“There you are.”
Blake froze. His heart skipped a beat at the sound of that distinctive raspy voice. The one he had fallen in love with the minute he heard it—way back at The Burnt Bean—before he loved her kids. Before the toilet fiasco, the Garwood hotel disaster, or the night they danced under an indigo sky.
He swiveled around, afraid the sound was merely a figment of his imagination. But when his eyes met hers, he drunk her in. She wore a little black dress that scooped at the neck and cinched at her waist. The skirt swished above her knees as she walked. Clenching the counter behind him was all he could to stop himself from running to her and dragging her into his arms.
He cleared his throat. “What are you doing here? Where are the kids?”
She stopped, and the corners of her lips curled ever so slightly. “Your brother is showing them some of the bikes in the back. He saw me come and offered. . .” she trailed off, wringing her hands in front of her chest.
“I should’ve gone to the party with you,” he said because he was weak. Watching her fall for someone else was better than missing her entirely.
“No.” She shook her head, and her eyes pinched as she glanced away. When she turned to him again, they were filled with tears. “I was wrong, and you were right. Well, partly. I don’t still love Craig. I haven’t for a long time, maybe the moment he walked out that door. But I—” Her voice cracked, and she took a moment to compose herself. “The night he came back reminded me of all the reasons love can hurt. It reminded me of what I had to lose by trusting you, and my walls went up. Right or wrong, with him gone, it was easy to ignore my fears. But with him there and the reminder staring at me right in the face, it brought back the memory of all that pain. I can’t go through that again. If we stayed together for a while and then I lost you, too, I—”
“That would never happen.” Blake’s heart beat against his ribs as he took a step closer.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” She didn’t love Craig. Not at all. “The only way I’m leaving is if you want rid of me.”
“But today. . .”
“A stupid move,” he took another step, “that I regretted the moment I left. A dumb decision I made because I, too, was scared that you could love him again. That I’d lose you and the kids before I ever really had you.”
Mel choked on a sob, and Blake reached out, gently wiping the tears that trickled down her cheeks. “I love you,” he whispered. “I think I loved you from the moment you tripped over Brady and spilled coffee all over my crotch.”
Mel barked out a laugh. “Really?”
“Really.” He leaned toward her and brushed his lips over her cheek, tasting the salt of her tears.
“I love you, too,” she whispered. “I think I knew the moment you fixed my toilet.”
Now it was his turn to laugh. He clutched his stomach, the relief of it flooding in his veins. “Aren’t we the romantic pair.”
Mel smiled up at him as he brought their hands together, in between them, intertwining their fingers. “Whatever happens with Craig and the kids, we’ll figure it out together. We’ll make it work, and I’ll be there for you every step of the way. No more going it alone.”
Mel exhaled with a smile before it faded and she bit her lip. “About that. . . It’s yet to be seen whether Craig will actually stick around. As it turns out, a very prestigious hotelier offered him a job out of the blue. A week ago, to be exact. That’s the real reason he came back.”
Blake frowned as he absorbed this new information. “Garwood?” When she nodded in response, he scowled. “You think he did that because—”
“I don’t know why he did it. I mean, obviously, his motive had to do with you. Maybe he thought if Craig returned, whatever we had would end. But does it matter why?” she asked, staring up at him, her expression tight as she waited for his response.
“No. Nothing matters, but this,” he said, brushing his lips over the back of her hand.
“My guess is Craig will be gone by the end of the week, but if he’s not, we’ll handle it together.”
Blake grinned. “Together,” he murmured, then he leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers.
“Ewwww, Mommy’s kissed Mr. B!” Peter screamed.
Blake chuckled against Mel’s mouth, as he leaned away from her, and they both turned to find Brady and Peter staring at them with wide eyes, while Kinsley grinned. Behind them, Grant flashed Blake a thumb’s up, to which he rolled his eyes and whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Mel, “I think we’ve been busted.”
Mel giggled. “I guess so,” she said, then turned and kissed him again. This time, on the cheek.
EPILOGUE
BLAKE
ONE YEAR LATER . . .