Page 75 of Fake It Till We Fall
It had been the perfect Christmas, and I wasn’t ready for it to end. I would happily freeze time to keep Harper asleep in my arms forever.
The buzz on the nightstand broke the silence. I looked over to see her cell phone light up, the screen glowing bright in the dark room. I glanced down, meaning to ignore it, until I saw the name.
Captain Howard.
My chest tightened.
The preview line glared back at me:
Good news. The charter is starting early. Anchors up on New Year’s Eve. Having you aboard…
The words might as well have been a knife to my heart. I forced myself to look away as the light from her phone fadedto black again. I focused on Harper instead. Her lips parted slightly, her hand still resting over my heart. She looked like she belonged there.
But the message I’d just seen echoed in my head.
She hadn’t promised me anything. We’d talked about the past, but not the future. This whole thing…us…it had always been temporary. It was for Willa. For Christmas only.
Of course she was still going to leave. Her life was out there. On boats, in exotic locations. Not in a small town in the middle of the Canadian Rockies. She was always destined for more than the small-town life I offered.
Why would I think that had changed?
The old wound cracked open, the same pain I’d felt all those years ago tearing through me again. Only this time it was worse, because I knew damn well what it felt like to let her go. To lose her.
And I didn’t have a clue how I would survive it a second time.
Chapter 20
Grayson
Iwoke before the sun, Harper still tangled in the sheets, half on top of me. For a long moment, I watched her sleep, memorizing the way her chest rose and fell with each gentle breath, the peaceful look on her face.
Trying not to wake her, I slipped quietly out of the bed and padded barefoot into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. A big part of me wanted to grab my things and take off into the cold morning before she could wake up and break my heart all over.
I’d lain awake for hours after seeing the message from her captain, trying to decide what to do, and ultimately, I’d decided that we weren’t kids anymore. I’d made the assumption once before that there wasn’t room enough in her life for me and for following her dreams. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. No more assumptions.
This time around, I was going to talk to Harper like the adults we were, and together we’d figure things out. And they had to work out because the alternative was no longer an option.
The familiar routine of measuring the coffee grounds calmed me. At least I still had the store, I told myself. I was confident in my business plan. Once I finally had a chance to discuss it with Ollie, he’d think so, too.
I needed to focus on the things I could control. And at least for the moment, that was the store. It had been the one constant thing in my life for so long, the thing I’d been successful at when everything else felt like it was falling apart; I had the hardware store to throw myself into. And that’s exactly what I’d done. There was a reason the store had become so much more successful in the last few years after Ollie had stepped back. I knew he saw it, too.
And once it was mine officially, then I would really have?—
My phone vibrated in my pocket, pulling my attention.
Right on cue. Relief washed over me when I saw Ollie’s name on the screen.
I took a breath and pressed the button to accept the call. “Merry Christmas, Ollie.” I tried to sound steadier than I felt.
“Grayson. I’m sorry I didn’t return your message sooner. You know how I feel about text messages.”
I shook my head with a small smile.
“And with the holidays and everything, it’s been a bit busy around here for the last few days.”
“I can imagine,” I said. “I’m sure those grandchildren of yours are a lot of fun during the holidays.”
“And loud,” he said gruffly, but I could hear the smile in his voice. “It’s taken me this long to find a quiet second to return your call.”
