Page 180 of Huckleberry Hill
I sighed.
Me
Yes. Hang on.
* * *
I was setting up my phone to record when the doorbell rang. Muddy was out running errands, so I got up off the bed and walked downstairs. Tempest followed me.
The bell rang again.
“I’m coming,” I yelled.
I got to the door and all but yanked it open.
Shock rippled through my body and my jaw dropped. “Gianni? What are you doing here?”
My ex-fiancé stood on the porch, dressed in a pair of dark Japanese denim jeans and a gray wool sweater with product in his luscious, dark hair. “Hey, Hadley.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“Nico. He said you went home for a visit.”
“Okay, but what are you doing here?” I demanded again.
“Can I come in?”
Tempest stepped outside and sniffed Gianni’s leg.
“That’s a goat,” he said.
“I live on a ranch,” I clipped. “What do you expect?”
His expression softened. “I don’t blame you for being mad at me. But please, Hadley. Give me just a few minutes?”
I was a recovering people pleaser. And though the shock was wearing off at seeing my ex, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about why he was on my doorstep.
Without a word, I stepped aside.
He came into the foyer and stopped, looking around in curiosity. Tempest entered behind him and then went to her water and food dish in the corner of the kitchen.
“It’s just like you described it,” he said.
“Yep.”
His expression softened. “I should’ve come home with you when you asked.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“It doesn’t?”
“What do you want, Gianni?”
“You. I want you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out my engagement ring. “I flew to New York to get this before coming here. I gave it to you when I proposed, and it belongs on your finger.”
“How did you know where the ring was?” I asked in confusion.
“Salem texted me that she’d left it on my nightstand.”
