Page 25 of Mountain Daddy
Probably—
But still.
His words sit heavy and warm in my chest.
Talk to him.
I tug my hat down over my ears and leave the gazebo, heading back toward town square.
The music gets louder. People mill around, laughing again. And then?—
“Celia!”
I turn.
Wells breaks through the crowd, breathless, face flushed from the cold — or from panic. Elsie is at his side, holding his hand, eyes wide and worried.
His gaze locks on mine, and something in his expression unravels completely.
“Celia,” he says again, softer this time. “Please don’t leave.”
My breath catches. “I thought you didn’t want?—”
“I panicked,” he says immediately. “I was shocked. Embarrassed for Elsie. Worried about what people would think. But I wasn’t embarrassed about you.I swear.”
My eyes sting. “It seemed like you wanted to disappear.”
“I did,” he admits. “But not from you. Never from you.”
He steps closer. The crowd hushes. Snowflakes swirl around us like confetti.
“I’m sorry,” he says, voice breaking a little. “I should’ve stayed with you. Talked to you. Held your hand. I should’ve—” He swallows. “I should’ve been braver.”
My throat tightens. “Wells…”
He drops to one knee.
My breath leaves me.
Elsie squeals softly.
Gasps ripple through the crowd.
“I’m not proposing,” he says quickly, almost laughing as nerves make him ramble. “I mean, not yet — unless you wanted me to, in which case I’d do it right here — but what Iamsaying is…”
He reaches for my hand.
“I want you,” he says, voice steady for the first time since this whole mess began. “Not just until Christmas. Not just while the storm passes. Not just behind closed doors. I want you in real life, out here, with everyone knowing. If you’ll give me a chance.”
The world narrows to him.
His eyes.
His warmth.
Elsie’s hopeful little face beside him.
“Yes,” I whisper.
