unintended.”
She couldn’t argue with him about consequences. Not when one simple meeting with him was spinning off into consequences, one after the other.
“You want promises. I’ll give them to you. I’ll make sure the building is done by local people. That the money coming into Emerald Lake stays here. And that the building process is totally green.”
“I know all about your promises, Andi. Don’t kid yourself. This is all about your career.”
She gasped, actually sucked in a mouthful of air and choked on it. But even as her heart felt like it was drowning, her brain still tried to stay above the waterline.
“Wouldn’t you rather have somebody who actually cares about Emerald Lake be involved?”
“You’re right about that at least. I’d like to be dealing with someone who cares about this town, someone who cares about more than just her latest deal.”
Working even harder to push down the hurt building up inside of her, to tell herself he couldn’t really mean any of the horrible things he was saying, she said, “I’m not going to deny these condos are a good career move, but they’re also for the town. My father always wished more people knew about Emerald Lake. At the end of the day, he supposed there wasn’t enough here to bring them in. These small changes could be enough.”
“Do you really sleep at night telling yourself those lies?”
Just like that, the hurt won.
“How dare you tell me that there was nothing to talk about, no old wounds to heal between us, when all along you’ve been hating me with every single breath. When all along, you’ve been resenting every single second we spent together. When all along, you knew you’d never, ever forgive me for not giving up my entire life to come back here and take care of you and your sister.”
She was up and out of the booth before he could stop her.
Away. She needed to get away from all of the horrible accusations he’d made. She needed to stop seeing the anger, the betrayal, the fury in his eyes as he looked at her like she was a traitor who didn’t understand him. He acted like she had never understood him.
He acted like she hadn’t loved him with every piece of her heart.
“Andi, wait!”
She heard him calling out to her, heard his footfalls on the sidewalk behind her, but she didn’t stop.
Only, Nate was faster than she was, and at the end of Main Street where the grass began, his arms came around her waist, pulling her against his back.
Oh god, that heat, it pulled her into him despite herself. Despite what he’d said in the bar, despite how he’d said it.
Despite the fact that she wasn’t even sure he liked her.
“Andi, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
“Andi.” Her name was a breath of heated regret breaking through the cold fall night. “You caught me off guard. I shouldn’t have said any of those things.”
Every heartbeat was excruciating when all she wanted was to rewind back to that moment when he’d said, “ I’ve wondered about what you’ve been doing for ten years. ” She wished they could step back in time so that she could tell him how much she had missed him, that she’d thought about him every single day for ten years, even though she hadn’t wanted to.
“You were right, Andi. We do need to talk about what happened.”
“Not tonight.” She couldn’t yet bear to move her cheek away from his warmth. If things had gone differently, this warmth could have been hers all along.
Not when she was feeling as weak as she ever had. She would need to be strong for that conversation.
Andi forced herself to pull out of Nate’s arms. “I need to go.”
And this time, he let her.
* * *
Her mother was waiting up for her when Andi got home.
“Oh honey, it’s so good to see you.” Andi had never needed Carol’s hug more than she did right that second. “Your grandmother said that you were planning to stay for a few days this time. Is that true?”
“Actually
She couldn’t argue with him about consequences. Not when one simple meeting with him was spinning off into consequences, one after the other.
“You want promises. I’ll give them to you. I’ll make sure the building is done by local people. That the money coming into Emerald Lake stays here. And that the building process is totally green.”
“I know all about your promises, Andi. Don’t kid yourself. This is all about your career.”
She gasped, actually sucked in a mouthful of air and choked on it. But even as her heart felt like it was drowning, her brain still tried to stay above the waterline.
“Wouldn’t you rather have somebody who actually cares about Emerald Lake be involved?”
“You’re right about that at least. I’d like to be dealing with someone who cares about this town, someone who cares about more than just her latest deal.”
Working even harder to push down the hurt building up inside of her, to tell herself he couldn’t really mean any of the horrible things he was saying, she said, “I’m not going to deny these condos are a good career move, but they’re also for the town. My father always wished more people knew about Emerald Lake. At the end of the day, he supposed there wasn’t enough here to bring them in. These small changes could be enough.”
“Do you really sleep at night telling yourself those lies?”
Just like that, the hurt won.
“How dare you tell me that there was nothing to talk about, no old wounds to heal between us, when all along you’ve been hating me with every single breath. When all along, you’ve been resenting every single second we spent together. When all along, you knew you’d never, ever forgive me for not giving up my entire life to come back here and take care of you and your sister.”
She was up and out of the booth before he could stop her.
Away. She needed to get away from all of the horrible accusations he’d made. She needed to stop seeing the anger, the betrayal, the fury in his eyes as he looked at her like she was a traitor who didn’t understand him. He acted like she had never understood him.
He acted like she hadn’t loved him with every piece of her heart.
“Andi, wait!”
She heard him calling out to her, heard his footfalls on the sidewalk behind her, but she didn’t stop.
Only, Nate was faster than she was, and at the end of Main Street where the grass began, his arms came around her waist, pulling her against his back.
Oh god, that heat, it pulled her into him despite herself. Despite what he’d said in the bar, despite how he’d said it.
Despite the fact that she wasn’t even sure he liked her.
“Andi, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
“Andi.” Her name was a breath of heated regret breaking through the cold fall night. “You caught me off guard. I shouldn’t have said any of those things.”
Every heartbeat was excruciating when all she wanted was to rewind back to that moment when he’d said, “ I’ve wondered about what you’ve been doing for ten years. ” She wished they could step back in time so that she could tell him how much she had missed him, that she’d thought about him every single day for ten years, even though she hadn’t wanted to.
“You were right, Andi. We do need to talk about what happened.”
“Not tonight.” She couldn’t yet bear to move her cheek away from his warmth. If things had gone differently, this warmth could have been hers all along.
Not when she was feeling as weak as she ever had. She would need to be strong for that conversation.
Andi forced herself to pull out of Nate’s arms. “I need to go.”
And this time, he let her.
* * *
Her mother was waiting up for her when Andi got home.
“Oh honey, it’s so good to see you.” Andi had never needed Carol’s hug more than she did right that second. “Your grandmother said that you were planning to stay for a few days this time. Is that true?”
“Actually
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