I know now that I can’t even imagine going through the good times without you, let alone the bad.”
I laugh, brushing tears as quickly as they fall.
“I want to do this right, Haley. I want you to want me. I hope you’ll choose to trust me enough to need me, and I need your love. I thought for a long time I didn’t need love, but I do. And I need it from you, and even more, I need you to accept mine.” He swallows hard, his throat bobbing. “This feeling I’m scared of? It’s me, falling in love with you.”
There’s no stopping the tears that flood my face. He’s blurred from my vision as I openly cry.
I don’t try to fight it. Don’t try to stop it. Don’t try to do anything but believe that I’m capable of handling the choices I make.
He hands me a napkin.
I, TREVOR KELLY, PROMISE TO MAKE YOU, HALEY RAYNOR, FALL IN LOVE WITH ME EVERY DAY. AND I PROMISE TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU OVER AND OVER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
Tears blur my sight as I look up at this gorgeous, flawed, perfect man. “I love you, Trevor.”
“And I love you, pretty girl.”
EPILOGUE
HALEY
The bustle inside the newly minted Buds, Branches, and Books is beyond chaos. People come in for hot chocolate and to see what’s been going on behind the blacked-out windows for the last two months.
Christmas songs play softly on the speakers, a tree sits in the corner with little pieces of paper with the names of kids who need help this time of year. It’s more than I ever wanted it to be, and to see it finished, a plan coming to fruition, makes me want to burst at the seams.
“I told you this was going to be a hit.” Trevor wraps his arms around me from behind, nuzzling his face in the crook of my neck. “I’m so proud of you, Ohio.”
“It’s because of you.” I turn my face and brush my lips against his. “I’d tell you that you’re pretty special, but you already know that.”
“Yeah,” he jokes, “I do.”
“Hey,” I say, waving as Neely walks in with another woman. “This must be Grace.”
The short woman with beautiful eyes gives me a warm smile. “This place is adorable,” she gushes. “And yes, I’m Grace. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I’m Haley, if you didn’t know. And this is Trevor.”
I look at my man. The pride on his face as he looks down at me makes my heart skip a beat.
“Nice to meet both of you,” Grace says.
Neely looks around the store, her eyes wide. “Haley. Seriously. This is amazing.”
“Thanks. I’m pretty proud of it.”
“You should be,” she says. “It’s such a great thing for our town.”
Someone tugs on my hand. I look down to see Nathaniel peering up at me with a marshmallow stuck in his hair. “Miss Haley. Can I have more hot chocolate, please?”
“You sure can, buddy.”
“Let me take him,” Trevor says. “You talk to your friends.” He takes the boy’s hand and whispers something conspiratorially, making the child laugh.
My heart swells so big I think it’s going to explode. The more I learn about Trevor, the more I love him. He’s even sweeter with the kids than he is when he insists on taking Lorene to lunch on Saturdays. Watching him grow closer with his father and learn to like Meredith has been endearing, but the thing I love most is none of those. It’s the way he cares about everyone around him.
He stops to help people when they’re broken down on the side of the road. He leaves crazy tips for servers at restaurants when they go out of their way to be kind. He makes my coffee every morning and brings it to me in bed to help start my day off right.
It might’ve been his face that caught my attention and his wit that drew me in, but it’s his heart that keeps me around.
“If they grow men like that down here, I’m moving in,” Grace says, snapping my attention away from Trevor. “No offense, Haley. Or rather, congratulations.”
I can’t help but laugh as Neely sighs dramatically at her friend.
We stand in the middle of the entryway, at the point where the flower shop intersects with the new library. Of course, Meredith wasn’t about to let the town go without books. I think she blinked her eyes twice at Branson before he demanded I expand, on his dollar, and create something