helped. He knows everyone.”
“Oh.” Denver’s eyebrows drew close together as he narrowed his eyes. “He’s…okay? With everything?”
“We’re talking more. I’m lucky.”
“No, he is,” Denver corrected, his sudden loyalty making me grin.
“In fact—” I opened my mouth to tell Denver about the Sunday dinner invitation, only to be interrupted by one of the younger Honey kids sticking her purple-streaked head out of the meeting room.
“You can all come back in.”
“I feel like there should be a drumroll,” I joked to Denver as we found seats again. He’d said he was staying no matter what, but I wasn’t sure I believed him. The town would survive if the Honey family voted to sell the land, and Denver and I might as well, but I’d rather not test that theory.
He’d shown so much courage, standing in front of the group, showing us all a part of his huge well-hidden heart. He deserved to have that bravery rewarded. I stared down the Honey family at the front of the room, willing them to see that Denver and Tammy deserved this chance.
“Well, we had quite a…spirited discussion.” The older woman glanced down the row at the other family members. “But after much deliberation, we kept coming back to what Lionel and Loretta would have wanted.”
“Oh, thank God.” I kept my voice low, but I turned my gaze skyward.
“Lionel and Loretta cared about family first, but they also cared deeply about Mount Hope. And the answer was clear: they’d want Honey’s to continue while also preserving the future value of the land for the family. And thus, we’ve decided to lease the property to Mr. Rucker and Ms. Deevers as part of their business plan.”
“Reluctantly.” The man in the Hawaiian print tie frowned as the assembled crowd cheered the news.
I turned toward Denver with a big, dopey grin, not even trying to hide my relief. “I guess you’re a business owner now.”
“I guess so.” Denver sounded dazed, eyes staying glassy even as the Honey family leader announced the business sale details would be worked out by the lawyers at a future date. The room started to empty, and Denver and Tammy accepted congratulations from various folks, but Denver was the far more stunned of the two.
“Yippee.” Tammy did a little dance toward the door. “Now I have to skedaddle. I’m expecting a phone call from my daughter.”
Denver’s face went uncharacteristically soft. “Go. I’m so happy for you.”
“And I’m happy for all of us.” Tammy wagged a finger in my direction. “Don’t let this one get away.”
“Hey, I’m trying my best.” I wasn’t sure whether she’d meant me or Denver, but I was grateful for the order either way. “And thank you for convincing him to offer for the place.”
“Oh, he convinced me.” Tammy cackled as she exited, leaving Denver and me to head toward the parking lot.
“Need a ride?” Denver gave me a knowing smile.
“Always.” I followed him to his truck, but Tammy’s words continued to echo in my ears. “Offering to buy the place was your idea?”
“It was.” Denver put the truck in Drive before continuing, voice emotional, “For the first time, I didn’t want to run away. I realized I didn’t want to leave, and as Tammy would say, I sat with that feeling a while.”
I swallowed hard. “I hate that I can’t take the pain of the past away for you.”
“But you make it easier to bear.” Denver turned toward Prospect Place.
“I guess that’s my goal—not fixing the past or your hurts, but being there to sit with you.”
“That’s a good goal.” He nodded solemnly as he parked near his place, which still had the blasted for sale sign out front. “Did you mean it about coming with me if I did leave?”
“I did.” I put a hand on his shoulder before he could exit the truck, making him turn to meet my gaze. “I want to show you that I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere, and I want to give you the time and space to trust me. Trust us. And trust that even if you need to go—for a week, a month, longer—you’ll always have a place to come back to.”
“Yeah.” He exhaled hard, and I couldn’t tell whether he was actually agreeing or simply overwhelmed. My pulse sped up, that urge to fix a hard habit to quit. Denver wasn’t the only one working on trust.