her. And his conversation had been an eye-opener.
Okay, so she wasn’t going to be able to micromanage her grandfather’s health forever. He was right about that. And she did have Felice to help her out, and she was always going to be just a phone call away.
And now that she’d burned down her love life, she was going to have to do something about that.
She’d been so incredibly stupid. She’d walked away from Rafe, from the one person she should have been leaning on this whole time. Instead, she’d pushed him away.
Would he even forgive her?
She looked at her grandfather. “What if Rafe doesn’t forgive me? I said some awful things to him.”
Her grandfather gave her a warm smile. “He loves you, Carmen. Of course he’ll forgive you.”
The noise in the garage grew louder.
She looked in that direction. “Someone’s in the garage.”
Her grandfather frowned and followed her to the door.
She inched open the door and saw Rafe out there, moving boxes and some of her furniture pieces around. Her heart did a hard leap. She closed the door and turned to her grandfather.
“It’s Rafe. Did you ask him to come over?”
“No.”
“What’s he doing out there?” She realized she was whispering.
Her grandfather shrugged. “No idea. Looked like he was organizing. Something the garage desperately needed. Maybe you should go talk to him.”
The thought of it made her stomach twist.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t be a coward.” He laid his hand on her back. “Go. Talk. Take your time. Felice and I can handle dinner.”
Talk about what? About how she’d screwed up the best thing that had ever happened to her?
“What will I say to him?”
No answer. She turned around to realize her grandfather had left.
Okay, Carmen, time to face what you did. She put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door.
He was carrying a box filled with stuff out to the driveway. She walked out there.
God, he looked so good in his shorts and tank top, his skin glistening with sweat.
She’d missed him. She loved him. More importantly, she needed him.
He looked up at her, glaring.
“Don’t argue with me about cleaning out your garage, Carmen. I’m just trying to help make more room for you to work on your furniture.”
“Uh-huh. And you just thought you’d come over here without asking and do this?”
“ Well . . . yeah. Because you’ve had enough time to think about how much you’ve missed me. And you have missed me, haven’t you?”
“Took you long enough to get over here. God, yes, I’ve missed you.” She threw herself against him and nearly knocked him to the floor. He steadied himself and put his arm around her.
“Whoa,” he said. “What’s this all about?”
She reached up and swept her hand across his jaw. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been so stupid. I broke up with you because I was scared that I couldn’t give enough time to caring for my grandpa, when all this time I should have been leaning on you to help me. I should have asked you to help me. Because when you love someone, it’s a partnership, both the good and the bad.”
“I believe you said that same thing to me when I went all silent and uncommunicative with you before.”
“You did. And I should have listened to my own advice. I love you, Rafe, and I need you and I want you and I’m begging you to forgive me for the awful things I said.”
He pulled her closer. “And I’m sorry it took me so long to come over here. I should have done it the day after you walked out on me, but I stupidly wanted to give you some time to cool off, to think about things and to take care of your grandpa. We can’t keep doing this. We have to find a way to communicate better.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I promise never to push you away again.”
“And I promise not to let you walk away from me again. And if you do, I’ll follow you to the end of the world.”
He kissed her, a soul-searing, powerful kiss that made the hair on the nape of her neck stand up. His hands roamed lower and cupped her butt, and she realized what she would have missed out on had she let this man go. Because when he held her like this, when he kissed her with such deep emotion, she knew exactly where she belonged. She raised up on her toes and aligned her body with his, needing him more than