“Drink it,” he demanded as I walked back into the front room where everyone was still gathered, shock on all their faces.
I looked around for Bianca, my eyes frantic when I couldn’t find her.
“Where’s B?” I asked Shay. Her face was a blotchy mess, and tears welled in her eyes.
“She left. She ran out after you and Bryce led my dad away. She said she wasn’t sticking around any longer and that it had been a mistake for her to come home.” Shay sobbed as she spoke, her shoulders shaking. “This is all my fault. I made her come here tonight.”
“It’s not your fault, Shay,” I reassured her. “I have to go find her.”
Shay nodded, hurrying towards the kitchen, her face set with determination. As I walked out the front door, I saw my brother take Shay’s arm and lead her away from the kitchen. I hoped he could keep her from ripping her father a new one.
I ran out the front door, looking around. Bianca was nowhere to be found. I hurried to my truck, starting the engine quickly, then headed down the long driveway. She couldn’t have gotten far on foot, not in the snow with heels on. I had to find her before it was too late and I lost her forever.
17
Bianca
I had to get away from there, fast. Another shiver wracked my body and I wrapped my arms around myself. It had been stupid to run out without my coat, but I wasn’t going back into that house for anything. My new suede knee-high boots sank into the fresh snow that packed the gravel driveway, but I kept walking. I had likely ruined the boots and was probably going to get frostbite, but my father’s words hurt more than any of it. He really thought I was trying to ruin them, to stir up the family and tarnish their name in town. What he failed to realize, was that until I told Garrett about what I’d discovered, I had never spoken another word about it to anyone.
The roar of an engine sounded behind me and I turned, blinded by truck headlights. It was Garrett.
“Get in the truck, Bianca,” he barked at me through the window.
I shook my head. My stubborn streak ran deep.
“Dammit, B, get in the truck!” He threw the truck in park, hopped out and ran up next to me.
“Why, Garrett? So that you can bring me back to that awful house and my father can verbally abuse me again? No, I won’t go back.” I shook my head vehemently without stopping to look at him.
“No. I want to take you home. Let me get your coat and purse first, okay?” His voice softened and he put a hand on my arm, pulling me towards the truck.
I didn’t want to go with him, not because I thought he would make me go back to the house, but because I felt like a fool. But, if I was being honest, I couldn’t feel my feet or hands and I couldn’t stop shivering. I let him put me into the passenger side, my hands immediately going to the hot air blowing out of the vents. When he got back into the pickup, he backed up the driveway, threw it in park, and ran inside. My chest clenched as he left me sitting there, worrying that someone would come out to finish me off with more cruel words.
Garrett ran back out with my coat and purse over his arm. He hopped in the truck and took off down the driveway. I wanted to ask him what had happened after I left the house, but I didn’t need to hear more of the awful lies my father was spewing.
“I don’t think I can stick around any longer,” I finally said as we made our way to his house.
Garrett whipped his head towards me, swerving the truck as he did so. “What? No. You can’t leave now. Tomorrow is Christmas.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t stay here any longer. Not after my father accused me of trying to sabotage my own family. I’m leaving tonight.”
“Tonight?” Garrett’s voice came out strangled, like he was holding back a scream.
He turned into his driveway, putting the car in park before he turned to me.
“You can’t leave tonight, Bianca. Stay, one more night, and if you still feel the same way in the morning, then go.”
There was desperation in his eyes as he pleaded with me. Garrett was the only reason I had to stay anymore. Even though I loved my sister, if she kept trying to reconcile my father and me, I would fall apart. But, for Garrett, I would stay one more night.
Then leave first thing in the morning.
The smell of coffee woke me from what had been a fitful sleep. I had tossed and turned for several hours, finally able to fall asleep after Garrett pulled me into his arms and soothed me with his body. A pang gripped my chest as I thought about how I would say goodbye to Garrett this morning. On Christmas Day.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I stood up and padded to my suitcase to find something warmer than a t-shirt and underwear to throw on. I pulled on a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt, throwing my hair up in topknot. A soft meow came from the doorway and my eyes landed on Fawn as she slinked into the room. She wound around my legs, mewing and purring as if to tell me to come downstairs.
“Merry Christmas to you, too, Fawn,” I said, scratching her head.
“Merry Christmas, Bianca,” Garrett said from the doorway.
I stood back up, crossing my arms over my chest protectively. He was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, his hair wet like he had showered this morning, and the beard he had shaved last night already growing back. I longed to run my hands over it, to feel the scratchiness against my own face. But I kept my distance, not wanting to make it harder than it had to be for me to leave.
“Merry Christmas,” I muttered the words quietly.
“I made breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Are you hungry?” There was hope in his eyes, hope I didn’t want to dash but knew I had to.
My stomach dropped. “Garrett, I can’t. I have to go.”
He closed his eyes, turning away from me for a moment. When he turned back, his face was unreadable. He was shutting down on me.
“I knew you were going to leave, eventually, I just didn’t realize it would be after only a week.” He shook his head.
