Four Weddings and a Swamp Boat Tour - Erin Nicholas Page 0,92

pellets bounced off her coat—that had spent the past two-and-a-half months in the back seat because she certainly hadn’t needed it in Louisiana… a thought that made her feel like crying all over again.

“I’m asking you what the fuck you think honking at me is going to do?” she yelled.

“Are you all right?” the man asked.

Paige felt her eyes widen. “Seriously? Seriously? What the hell kind of question is that? I’m…”

But instead of yelling about being stuck in the snow or stressed out about driving in a blizzard or being three hours away from Appleby and certain to miss Piper’s wedding, she said, “I’m completely in love for the first time in my life, and he thinks it’s all just for fun. Or rather, he thinks I think it’s all just for fun. Because that’s all I’ve ever wanted it to be before. But he’s different, and I want to be with him, and it’s okay that I’m going to this wedding alone. We don’t have to do everything together. And yeah, I’ve got some shit I need to work out with my family, and maybe it’s better if he’s not there while I do that. But I still should have told him that I love him. But I didn’t. I just left. I left and didn’t tell him I love him.”

The man was staring at her now, and Paige realized she had tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Do you need a push?” the man finally asked.

Did she need a push? She most certainly did. Apparently. She needed someone to push her to realize that she was going to have to be the one to reach out to Mitch. Even if he loved her—the thought made her heart flip—he wouldn’t say it first. He wouldn’t even come home with her to spend time with her family. He wouldn’t do anything that might spook her.

“I definitely need a push,” she told the man. Fuck, she was tired of being spooked. Of thinking that everyone had ulterior motives. Of worrying that someone was going to take something she said or did the wrong way.

The man in the truck sighed and pulled on gloves. Then he rolled up his window and opened his door.

“Okay, let’s get you unstuck.”

Unstuck. That was what she needed. She needed to be unstuck from all the fears about disappointing people and worrying about their expectations. She needed to get out of the rut of assuming people wanted more than she could give. Maybe she could give more. Or maybe not, and they’d just have to be okay with that. But she needed to not be afraid of it. She needed to be upfront and honest and trust that the people who loved her, would love her no matter what.

And if people asked her to marry them, and she didn’t want to, she’d just keep saying no. Even if it happened twenty more times.

Of course, if Mitch wanted to ask, then she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else asking because she’d say yes.

That made her heart stop for a second.

She’d say yes if Mitch proposed?

But she realized instantly that yes, she absolutely would.

“Miss?” the man in the truck asked. “Do you have a shovel or sand in your car?”

She shook her head. “No.”

The man frowned at her license plate. “You’re from Iowa.”

“Yes. But I’ve been staying in Louisiana.”

“You should still know better than to drive in this weather without a shovel or sand.”

Paige rolled her eyes. “I’ve been in Louisiana. I had no idea that I was going to hit this weather.”

“You got a weather app on your phone?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Does that really matter right now? I need a push. You able to do that or not?”

The man sighed. “Well—” He looked around. “Is there anyone else who can push you?”

Not really. Her mother had been pushing her for years, and it had just made Paige dig her heels in. Her sisters too. She was more stuck because of the pushing rather than less. The guys she dated pushed for more than she wanted to give, and it made her turn and run in the opposite direction.

But there was one person who pushed her. In a really good way.

By not pushing at all.

She nodded. “Mitch.”

She knew he didn’t mean to push her. In fact, she’d bet he felt strongly that he shouldn’t push her. But that was what she needed most. He made her want him, showed her everything she could have with him, and then sat