Page 137 of Outlaw Heartstrings
“I know what I have to do…” I mutter to myself.
Mom smiles. “That’s good, son. That’s good.”
Turning on my heel, I charge toward the front door and eagerly tug my shoes onto my feet.
My mother urgently bounces up from the couch and frantically runs in my direction, grabbing my shoulder. “But Easton, please, I’m begging you…take a shower and change your shirt before you go over there and get in that poor girl’s face.”
I get another whiff of my smelly armpits and I shudder. “Oh, right.” I kick off my shoes and make a mad dash for the bathroom.
If I’m going to convince Alba that I’m the man she’s been waiting for, I’d better look—and smell—the part.
51
EASTON
It’s 11 o’clock on Saturday morning when I ring Alba’s doorbell. Just like I have at 11 o’clock every Saturday morning since we went to the county fair.
My heart is pounding hard and my palms are a little bit sweaty, but nothing will chase me away from this doorstep.
It takes a whole lot of nerve showing up here like this, especially since I’ve practically ghosted Alba all week. She probably hates me. I’m sure she does.
She made it clear that her biggest fear is being abandoned. And what did I do? I freaking abandoned her. I disappointed her. I let her down when she needed me.
God. I’ve been an idiot.
But I’m ready to beg and plead and grovel and do whatever it takes to make things right again.
When Alba opens the door, there’s confusion on her sweet, beautiful, perfect face. A sweet, beautiful, perfect face I’ve missed like crazy over the past few days.
“Easton?” She blinks at me, tugging down the hem of the Sin Valley Saints jersey she’s wearing.
Myjersey. She’s wearing my jersey.
Seeing her wear it now makes me hopeful that I have a shot at making this right.
“What are you doing here?” she asks me, her voice hoarse, and I pray she hasn’t been crying all week.
“I’m here to pick up you and Jagger,” I say with all the conviction I can muster.
“Pick us up to go where?” she asks, gripping the doorknob with both hands as wild, red curls fall into her increasingly confused eyes.
“To my place. Like always,” I announce, taking a step forward and brushing her hair back and tingling at the way the soft tendrils feel between my fingers. “Because that’s how this works. Because I love you and you love me and we both love Jagger. We’re a family. And none of that has changed.”
She shakes her head slowly, her eyes already growing wet. “You don’t have to do this, Easton. I know you want to do the right thing, but you’re under no obligation to—”
“What I feel for you isn’t an obligation, Alba. This is love.” I push my way inside and silently thank my lucky stars when she doesn’t try to stop me. “I love you so damn much. It’s too late to turn away from that.”
“But everything is so complicated now.” She looks up into my eyes, begging me to have some sort of solution.
I shake my head, disagreeing with her. “You’re wrong, baby. It’s not complicated. Nothing made sense when I came to this town. I was injured. I was pissed off. I was on the brink of losing my faith in myself. And then you and Jagger let me into your family and suddenly, I was laughing again. I was happy. I had purpose. When I came back to Fairy Bush, I’d forgotten myself. But you made me remember the man I’ve always wanted to be.” I breathe in deeply.
“It can’t be that simple, Easton,” she says on a hopeless exhale.
I refuse to give up. “You and Jagger are my purpose. We have to be a family. It’s not complicated. It’s the simplest thing in the world.”
She clutches a hand over her chest, closing her eyes for a moment, like she’s trying to absorb the gravity of what I’m saying to her.
“My life lost all its flavor when I lost you and Jagger. I lost my light and my joy and everything that matters to me. Please tell me I can have you back. Tell me I’m not too late.”
