it’s amazing because it would mean a chance to be back with some of my old teammates.”
“Oh.” The happiness I felt as I cleaned up the kitchen fades. Fast. “And where is this work taking place?”
“L.A.,” he says. “But it would only be for a few months.”
“Right. A few months. That’s great.” I try not to show my emotions. It’s selfish of me to expect him to consider me when making this decision. We just met. And everything that happened last night was probably… Well, to me, it meant everything… but to Major? A football star? It probably meant little. But maybe that is just my insecurity from my last relationship haunting me.
“What do you think of that?” he asks me.
I force myself to say what he needs to hear. “I think you should go. Sounds like a great opportunity.”
“You wouldn’t want me to stay and—”
I cut him off. “No. You should go. Football is your dream and the way you expected it to look may have changed, but it seems like it’s not letting go of you quite yet.” I turn to the grits, and realize I’ve let them burn. “Crap,” I say, pulling the pan form the burner.
“Let me help—” Major tries to reach for the pan, but I shoo him away.
“Major, I think you should go,” I say. “Please.”
“But I—”
“No. Go, Major. Please.” I retreat, pull back into my shell for protection.
I made one promise to myself when I moved here — I would not let a man break my heart. And Major? He could crush it so easily.
Chapter Six
Major
I leave her cottage because she asked me to go, but even as I walk away, I know it’s the last time I will. Because when I see her again, I won’t leave room for doubt. I will make sure she understands me, my intentions. Even if I have to give up everything else. For her, I would give up anything.
When I walk into Grandma Trudy’s house, I see the peach roses I bought her yesterday afternoon in a vase on the counter. “Grandma?” I call out, looking for her in the house.
“I’m out here,” she hollers. She’s in the living room reading on her Kindle. I smile — she loves her stories. Though, one time I saw what she was downloading — some mountain man romance titled Timber — and I admit to blushing. But I figure she’s a grown ass woman and can read whatever the hell she wants. She certainly doesn’t need her grandson commenting.
I lean in and give her a kiss. “Do you need some tea?” I ask her.
“Oh no, Brittany was just here. She got me all taken care of.” Brittany is her nurse, who comes once a day. She’s been a godsend, especially while I was gone. Grandma gives me a long look. “What is it honey?”
Exhaling, I sit on the chair opposite her. “I met a girl. The girl.”
Her eyes raise and she sets her Kindle aside. “The girl?”
I nod, launching into how I met Myra, how I went to her place last night. “She makes mean fried chicken and the best sweet tea I’ve ever tasted.”
Grandma laughs softly. “You always did have an appetite.”
“It’s more than the food, though. It’s the way she makes me feel. When I was with her, I saw a future.”
“What are you doing here then, talking to me? I want to meet this girl.”
I groan, explaining how I left her place. “I wasn’t meaning to upset her. I wanted to see if she would take this chance with me. Go to L.A. for a few months.”
“Did you invite her explicitly?”
“No,” I say with a sigh. “But God, I’m going to. I came here to ask you for something. Something I know you’ve kept tucked away for me all these years. It’s time.”
“You sure?”
I nod. “I know without a shadow of a doubt Myra is the one for me.”
My grandma wipes a tear from her eyes. “I’m so happy for you, Major. But listen, you need to tell her that — not me.”
Myra
After Major leaves, I shower, cry my eyes out and wonder what in the world I was thinking. So what if he needs to leave for a few months for work? If he loves me and I love him, we can make long-distance work. Heck, we could make anything work.
I call my friend Lucia, who I met because she makes deliveries at the garden center. “Hey,” I say when she picks up. “So think