Page 84 of Where the Heart Is

‘Whatever you’re thinking, stop.’ Addy took a sip of tea before continuing. ‘That young man is one of the good ones and if you’ve been hot-headed, you need to take stock and give him a chance.’

Suitably chastened, Mila said, ‘Is that what you’re doing with Gramps? Giving him a chance and not leaving town again?’

‘Both of you need to give me more credit,’ Addy muttered, with a shake of her head. ‘I’m older and wiser, and willing to take a risk despite the outcome. Can you say the same?’

‘Maybe I’m not as enlightened as you?’

But her grandmother’s advice hit home. Had she overreacted last night? Using Sawyer’s lie by omission as an excuse to push him away before he left town and broke her heart?

Because all her self-talk that she’d be fine moving on whenever he left had been delusional, as she found out last night when she’d driven him away for good. Her heart had shattered, and she’d sobbed for what felt like hours. A long hot shower, two shots of tequila, and half a tub of cookie-dough ice cream hadn’t helped soothe and she’d known then that it would take her a long time to get over him.

Meaning she’d moved beyond liking Sawyer and into scary love territory.

‘I want you to be happy, sweetheart, and if Sawyer makes you happy—which I think he does from what I’ve seen—you owe it to the both of you to try and move past this.’

‘Thanks, Gran.’ Mila reached across the table and squeezed her hand. ‘I love having you around, so you better stay, okay?’

‘I’ll do my best.’

They shared a smile and sipped their teas, while Mila thought, if her grandparents could resolve their differences after fourteen years apart, surely the least she could do was talk to Sawyer.

CHAPTER

51

‘Stop making such a racket.’ Alli groaned as she stumbled into the kitchen, pressing her fingers to her temples. ‘You’re worse than the kids.’

‘Someone’s hungover,’ Sawyer said, stifling a laugh at his sister’s bedraggled appearance: lopsided ponytail, mascara smudged under her eyes, and her complexion a sickly grey. ‘I made the kids pancakes this morning but can whip you up a greasy lunch?’

She moaned and clutched her stomach. ‘What time is it?’

‘Almost one.’

‘Fuck,’ she muttered, peering bleary-eyed at her watch. ‘I haven’t slept this late since I drank an entire bottle of wine on graduation night.’

‘Mick seemed fine when he left this morning.’

‘That’s because he was the designated driver for once and he foolishly let me consume one too many champers. Remind me to kill him.’

‘Take it easy on the guy. He has to live with you.’

Alli flipped him the middle finger. ‘If you make me a strong coffee, I’ll let you stay another night.’ Her expression cleared a little. ‘Why are you crashing here anyway? What happened with Mila?’

‘Don’t ask,’ he said, turning his back on his sister to make her coffee. The last thing he felt like doing was rehashing last night and how gutted he’d been by Mila’s assessment of him.

How had he got it so wrong with her?

‘What did you do?’ Alli slumped into a chair at the dining table, her pallor improving when he placed a cup of coffee in front of her and she inhaled. ‘Lovers’ tiff?’

He almost responded with,‘I didn’t do anything’, but that wasn’t entirely true. He should’ve told her he’d bailed her out from the beginning, rather than listen to Will. Though he shouldn’t blame his best mate either. Sawyer was a big boy and he’d known what withholding the truth from Mila would do when he eventually came clean.

‘I helped her out when she didn’t want me to by buying some of her land, and I didn’t tell her.’

‘You idiot.’ Alli gulped at her coffee as if it were iced. It must’ve worked because the bleariness in her eyes cleared. ‘What are you going to do to make it up to her?’

Nothing, because he never wanted to feel as worthless as she’d made him feel last night ever again.

‘We’ll sort things out,’ he said. ‘We have to, considering I own some of Hills Homestead, though I’ll probably take my time looking for another buyer this time and sell for the right price.’

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