Page 94 of The Heartbreak Blitz

Charley talks animatedly, her hands gesturing, and then Briar looks past her, right at me, before smiling.

Charley spins, her hair billowing out around her. The disbelief on her face morphs into a smile. I stay rooted where I am, heart pounding in my chest.

She’s here. In Spring Hill.

Hope springs in my chest. She wouldn’t come all this way just to yell at me again, would she? My feet are so heavy with questions that I can’t move, all I can do is watch her jog toward me.

When she finally gets to me, she tucks her hair behind her ear with shaking fingers. “Cade, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what Iwas thinking. I got caught up in my head about all these terrible things people could be saying about me and my dad when I should’ve been thanking you for what you pulled off. I can’t imagine the work you did and the way you had everyone come together…”

She drifts off, staring at the ground. Relief floods me. She gets it now.

“No one has ever done something like that for me before,” she says tentatively. “I’m used to doing things myself. For my whole life, Cade, it’s basically been me. I didn’t know how to react.” Her hands tremble as she wrings them in front of her before looking me square in the eye. “I’m really sorry. Did I say that? Because I am. I should never have acted like that.”

“You said that,” I assure her.

She gives me a small smile, shifting from foot to foot. “I said some terrible things, and I didn’t mean them. You were trying to tell me and show me how much you cared, and I was… Well, I was a complete bitch. I’m sorry.”

I reach my hand out to her, and she puts her fingers in it. A jolt runs through my body. Nothing feels more right than her next to me. “I know you haven’t had it easy. I didn’t mean to be a?—”

“You don’t need to apologize for anything.” She peers up into the sky, biting her lip. Tears cling to her lashes. “What I’m trying to tell you and being so bad at it is that I’m not perfect. I’ll probably mess up again in the future. I don’t know how to act around people, and I certainly don’t know how to accept love in the way you’re willing to give it to me. But I want to try.” Her lip wobbles. “When you told me you loved me…I… I love you, Cade Farmer. There’s no one else I’d rather try being a normal, functioning person with.”

I break out into a grin. “Say it again.”

“I’ll try?—”

“No, Sunshine. The other part. Those three little words I’ve been dreaming about you saying to me.”

She peers into my eyes. “I love you.”

I tug on her arm, and she steps into my embrace. Leaning down, I press my lips to hers, savoring the moment, like I can tattoo those words onto her lips and will her to say them whenever I want. The world rights, like a puzzle piece clicking into place. Charley Heywood is my person. My world. Just like Reid and Briar, West and Kenna, and Aidan and Bails, I finally get to experience what I’ve witnessed my friends go through…and it’s so much better than I ever imagined.

Behind Charley, Briar and Lex whoop along with my other friends, their cheers a symphony to the beat of my heart syncing with hers.

I run my fingers up the nape of her neck, tangling with her locks and deepening the kiss until she pulls away, whispering, “My grandma’s here.”

My gaze darts up to find an elderly lady walking toward my friends.

“She’s really hungry,” Charley says, stare roaming over my face. “I ruined her Thanksgiving.”

“Well, we can’t have that, can we?”

I pin Charley to my side, and we approach my friends. Lex nods at me with a smile while Briar gives me two thumbs up. Charley’s grandma looks me up and down with a discerning glance. “So you’re the boy who’s changed my granddaughter’s life?”

I take her words to heart because it’s not only hers that’s different. She’s improved mine in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

“Expecting someone taller?”

Her grandma smiles. “Actually, I think you’re just perfect.”

I let Charley go to give her grandmother a hug, and for as short as she is, she gives a hug like no one’s business. “You dida really great thing for her,” she whispers in my ear. “I’ll never forget it.”

I pull away. “I hear you’re hungry. The Farmer household always has plenty of leftovers. Can I take you two there?”

“Oh, thank goodness. I told Charley we would make new Thanksgiving memories, but I really wanted turkey.”

I take Charley’s grandmother by the hand and lead her across the street. Behind me, Briar talks Charley’s ear off. I only hear portions of the conversation, but Briar is gushing and saying how she can’t wait for Reid to meet her.

“You know, she didn’t mean to yell at you,” her grandma says, keeping her voice low. “She doesn’t know how to rely on people, and I think that’s one of the saddest things about this whole thing. Don’t worry, I told her she was wrong. I think the more she realizes that she’s worthy of being loved, and you showing her what that actually is, you two will be great together. I should actually thank you, too.”

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