Page 77 of From Grumpy to Forever
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Reid
What the fuck was she doing?
Jacob was not right.
Well, maybe he was.
In theory.
But screw theory. It didn’t matter.
Avery stepped away from me and toward her douchebag cousin. She was going to confess everything in front of the entire town, and I refused to let her throw away everything she—no, we—had worked so hard for.
She stood at the front of the crowd, her hands clenched at her side, her chin lifted in that stubborn way that left no room to guess what she was about to do.
The audience of shoppers and nosy townspeople were silent, hanging on every word, waiting for her to confirm everything Jacob had been saying all along—that our marriage was a lie. That she tricked them all.
And I was only an innocent bystander in this mess.
Like hell I was.
Before she could open her mouth and say the words that would destroy everything, I moved.
“No.” My voice rang out, cutting through the gloomy mid-morning air, through the weight of her guilt and right through the distance between us.
“Reid.” She turned and looked at me, her eyes imploring. “Don’t?—”
“No,” I repeated, firmer this time, looking straight at her—not the crowd; not Judge Baker, who I thought I saw from the corner of my eye, pushing his way through the crowd for a better view; not Jacob, who was no doubt fuming and purple in the face.
It was just her. I only had eyes for Avery.
“You don’t get to do this,” I told her. “You don’t get to take the fall for something that isn’t a lie.”
Her breath hitched; her shoulders rose and fell in despair. Her lips parted but I didn’t give her the chance to speak. Because I needed to say this. I should have said it ages ago. Hell, I should’ve said it a long damn time ago.
“You want to tell them our marriage was fake?” I shook my head, stepping closer, eyes locked on hers. “Then explain to me why you’re the first thing I think about when I wake up. Tell me why I catch myself looking for you whenever you’re not near. Why every single time you smile at me, it feels like my world makes sense, even if it’s only for a second.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd, but I didn’t hear them. I only saw her—Avery, the love of my life, standing there, looking at me like she couldn’t decide whether to run away or throw herself into my arms.
Jacob stepped forward, trying to interrupt. “This is ridiculous. You’ve just admitted it was a fake marriage. You’re in breach of the conditions of the will. You’ve?—”
“Shut up, Jacob,” I snapped in his direction. It only took one look from me for him to shrink back. “I’m busy right now, but I will shut you up myself if I have to.”
A few people laughed, but I didn’t care about that either.
I refocused on the only thing that mattered and took another step toward Avery, my voice dropping, softening. “You drive me crazy, Avery. In all the best possible ways. You’re a menace with a shovel, and I’m not sure you’ll make it as a painter.”
Her lips twitched a little, but still, she didn’t smile.
“But that’s one of the best parts of you. You don’t care if you’re the best at it…you just want to do it. You will do everything and anything it takes to bring the inn back to life because you care so much that you can’t imagine any other option.”
I saw the way she sucked in a breath and her hand pressed flat on her chest.
“But what you don’t see is that you’ve already brought it back to life,” I continued. “Yes, it still needs some more paint, and the gardens are a mess right now and there’s an endless list of things we still need to get to, but none of that matters. You’ve already achieved what you set out to do, no matter what happens, Avery. You did it. The moment you set foot in the Tamarack Inn again, or more specifically, the moment I shoved you through the window,” I winked and finally, she smiled, “that was the moment that place came back to life.”
A single tear slipped down her cheek. I wanted more than anything to go to her and wipe it away, but I needed to finish.
