Page 121 of Take My Heart
‘The products start arriving tomorrow,’ I tell him. ‘I can’t wait to unpack them and get to work on the displays.’
Just saying that has me so excited I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to come. I can’t believe this is real, that this is my life. Not only am I opening a home decor store, but I’m also fulfilling my dream to renovate old houses.
‘Hey, Brody, can I talk to you a minute?’ Jason glances at me. ‘In private?’
‘Just tell me here. Kate can keep a secret.’
‘It’s not a secret. I’m just trying to figure out what it means.’
‘What’s this about?’
‘A girl.’
‘Kate’s a girl. She should hear this. Maybe she could help.’
‘I could try,’ I tell Jason. ‘Is this someone you went out with?’
‘We didn’t really go out.’ Jason looks at Brody. ‘It’s that girl I met at Noah and Lacey’s wedding.’
‘He slept with her,’ Brody says to me. ‘And he hasn’t talked to her since that weekend.’
‘For the record, I never do that,’ Jason says to me. ‘Or I hadn’t before that night. I met her at the reception and we hit it off. We talked, did some dancing, drank too much, and she ended up in my room.’
‘Yeah, so what about her?’ Brody asks.
‘She called me. She’s coming to town and asked if we could have dinner.’
‘Where does she live?’ I ask.
‘In Madison. She’s going to grad school there, but she’s not from here. She grew up in Boston.’
‘So what’s the problem?’ Brody asks. ‘You don’t want to go to dinner with her?’
‘I don’t know. I’m not sure why she’d want to. After that night, we decided not to see each other again. We really hit it off, but we didn’t want to start something since she lives an hour away and is going back to Boston after she graduates in May.’
‘What did you tell her?’ Brody asks. ‘Did you agree to have dinner with her?’
‘Not yet. I told her I’d get back to her.’
Brody turns to me. ‘What do you think this means? From a girl’s perspective?’
‘Maybe she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you,’ I say to Jason. ‘And she wants to see you again to see if you guys could figure out a way to make this work.’
‘But it can’t. Like I said, she’s moving back to Boston in May.’
‘Maybe she’ll come to Haydon Falls, love it, and decide to stay,’ I tell him. ‘It happened to me and I never imagined myself living in a small town.’
‘I like to think I had something to do with you wanting to be here,’ Brody says, putting his arm around me.
‘You did.’ I kiss him, then look back at Jason. ‘If this girl really likes you and things go well when you see her again, maybe she’d consider moving here when she’s done with grad school.’
‘I don’t see that happening. And I’m kind of seeing someone else right now.’
‘Who are you seeing?’ Brody asks.
‘I went out with Brianna last weekend and we’re going out tonight.’
‘Brianna’s 22. She’s too young for you.’