“Garrett, please. Don’t make this harder than it has to be. You know this isn’t about you. This last week with you has been the best week I’ve had in over ten years. But there’s too much pain and loss here for me in Gandy’s Ridge. I can’t stay here.”
Garrett took a deep breath. “You keep saying none of this is about me, that it wasn’t about me in the past. But it’s not independent of me. I thought we had something real after that night in my truck, but you left, without a word or a call or even an email. Now, you’re doing it again. If you hadn’t spent the night with me, you’d have left already without a backward glance. When you care about someone, you don’t leave them when things are hard, you lean on them to get you through hard times. Together.” Garrett pivoted on his heel, stomping down the stairs, leaving me alone with my guilt and shame.
I packed up my suitcase, not realizing how much I had made myself at home in his house until I had to gather all of my belongings. Once everything was shoved back in my suitcase, I lifted it and brought it downstairs. Garrett was in the kitchen, his head bowed over his cup of coffee. My chest ached at the sight of him—rounded broad shoulders I wanted to wrap my arms around were hunched in defeat.
I managed to hurt more people by coming home than I had by leaving in the first place.
“Garrett,” I said his name softly, but he jumped like I had shouted.
“Leaving?” He eyed my suitcase, defeat in his eyes.
“I never meant to hurt you,” I said lamely.
Garrett shrugged. “I bought you a gift. But I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
I gasped as he handed me a large box wrapped in festive paper.
He motioned towards the box. “Open it before you go.”
I set down my suitcase, picked up the box, and ripped the paper off. Inside was a gift box, which I set on the table before pulling off the lid. My eyes filled with tears at what I saw. It was a photo, black and white, of Main Street in Gandy’s Ridge. Even though it was black and white, you c
ould tell it was lit up and decorated for Christmas, the windows lit with strings of multicolored lights. There was snow on the ground and people walking down the streets. At the very top of the photo was the town square, which was at the far end of Main Street, and held a large Christmas tree. It was beautiful and captured the essence of Gandy’s Ridge during the holidays perfectly.
“Garrett, I love it.” Tears clouded my vision as I turned to him.
He stood up, directly in front of me, so close I could feel his body heat. I wanted to fall into his arms and wrap mine around his back, but he stood stock still and indifferent. He’d closed himself off from me.
“I thought you could hang it up in your apartment at home to remember what Christmas was like in Gandy’s Ridge.” He shrugged again, hurt evident in his eyes.
“I don’t know what else to say, Garrett. Thank you. I’ll do just that.” I wanted to tell him more, to tell him that this week was not only the best week in ten years, but likely in my whole life. That being with him was like finally being able to breathe, but the words formed a thick lump in my throat.
“You’ve said all you can say. I won’t try to convince you to stick around anymore.” Just when I thought he was going to walk away from me, he stepped closer, his arms going to my waist. I looked up at him, tears making my vision blur. “I will say one last thing, though. It’s the thing I have been forcing myself not to say for a week. It’s the thing I thought would scare you away, but since you’re already leaving, it doesn’t matter. I love you, Bianca, I think I always have. But if that’s not enough to make you stay in Gandy’s Ridge, if the prospect of a life with me doesn’t change your mind, then nothing will.” He leaned down, his mouth brushing over mine gently before releasing me and walking away out the back door.
I stood there for several minutes, watching him as he disappeared around the side of the house into a large shed. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe. Everything was falling apart around me. Garrett had just told me he loved me, knocking my whole world off its axis.
But then he let me go.
Gandy’s Ridge wasn’t just the place that destroyed my family. It was also the place that left my heart in shreds.
Snapping out of my stupor, I gathered my suitcase and the box with my framed photo and walked to the front door. With one last look around the house that was decorated from wall to wall but held no more Christmas magic, I left behind Gandy’s Ridge and Garrett forever.
18
Bianca
My phone rang from where I had propped it in my cup holder as I pulled out onto the main road. I ignored it. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. The ringing stopped before immediately starting up again. With a sigh, I accepted the call on my car’s Bluetooth without checking who it was.
“Hello?”
“B? It’s Shay. Are you okay? I’ve been trying to call you since last night but your phone must have been dead or something because it kept going right to voicemail.” My sister’s voice rang through the car and a fresh pang gripped me.
“I’m fine, Shay. But I’m leaving.” It was like ripping off a band aid.
“What? Leaving? What about Garrett? What about Mom?” Her voice sounded frantic.
“Shay, calm down. After what Dad said about me, in front of everyone, I can’t stay anymore. I’m done trying. Let him blame me for everything that happened because I’m done arguing,” I said the words carefully because I didn’t want to hurt my sister, but I had to let her know I was really done this time.
“Before you leave, can you meet me at the diner? I have something to give you,” she asked me, her voice tentative.
I let out a loud growling sigh. “I really have to get on the road, Shay.”
“Please, Bianca. It’s a Christmas gift. I want to see your face when you open it, I can’t just mail it to you.”
I could never say no to Shay. “Fine. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
We disconnected the call and I made a U-turn. This had better be good.
