Page 115 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

‘We’re thrilled to see the four of you in Seattle next week! We’ve got two lovely couples for each of you to work with, and they’re very eager to meet you,’ Jillian says with a clap, genuine excitement in her voice. ‘Congratulations!’

Before we can think, our moms are standing in front of us. The grins on their faces say they aren’t here to only congratulate us for our big win.

‘You did it!’ Mom says, pulling me in for a hug.

‘Looks like maybe they’ve done more than just make the top two,’ Penny announces.

‘Mom!’ Hollyn says with a gasp.

‘Is it true? You and Hollyn?’ my mom asks, her hands on my shoulders as she looks up at me.

‘It’s true, Mom.’

‘Well,’ she says with a sigh. ‘I always suspected.’

‘You did?’

She nods her head. ‘I’ve only seen one man look at a woman like you’ve always looked at Hollyn. Your father. It’s one of the things I’ve missed about him the most. But you two, you’re reminding me of things I haven’t thought of in years. Good things. Sometimes love takes time. Never waste a second.’

‘Did you talk to River?’ Penny asks, interrupting us with logistics.

‘Yes, he did.’ River lifts his beer to his lips. ‘Congratulations, man.’ He extends his hand to me. ‘Both on making the top twoandsomehow not killing me or my car during the death ride earlier.’

‘Sorry about that,’ I say, taking his hand. ‘I panicked I’d lost the most important thing in my life for a second.’ I glance at Hollyn, who bites her lip to rein in her smile. ‘We’re good now.’

Dr John approaches us very straight-faced. He stops before us, his gaze moving from Hollyn to me. Honestly, I’m a little nervous about the words that are going to come out of his mouth.

‘Congratulations, Dax. Your dad was my best friend, and I know he’d be proud of you just like I am.’

‘Thank you.’

He turns to Hollyn, a forced clenched-teeth grin plastered on her face.

‘I’m proud of you too, Hols. You set aside your problems, big as they seemed, and you put someone else’s happiness ahead of your own. That’s the daughter I remember before her teen years hit, and she decided we were the enemy. Welcome back.’ He opens his arms; Hols immediately bursts into tears.

‘Women,’ River says, now standing next to me. ‘They cry too much.’

32

HOLLYN

One Week Later – At Seattle Airport…

‘Hello, Seattle,’ I say, irritation I hadn’t intended in my voice.

The closer we got to this trip, the more worried I’ve been. I don’t know if I’m more afraid to run into my old life or that the whole city is bad luck, and will somehow curse me, causing me to run away alone this time too. Please, no.

‘We can turn around and go home right now if this is too much,’ Dax says, lugging a bag behind him.

‘I’ll get over it. For now, we’re here until you’ve won this thing.’ I slide my hand into his, my other hand on his forearm.

‘Where is Enrique?’ he asks, glancing around the cars in front of us as he parks our suitcase. He pulls his phone from his pocket, searching license plates. ‘There he is. If it’s not Iglesias, I’ll be disappointed.’

This last week has easily been the best week of my life, truthfully. Dax can’t keep his hands off me and does anything to make me smile. Which honestly, isn’t hard. I’m seeing all those things I thought were just ‘nice’ back when we were teenagers, and suddenly, they’re the most heartfelt, romantic things anyone’s done for me. I genuinely don’t know how I didn’t see it back then. Maybe I was just too young and immature? Who knows? Who cares? We’re there now.

He slides his hand down my thigh, sensing my wavering anxiety. ‘I’m right here with you, Hols. Nothing’s gonna happen. I promise.’

I grab his hand, holding it tight as I stare out the windows. Raindrops slide down them steadily. Not exactly happy-as-a-daisy weather for a floral competition that was supposed to be held outside but is now urgently setting up in a fancy hotel downtown. Here’s to hoping the saying that the rain on your wedding day is good luck is true.

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