“I won’t. Even though I tried to when it first happened because it hurt so much. But I’ll never forget her.”
“Then we’ll put our flowers on her grave, tell her about our days, and come back for her birthday.” Graham swallowed the knot in his throat. “I’m stronger than I was when we first started doing this, and I know you are too now. And if the time comes when we don’t need to see this piece of what she was in order to mourn the way we need, we’ll face it.”
Candice looked at him over her shoulder. “You are a good man, Graham Gallagher. I hope you and Blake work it out. You deserve your happy.”
Graham let out a breath but didn’t say anything in answer to her words. He didn’t know what would happen with him and Blake. She’d kicked him out and closed herself off. He’d seen her wrap her shields so tightly around her she could barely breathe.
As he said goodbye to his daughter and the woman he’d once loved, he thought about the woman he loved now and the little girl he wanted to be a part of his life. They would never replace what he’d had. There was no way that would ever be a problem with him. But he had to make sure that Blake understood that while he’d given her space now, he wasn’t giving up completely.
He loved that woman and everything she brought with her. She might send him over the edge sometimes with her quick temper, but he knew he couldn’t live without it.
He laid the flowers he’d brought on Cynthia’s grave and let out a breath. “I love you, baby,” he whispered. “Be good up there. And when my time comes, I want a hug, okay? I think about you every day, even when I’m learning to love again. You taught me that I could feel and just be. You’re my everything, darling, and because of that, I learned I could have more. So, thank you, baby girl. Rest in peace, Cynthia. Rest in peace.”
And with that, he walked with Candice out of the cemetery, leaving her at her car as he made his way to his. He wouldn’t see his ex-wife again until they met up at the gravesite. Even then, he wasn’t sure they’d even come at the same time. They weren’t the same people they once were, but he had a feeling that they were becoming the people they needed to be.
And it was because of Blake that he was able to be that man.
He just hoped she’d give him the chance to do it.
It took four days to make the appointment, and by the time he’d stepped into Montgomery Ink, his nerves were fried. There was probably an easier way to come face-to-face with her, but this had been the first thing that had come to mind. Of course, he was physically putting his body on the line to do it, but what was a little pain when it came to love and finding out if forever was a done deal or not?
When he opened the door to the shop, Derek raised a brow at him but didn’t stop working. Maya just shook her head and pointed to the back area where Blake would hopefully be. As Maya had been part of the planning process for this, he hoped she was still on his side.
“Here goes nothing,” he mumbled to himself.
“Just don’t fuck it up,” Derek called out, and the others laughed.
He flipped them off and made his way to the piercing room in the back of the shop. She stood there with her back to him, reaching up for a box of gloves. The action pulled on her shirt and let him glimpse a peek of her skin. Her ink.
He loved everything about this woman, and he’d be damned if he let her push him away forever.
“Blake.”
She turned on her heel so quickly she ended up dropping a stack of boxes. Since the top one had been open, gloves went everywhere. One box landed near his foot, and he calmly bent to pick it up.
“I think you dropped this,” he said slowly. Smooth, Gallagher. Real smooth.
“You’re here,” she breathed. “What are you doing here?”
“I have an appointment.”
Her eyes widened, and she tossed the boxes on the counter. “You? But I thought this was for a guy named Steve. He wants his nipples pierced or something. I don’t know since Maya took the appointment.” She snorted. “I take it you’re Steve, but do you really want your nipples pierced?”
Graham moved forward slowly so he wouldn’t spook her and cupped her face. “Yeah, I think I do. But first, I want you to know I love you, Blake. I love you so fucking much. It hurt like hell to walk away from you and Rowan when you asked, but I did because you asked. Don’t make me leave again, Blake. Don’t tell me to walk away. Because I will. Only for you. But you know what? Every time you tell me to walk away, I’ll come right back. I love you, Blake. Be with me. Take me back.”
He hadn’t meant to blurt that out so quickly, but apparently it had been the right thing to say because a smile spread over her face.
“Say it again.”
He frowned. “All of that. Because I don’t know if I can get it all down the right way a second time.”
She shook her head. “No, not all of it. Just the part where you tell me you love me.”
He grinned then and rubbed his thumbs along her cheekbones. “I love you, Blake Brennen.”