Seriously?Did everyone know about her and Nate? Had Nana Holmes told him? Had he seen her taking her walk of shame out of his room this morning?
Questions were still filling her mind as he continued, “Didn’t you two run around in high school together?”
Oh, that Holmes boy.
His bushy salt and pepper eyebrows drew together. “I saw you cutting a rug last night. I thought maybe you two were lightin’ an old flame, maybe you’d be the next one to walk down that aisle.”
“Oh no!” she laughed sardonically as she shook her head. “Nope. No old flames being lit. And I already walked down the aisle. Twice. I don’t plan on doing it again. The third time is not going to be the charm, because it will never happen. I’m single and I’ll be single till death do I part. No more weddings. No more marriages. No more fellas. I have been there done that. I will not be walking down any aisles with anyone, especially that Holmes boy. We are friends. That’s it. Nothing more.”
As soon as her rant was over she realized that was a textbook example of TMI. She wasn’t sure why she’d blurted that all out. Probably just overcompensating for how she had thought that the third time would be the charm and she had wanted to walk down the aisle with the other Holmes boy.
“Well, good,” Grandpa J leaned back in his chair, not at all fazed by her outburst. “Cause’ I always thought that boy was as slippery as snot on a glass doorknob and I was afraid I was going to have to talk some sense into you, young lady.”
Eliza laughed at Grandpa J’s description of Neil.
“Now that brother of his is another story.” He casually threw out before opening his book. He looked down as if he was reading and said, “The difference between those boys is some men talk when they have something to say, others talk because they’ve got to say something. I’ll tell you this, when the former talks, make sure you listen.” He lifted his head and winked before resuming his book reading.
She’d love to “listen to the former” but that would be difficult since he’d left without even saying goodbye. And she didn’t have his phone number. So yeah, that wasn’t really an option.
Since that was the case, she did what she could and appreciated the beautiful flowers and what they represented in her life as she waited for the front desk person to return. And also tried her best not to think about the man that only talked when he had something to say, because then she just thought about all the things he’d never said.
***
Nate’s cheeks actually hurt as he passed the sign that read Welcome to Whisper Lake. He didn’t think he’d stopped smiling since Eliza had fallen asleep in his arms just a few hours ago. Since she’d come back into his life he found himself doing that a lot. Smiling. And he hoped that the surprise he had planned would mean he’d get a lot more chances to do just that.
Last night, while Eliza had slept snuggled against him, he’d tried to relax and sleep or relax and just hold her, but he hadn’t been able to do either. Yes, they’d cleared the air last night and he’d told her something that he’d been carrying around with him for decades. But there was something else he’d done that he hadn’t told her and his predictive mind had been working overtime calculating possible reactions to it. With each new potential response, he got more excited and more awake.
Since he couldn’t sleep, he’d decided to drive back to Harper’s Crossing to get a jumpstart on their future. He’d left at three a.m. and it was four hours round trip plus the hour that it had taken him to ready the surprise he had for Eliza.
He tapped his thumb against the steering wheel as he turned off the main road. The truck bounced and he glanced at the clock on the dash as he drove the winding road that led to the castle. It was eight fifteen. He’d make it back with time to spare before breakfast ended at ten.
He wondered if Eliza was still asleep. If she wasn’t, he’d left a note on the nightstand telling her he had to take care of something and he’d be back soon. He didn’t think that had happened though, because he’d not only written his phone number on the note, he’d also programmed it into her phone and asked her to text him if she woke up and he hadn’t received any messages.
Best-case scenario, he would be able to climb back into bed with Eliza. Not because he was tired or needed sleep. With Eliza in his bed, sleep was the last thing on his mind. They would make love, grab something to eat and head back home.
Worst-case scenario, she was awake and had just forgotten to text him. If so, they would eat breakfast, go back up to pack, make love and head back home.
Either way, they would be eating, making love and going home. All that changed was the order in which they occurred. And he had a service on hold to drive her car back, if she wanted to ride back with him. Or the service could drive his truck back if she wanted him to drive back with her. He didn’t care, as long as they were together.
The four-hour trip had given him a lot of time to think about last night. About what they’d both been carrying around for so long. As upset at he was over the time that they’d wasted, he was done living in the past. He wanted to look towards the future.
He pulled up in front of Stone Castle and flashes of him and Eliza visiting here, for years to come, popped into his mind. He pictured them getting married here. Honeymooning here.
It wasn’t Paris or Italy or any of the other romantic locations people dreamed about visiting or honeymooning at, but this place, this town would always be special to him. He’d never been sentimental when it came to locations or buildings. They were just geography and bricks and wood. But Whisper Lake and Stone Castle would always have a place in his heart because of what he and Eliza had shared here.
It shouldn’t surprise him that he’d feel the way he did. He was starting to recognize a pattern. Eliza made him feel things he didn’t even know he could. She had always and would always break all his rules.
As he started down the path to the main entrance he heard a familiar sound. It was Eliza and she was laughing. He stepped around the gate and saw that she and The Colonel were sitting in the garden facing the castle. Their backs were to him. He started to walk over but heard something that stopped him in his tracks.
Eliza’s voice was clear as day. “I already walked down the aisle. Twice. I do not plan on doing it again. The third time is not going to be the charm, because it will never happen. I am single and I will be single till death do I part. No more weddings. No more marriages. No more fellas. I have been there done that. I will not be walking down any aisles with anyone, especially that Holmes boy. We are friends. That’s it. Nothing more.”
He stood for a moment staring and then went totally numb. When he heard The Colonel say, “Good.” He turned and walked away.
Less than one minute. That’s how long it had taken for his world to implode around him. The future he thought he’d finally have to be obliterated. The girl he’d always loved and wanted to marry to shatter his heart in a million pieces.
Once again, he hadn’t been able to predict what Eliza would say and do. He’d thought that her not being in bed would be the worst possible outcome.
He was wrong.