All eyes shot to me as I walked into the diner. Mrs. Harrison ran over, gripping me in an encompassing hug without saying a word. She wasn’t working but was there anyway. On Christmas Day, the diner hosted an open house for those who didn’t have large families to come and have brunch and dinner. Mrs. Harrison had been running it for as long as I could remember.
“How are you feeling, dear?” she asked me as she pulled out of the embrace.
“I’m fine.”
She searched my face but didn’t respond. With a last pat to my arm, she walked away. I found my sister in “our” booth in the back. She hopped up and grabbed me in a tight hug.
“I’m so sorry about last night. Dad was so drunk, not that that’s an excuse for his behavior. Mom reamed him this morning. She told him if he didn’t get his drinking under control, he had to leave. He’s been drinking off and on for years but refuses to get help. She gave him an ultimatum, B. If he doesn’t go to AA and get himself sober, he’s gone.”
I shrugged. It didn’t matter. I wouldn’t be around to see him fall apart again and try to take me down with him.
“Mom also told him that if he didn’t apologize to you for last night and for the last ten years, he could get a permanent room at the B and B.”
That got my attention. Mom never went against anything my father said. She hadn’t in the past.
“Did she really say that?”
Shay nodded. “I was right there when she told him. He was so chagrined about the whole thing, B. He apologized to both of us profusely and said he would fix it.”
“Fix what?” What did Shay mean?
“Everything. He admitted to being a jerk with you, told Mom and me that he was going to apologize to you and make it up to all of us.”
I looked at her in surprise.
“He was the one who said he had a Christmas gift for us all and to meet him at the diner at eleven.”
“What?!” I was here because my father had summoned me?
I had to leave. Now.
“Shay, I have to go. I can’t be here when Dad gets here. What if he picks up where he left off last night? What if he rips into me worse than before?” I stood up, panic gripping my stomach.
“Sit down, Bianca.”
The voice came from the front of the diner. It was my dad.
19
Garrett
“We never go to the open house at the diner. Why this year?” I asked my mom as we walked in.
She waved my comment away. “Garrett, we don’t always do the same things every year.”
I looked at Bryce but he shrugged. Apparently, he was just as much in the dark as I was. The place was packed, more than I had ever seen it before. It seemed like everyone from the town was there. Then I spotted her, in the back in a booth with her sister.
Bianca.
She had left my house less than an hour ago to leave town, but she was here, in the diner, with her sister. What was going on?
“Sit down, Bianca,” Mr. Townsend’s voice boomed through the diner.
My hackles went up and I took a step towards him. What was he going to do to her now?
Bianca caught my eye, terror in her gaze. Was this something her father had set up to humiliate her in front of everyone in town?
“Mr. Townsend, I think you need to hold up a minute,” I said, taking a step towards him with my hand up.
“Not now, son. There are a few things I need to get out in the open, get off my chest. There are people I have to apologize to.”
His words made me freeze.
Apologize?
“First, let me start by saying I wouldn’t be here doing this if my wife and Shay hadn’t talked some sense into me this morning. I want to apologize first to both of them for the trouble I caused last night. I also want to extend that apology to the Alexander, Donahue, and Harrison families. I was out of line and for that I’m sorry. But the person I owe the biggest apology to is my daughter Bianca.”
My eyes
flicked to where Bianca sat. Surprise and shock evident on her face. She seemed frozen, immovable.
“Bianca,” Mr. Townsend continued. “I am so sorry for all of the grief, heartache, and pain I’ve caused you over the last ten years. The way I have treated you, as your father, is reprehensible. I take full responsibility for everything. Including what happened with Shay that summer. I have something to confess to everyone, and even though I know you all won’t likely forgive me for keeping it from you for so long, it needs to be said. I’ve been keeping secrets for too long.”
Mr. Townsend outlined exactly what Bianca had told me that day in my truck. He told everyone about his sister, how he met her and where she came from. Then he told everyone about Shay, and how she came to be his adopted daughter. Tears ran from his eyes as he explained that even though she wasn’t his biological daughter, she was never anything less than his. My eyes landed on Bianca as he spoke. She and Shay were gripping each other, tears falling from their eyes as their father spoke.
“Go to her,” my mother whispered in my ear.
I looked at her with surprise and she gave me a little shove in the right direction. When Mr. Townsend wrapped up his speech, everyone was silent for a long time. I caught Bianca’s eye again. Remorse and regret were evident in her gaze, even from so far away. Not caring anymore what anyone thought, because “fuck ‘em”, I pushed my way through the diner to get to her.
She stood up quickly as I approached, closing the distance between us.
“Don’t say anything,” she said, placing a finger on my lips. “I owe you an apology, Garrett Townsend. For over ten years, you’ve been nothing but a friend to me, supporting me and loving me despite everything I’ve done wrong. I was wrong to leave all those years ago without contacting you, and even more wrong to leave this morning without telling you what I had been trying not to tell you this whole week. I love you. I’ve always loved you. Since that night in your truck ten years ago.”
Rekindled: A Holiday Romance Page 9
