Page 135 of Always Been Yours

She stops a foot away from me and I watch as she takes in all of the details.

The fair she and I planned was a cute—albeit impressive—event. There were string lights and hand painted signs. More booths than we could have imagined at the beginning of this. Games, food, raffles, photobooths, all of it. But Genevieve was imagining the block parties we experienced growing up. And those went all out, every year.

The entrance arch resembles oversized candy canes leading down a gumdrop path—thanks to the talented art department, papier mâché and washable paint. The booths look like they appeared out of thin air, straight from the north pole—no thanks to most of the coaches. The icicle lights mixed with the fake,biodegradable snow gives the desired illusion, regardless of the ocean below us. Straight ahead, at the end of the pier, is Santa’s sled full of the raffle items and ready to be used for photos.

What she’s looking at now resembles the Christmas events she always made me participate in growing up. She loved dressing up as an elf for photos with Santa and to hand out toys. I hated the outfits that looked like the elves from the clay version of Rudolph, but I went with her every year, starting my seventh-grade year. My sophomore year of high school was the last time I went with her, but I know she continued to help until she left for college, even though the event lost a little bit of the magic each year.

“Grady… this is amazing. How did you pull this off?” She looks at me like I put every star in the sky for her. It’s a look I’ll never take for granted again.

“People wanted to help, Viv. Especially when I told them I was doing this for you.” I cautiously take a step toward her. To my utter delight, she inches closer in response. “So many people care about you, and I’m at the top of that list. Tonight isn’t about us though.” Her face falls but she recovers quickly, if I didn’t know her so well, I wouldn’t have caught it.

“Baby, I don’t mean it likethat,“ I add quickly. One tear slips down her cheek at the same time the relief hits her. “Every moment for the last four months has been about us, and that’s the only way I would want it. But tonight is about whatyoucontinuously do for the school and for the students. I don’t want to take away from that. So, all of this,“ I pause, waving my hand toward the gumdrop lane, “is just to show you how much you deserve and how loved you are.”

Her eyes search my face for a few seconds before she drops her face into her hands. Her shoulders start shaking but her tears are silent. Without thinking about it, I reach for her and pull her into mychest. “I thought you were going to change your mind about me.”

I can barely understand her muffled words but my heart breaks as I realize how bad I hurt her; how small I made her feel. I never want to be the reason for her sadness again. Keeping one arm around her shoulders, I use the other to grip the nape of her neck. “No, never. The only reason I was able to get through the last week and a half was by putting all of my extra time into this, for you. I was sick thinking about how I messed this up.”

Slowly, she slips one of her arms around my waist, continuing to hide her tears from me. “Thank you for doing this. I didn’t think something this amazing would be possible.”

“I haven’t even shown you the best part.” She must hear the smugness in my voice because she finally peaks through her fingers, showing me her beautiful hazel eyes. The green is brighter from her tears. “Do you want to take a tour before everyone gets here?”

She nods, and I hold my hand out tentatively. She slips her fingers through mine. I give her a small smile, but she doesn’t return it quite yet. With as much confidence as I can muster, I pull her down the pier.

We pass concession stands, the cake walks and a caricature stand. There are skee-ball lanes that are now painted to look like snowballs. The baseball team’s booth is darts and balloons filled with red, green, and gold paint. Ring toss, DIY ornaments, robots dressed as snowmen to race. There’s face painting and raffles with items from many of the local businesses. We pass more games, prizes, and activities. Her eyes light up with every step we take until we reach the end, near Santa’s sleigh.

“Um. What is that?” She asks, both unsure and amused.

“Thatis a very special gift for you.”

She gives me a curious side-eye. “And whatisit?”

“Harper didn’t love the idea of being dunked, even if the water was heated.” She turns toward me, and there are a lot of questions in her eyes. “I promise to tell you everything about the last few days later. But I changed their booth since he hated the first one so much. Now, Harper and the football coaches are volunteering as the targets for pie throwing. I even got every committee member to sign off on the activities and tables included tonight. So if anyone doesn’t want to participate, they’ll have to take it up with them.” Not letting go of her hand, I turn toward her with an impish smirk. “What do you think?”

She looks at me like I’m crazy for exactly two seconds before her head tips back in laughter, her belly laugh filling the air around us. “All of this is amazing… but this,” she points toward the pie booth. “This is fucking incredible.”

She wraps her arms around me, burying her face in my chest.

I pull her tight against me and kiss her temple. “I love you so much, Vivi, and I’m so sorry for hurting you. Please forgive me, and I promise I’ll spend our entire lives making it up to you.”

Tipping her head back and placing her chin on my pec, she tells me, “There’s no one else. Never has been and never will be. I’m always going to be yours.” She slowly rises to her toes, leaving a couple of inches between our lips. “Kiss me again, Grady.”

And without a second of hesitation, I do.

Chapter Fifty

Vivi

After our quick reunion, Grady and I were pulled apart to finish getting everything set up and tend to the few problems that have popped up throughout the evening. Nothing major—it’d be almost impossible with the amount of thought Grady put into the whole event. Just a few little things, like our Santa getting sick but dear Mr. Sparks agreed to finally take on the roll, if only for me. One of the carafes broke but Hudson ran to Brighter Daze to get another one for the hot chocolate booth.

But now, with the event starting to pick up and more guests showing up, itfeelslike a winter wonderland. The soft sounds of Christmas music are the perfect background to the laughs of families and cheers at the games. The only thing that’s weighing on my heart is the fact I haven’t seen the girls yet, and I don’t want to be out of reach from Grady for another second.

I know that there’s more to tonight than just he and I though.

“Why do you still look sad, Viv?” Lexi asks, slipping an arm around my waist as I organize the pastries Calypso donated for the cake walk. “Did you two not make up?”

“No, we did,” I assure her. “It feels a little up in the air, and we still have tothings we need to discuss, but I think that’s just the timing of everything.” I wave a hand in the air, indicating the carnival going on around us. “I just… I wish I had agreed to talk to him sooner.”

“I get that.” She turns around, setting her hip on the table. “But maybe you won’t have to wait much longer.” I can hear the smile in her voice, but I still look up to catch the familiar sight before I turn to where she’s staring.

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