gut.
Was the red car Anthony’s? Had he come to his senses and came back to her? Did he have a change of heart and decide he wanted her after all? Was I too late to save the spark between us and win her back?
My heart sank as the thought that the things I’d done in the last two weeks had been for nothing.
I glanced past her and saw it wasn’t Anthony at all. No, it was her friend Melanie. I’d thought Melanie moved away from Cross Creek; had she come back?
“Hey, Noah,” Melanie said in an icy tone as she walked toward Kandra.
“Hello,” I rubbed at the back of my neck. I thought it was Anthony, and I’d been jealous. Angry even, and so afraid to lose Kandra.
Mel kissed Kandra’s cheek and spoke softly. “I’ll be at my parents’ house if you need me, and don’t forget what I told you.” With that, she slipped past me, out the front door, without so much as another look in my direction.
What had she told Kandra that was important for her not to forget? Those two were best friends back in the day, and Mel was always a good person and a good influence. Kandra trusted her.
I turned to look back at Kandra, only to find the door open and empty. Was it an invitation to come in? Why else would she have left the door open and walked away?
“Can I come in?”
With her back to me, she nodded, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Stepping inside, I closed the door behind me and turned to face her. She still had her back to me, and I sensed she was getting her bearings. When she turned around, her arms crossed her belly protectively, and my heart ached as I thought about her gearing up to protect herself from me.
Do you think I’d hurt you? I’d asked her not so long ago.
Not physically, she’d said in such a soulful, honest tone that it tore my heart to shreds. Now she was gearing up for more pain from me, and it stung. What was worse was I knew I deserved it because I hurt her, and I regretted that with every ounce of my being.
“I want to say I’m sorry.”
Her shoulders straightened, but she made no other indication she heard me. I didn’t mind if she wouldn’t look at me, because I knew she was listening to my words, and I planned to deliver them wisely.
“I’ve been fumbling through my whole life. I haven’t had a solid relationship since you left the first time.” I let out a nervous chuckle and raked my fingers through my hair before taking a step closer. I wanted to reach out, touch her shoulder, pull her into a hug, inhale her sweet scent, and kiss her soft cheek. “I know why now. It’s always been you. I’ve never been serious about anyone else because deep down, I’ve always known you were the one for me. If I couldn’t have you, I wouldn’t have anyone.”
I took another step forward. I was so close I could almost touch her, but I didn’t. “I want you in my life, and I finally figured it out. For that to happen, I need to accept everything about you. I need to embrace your joys, your heartbreaks, and your pregnancy … if you’re willing to share them with me.” I added that last part as doubt crept in because she still wasn’t looking at me.
Maybe this wasn’t going to work. I’d been deliberately cruel to her. Was I too late to fix this?
Reaching out, I gently touched her shoulders, and she turned and lifted her chin to face me. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Every bit I had been holding back broke, and I pulled her into my arms, wrapping her into a hug. Stroking her hair, I lowered my lips to her head and whispered another apology for hurting her and for being a dick and for screwing everything up so badly.
“I want to make it right, and for the past two weeks, I’ve been making plans.” My heart leaped. “I bought a home for us. The one we saw when we were horseback riding.” I squeezed my eyes closed as I thought about how I had to give up my current home and all its memories of Dad to make this purchase.
I’d still have those memories, even if I didn’t have the place they were tied to. So why did it