Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“Aren’t you supposed to be meeting with Mike today? I don’t want to keep you from that.”
“I already met with him,” he said. “But I—”
“Then we have nothing to talk about,” I cut him off, moving toward the door. “I’ll have Naomi get my stuff out of the office, and you can mail me my last check. Please leave.”
“I didn’t sell it.”
“Brady, just leave, please—wait, what?” I cocked my head to the side. “Didn’t sell… But you said… what?”
It didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense.
I understood the words that were coming out of Brady’s mouth, but I wasn’t about to get my hopes up. That route had already failed me more than once.
“I didn’t sell the flower shop, Jo. I couldn’t.” He shrugged and looked down at the floor for a moment before meeting my gaze again. “I was going to. I’ll admit it. I was going to take the easy way out. But I just… couldn’t.”
“Um, what? I don’t understand.”
Even though he had just spelled it out, I was having trouble following.
My heart was still too raw. I wasn’t sure I could afford to believe in Brady again.
“I want to stay here.” His voice was quiet, but full of emotion. “In Castle Falls. You were right, Jo. About everything.”
“And now you’re going to run the shop? I’m sorry, I’m just having a hard time following. Is this real life?”
Brady smiled, his eyes crinkling as he took a step closer to me, easily closing the distance between us.
“It’s real. I’m here. But I’m not gonna run the shop. I want you to do that… if you’ll come back. If you’ll forgive me.”
The joy was coming back, along with that same faint trace of hope and a whole bunch of butterflies.
I couldn’t find the words to say what I was feeling, though—and didn’t trust my voice not to betray my emotions. Wasn’t sure if I trusted my heart, either. I still had to hear more from Brady.
He—as always—seemed to instinctively know exactly what I needed.
“Joanne, I love you. I love you. And even though I really hope you’ll come back and be my partner at the flower shop, that doesn’t really matter to me as much as you do.” He reached out to tip my head up, to look directly into my eyes. “If you’ll forgive me, if you’ll give me a second chance, I’ll prove to you that you’re the only thing that matters—”
Whatever Brady had been about to say was cut off when my mouth covered his. I wasn’t sure how I’d even ended up in Brady’s arms, but that didn’t matter. He loved me. Wanted me. That was the only thing I had heard, the only thing I cared about.
And when Brady’s lips moved from my mouth to my jaw… my throat… I remembered what I’d been too overwhelmed to say before.
“I love you, too, Brady. I think I loved you from the first time I saw you. But are you sure? About the flower shop? About me? About… everything? Because I really can’t even if you’re just—”
“Yes.” Brady grinned as he gently put a finger against my lips, only to replace it with another quick kiss that felt like heaven. “I’m sure. I love you, and we’ll figure out the rest. Whether I have to take out a mortgage, or a loan—credit counseling or whatever, we’ll figure it out together. I’m more certain of that than I have been about anything else in my life. I just hope you’ll forgive me. I hope you’ll give me the chance to prove it.”
“I will. I do—I mean, yes. I love you, too. And yes, I forgive you. I forgave you already, the moment I left yesterday. I was just hurt. And angry.”
“And I never want to make you feel those things again. I promise that I’ll never intentionally hurt you. I never would, and I never will.”
Everything inside me knew and believed what Brady was saying was true.
It was love. It was strong enough—we were strong enough together—to get past the temporary hurt and pain we’d both been feeling.
“I know, Brady. Thank you. I believe you. I love you.”
And when Brady put his arms around me and pulled me close, kissing my forehead and telling me again how much I meant to him?
It was perfect. It was home.
It was everything I wanted, and I felt my heart—the heart that had felt broken before Brady had walked back in—start to open. And I already knew I could trust it this time. That Brady’s love was what it had been waiting for, was all my heart had needed to finally have the chance to bloom.
Chapter Thirty-Nine - Brady
One Year Later
I heard the truck door slam outside and moved quickly to the window I’d been pacing in front of for the past half hour. It was only seven o’clock in the morning, but I had been awake since five, mentally walking through the day ahead, trying to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything.