“Never,” he interrupted. “It’s my issue. The chase we went on helped me with the past…but it also worried me about the future. What you do is dangerous. I keep remembering you screaming and covering you head when the windshield broke. Remembering how close we came to that tornado twisting right over us. I can’t forget those things. And I’m not sure it’s something I can live with. But, I’m trying my damndest to find a way to make that happen, okay?”
She heard the truth in his words. And was aware of one thing. If she agreed to his terms, she wouldn’t be the only one putting her heart on the line. They both would be.
And somehow, that made all the pain they’d inevitably face at the end of all this just a little bit easier to bear.
She took a deep breath. “Okay,” she agreed. “So, how do we do that?”
He swallowed heavily. Which made her suddenly nervous.
“I have an idea,” he said. “Something I feel we both need to do, before either of us can be certain about the future.”
She was almost afraid to ask. “Yeah?”
“I think it’s time we both go back home,” he said. “To face our pasts. So we both know we’re ready to move forward.”
She jerked up. “W-what?”
“I’ve spent years running from the past. You haven’t been running as much as you’ve been trying to make up for it, to make it right. But we both need to stop for a minute and take a step back…and confront what we’ve been most afraid of.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“I know I’m not completely healed yet, but with your help I’ve taken a huge step in the right direction. And you’ve been doing great with your life, pulling meaning out of tragedy. But you just admitted you have relationship issues.”
She frowned. “I’m fine with my issues.”
“Well, I’m not. I need to go back and face my issues. In my hometown. And I think you do, too.”
She looked away and thought about that for several long minutes. Then she slowly nodded. “Back home. You may be right.”
“After that, I’m just waiting for the next big system to hit and I’m going to stay behind.”
Chapter Thirteen
Strong fingers entwined with Gayle’s and squeezed as she stared at the two-story farmhouse she’d grown up in. She hadn’t been here in so long…
Damn Mac for making her come back.
So many bittersweet emotions clogged her throat. The one that hit the hardest was that someone else lived here now. For eighteen years, she’d woken up and gone to sleep in this house. Even after she’d left for college, every holiday, every break, was spent under that roof. Until they’d all died and she’d been left utterly alone.
But now a new family was making sweet memories here. That was good, right?
“Come on.” Mac tugged her hand as he took a step forward.
She remained rooted at the end of the driveway. “I-I don’t think I can.”
Already, the changes done to the outside felt wrong. All wrong. What would the inside be like? She’d probably lose it completely.
“Gayle, this is what we came for.”
Tears burned her eyes. Oh, how the tables had turned. She’d spent weeks encouraging and helping Mac to let go of his past, and now he was encouraging her.
“The house used to be a soft, buttery yellow,” she whispered. “Every few years, my dad would make me and Zoe—my sister—help him paint it. It was such a pain in the butt, and we hated every second of it.”
Gray vinyl siding had now replaced the original wood, and she would’ve given anything to be painting side-by-side with her dad and sister again.
At least the owners took care of the place. From the immaculate lawn and the freshly weeded beds, she could tell they’d put their heart and soul into making the house a home.
Acknowledging that didn’t make it hurt any less.
“Gayle. I’m not leaving you, baby. I’ll be here every step of the way.”
As she looked at Mac, his steadfastness and confidence flowed into her. Holding his gaze, she nodded, and he squeezed her hand again.
Together they walked up the driveway. The closer they got to the house, the more her resolve slipped. But instead of having to face it alone, she took what strength she needed from the man by her side, without guilt, without feeling weak…without hesitation. Confident he was giving support to her freely, just as she had in his moment of need.
A true couple, always there for each other when one of them couldn’t face something alone.
New emotions flooded her chest, expanding it. She loved him. Probably had from the moment she’d soaked him with her water gun that very first time. Damn, but she loved Mac Hannon. Not just the Mac he had become, but the wounded man he once was, as well.
She rested her head on his bicep, a soft smile curving her lips as he kissed the top of her head.
I’m not leaving you, baby.
Only time would tell if those words were true, but in this moment, he was here and he wasn’t leaving. And it was more than she’d had in a very long time.
Mac shouldn’t have pressed her. As he and Gayle neared Emerald Springs, he understood a bit more of what she’d been going through earlier this morning as she’d stared at her childhood home.