Char prodded her too. “Come on, Phil. You can’t leave the detective and Merrick like that.”
Mom hung her head. “Oh, fine! Linda knows how I feel.”
I nodded. “I do, Mom. Now, please? Before time runs out?”
She groaned, then held her hands in front of herself and slowly rolled her fingers backwards over one another. The people in the room all began to move backwards. She spun her fingers faster until I saw Merrick and Mark moving backwards towards the door.
“Time for you to go now, sweetheart. Bye-bye,” she said and snapped her fingers.
Time seemed to freeze in my mind. Everything around me was enveloped in a thick cloudy haze. The fire hall fell away and so did my mother and her friends. The next thing I knew, I had snapped out of my fog, and I found myself back inside of Rawley’s with three partially filled wineglasses in front of me.
My eyes widened as I glanced up at the Miller Lite clock on the wall. Seven fifty. She’d done it! Mom had rewound the clock back to before the incident.
“Linda!” said Mark from behind me.
My heart raced anxiously as I glanced at the three glasses of wine and then at Mark. What was I supposed to do?
He stopped moving. His face went completely somber, his eyes wide.
“Hi, Mark.”
8
Mark’s heart filled his eyes. “Linda,” he breathed in barely a whisper. “I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful in my entire life. You look like an angel.”
Even though he’d already said those words to me earlier in the evening, they still warmed me. I felt myself blushing. “Thank you, Mark. You look great too.”
He enveloped both of my hands in his thick, muscular ones, and I suddenly felt safe and protected. Like I was home. “No. I mean it. I’d hate to be the man that loses you. My world might be crushed, to be honest.”
And suddenly it hit me. He didn’t need to worry about it. Because I couldn’t see myself not picking him. He was my comfortable pair of shoes. My incredibly sexy, comfortable pair of shoes.
“Good evening, Linda,” said Merrick from behind me.
I spun to look at Merrick, with his dark eyes and his staggering good looks. Oh yes, he was mysterious and charming, but I had to be honest with myself. He was the good-looking, comfortable shoe that I’d held on to for so long that it wasn’t comfortable anymore. Maybe my feet had grown. Maybe the shoes had changed over time.
Merrick was my past and that gave him an element of comfort, but like my mom had said, I would never be with the right person if I couldn’t let the wrong one go. For years, I had been clinging to my memories of our past relationship. I’d built him up in my mind as this perfect man. Someone I’d measured other men in my life against! But in truth, I only knew the youthful version of Merrick. I didn’t know anything about the man that he’d become. Which made him the riskier choice by a landslide.
“Merrick!” I breathed, my heart in my throat. “I need to talk to you!” I turned to look at Mark for a moment but was disheartened to see his face drop. “I’ll talk to you next, Mark. Okay?”
He nodded, but I could see that it was hard for him to know I’d picked Merrick to speak to first.
“The stars are lovely tonight,” said Merrick. “Shall we go for an evening stroll? We can hear the music from the dance hall.”
I gave him a tight grin. This was going to be difficult. “Sure, that would be nice.”
He nodded, and we walked hand in hand outside. Strolling along the sidewalk, my high heels clicking dully on the pavement, I didn’t know how to begin. The words seemed lodged in my throat.
“You know, it’s been so long since we’ve gotten to be together like this,” began Merrick, his tone full of eager hopefulness.
I stopped walking, tugging his hand, which made him stop walking too. He turned to me.
“Merrick,” I began.
His eyes shone as he took both of my hands. He was ready to hear what I had to say. “Yes, darling?”
I let out a nervous breath and suddenly felt like one of the women on The Bachelorette having to let down one of her eligible suitors. I had to push on. “Merrick, we have the kind of history that books are written about.”
He gave a small chuckled and nodded his head. “Yes, we do.”
“We share a child together.”
“A handsome son. Reign is spectacular,” he agreed. “I can’t wait to get to know him better.”
I squeezed his hands. “But what we had all those years ago—that’s in the past.”
Merrick lowered his brows. “But we could…”
I shook my head. I couldn’t let him finish. “No. I don’t think it’s healthy to go backwards. We’re different people now. We’re both adults now. We were just kids then. It was young love. Puppy love.”
“Linda, what I feel for you isn’t puppy love.”
“Merrick, how can you say that? You don’t even know me anymore. You know the girl that I was. You know that I’m the mother of your son and you feel a certain way about that. I know that, because I have felt the same way. I think you’ll always have a place in my heart because you’re Reign’s father, but it’s not enough for an adult relationship.”
“But it could be if you’d just give us a chance!” he pleaded.
“I had to make a decision, Merrick. It’s the right thing to do. For years I’ve been holding on to my first love, and because of that I haven’t ever really let anyone else in. I’m ready to let someone else in. And he’s in that bar right now, waiting for me. I’m sorry, Merrick, but I choose Mark.”
A dark shadow passed over Merrick’s eyes. “He’s not good enough for you, Linda.”
I wiped away a pair of tears that found their way onto my cheeks. “Oh, but he is, Merrick. I know that can’t be easy to hear. And I’m sorry. I think this decision has taken me so long because I couldn’t bear to hurt you. But now I know that saying goodbye is the only way either one of us will ever be able to be truly happy.”
He looked down at the ground. “You think you’ll be happy, huh?”
I sighed. “I do.”
He looked up again and cleared his throat. Then he leaned forward and placed a kiss on my cheek. He smiled bitterly. “Well, I know this is hard on you. So I won’t make it any more difficult. I’ll go. For now. But know that I’m not far away, and I can’t promise that I’m giving up completely.”
“Merrick…”
He put a finger on my lips to silence me.
“Good night, Linda.”
“Good night, Merrick.”
9
My heart pounded crazily in my chest as I watched Merrick disappear into the shadows. Even though he was disappointed and hurt, I knew I’d done the right thing. I turned to look at the bar behind me. Mark was inside waiting for me.
That was when it hit me for the first time that I got to go inside and be with him! I felt like an elephant had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt lighter and more buoyant than I had in months. In years!
With an ear-to-ear smile plastered on my face, I practically skipped back into the bar. My heart pulsed to the rhythm of the music inside. Inside, I found Mark still seated at our table.
“Can I sit?” I asked him nervously, my smile now faded to mirror my trepidation.
“Of course. I hope you don’t mind. I drank some of the wine you ordered.”
I smiled at the two empty glasses, then reached out and pulled the third to me and drank it in one easy gulp.
“I had a toast prepared to go with those glasses of wine,” I admitted.
“Oh? You’re still welcome to say it,” he suggested. I could see his nerves were keeping him from being too forthcoming with his emotions.
“No, it’s okay,” I said. “I don’t need to anymore. I made my decision, Mark.”
He nodded. “That’s why we’re here.” He blew out a nervous breath of air, rolled his head on his neck, and then reached across the table to take my hands in his. “Okay. Give it to me s
traight.”
“A wise old woman once told me to pick the shoes that feel the most comfortable,” I said to him with a silly grin on my face.
Half of his mouth quirked up. “I prefer comfortable shoes as well.”
“It took me a minute to figure out who I felt the most comfortable with,” I admitted. “Merrick and I had all this history together, and for a while I felt like that gave him the edge in the comfort department.”
“Oh,” said Mark. His eyes dropped to the table.
I squeezed his hands. “But when you greeted me a little bit ago. I realized that my hands feel the most comfortable in your hands, and I realized that I just can’t picture myself saying goodbye to you.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled slightly. “Really?”
I nodded, fighting back the tears that welled up in my eyes. “Really,” I whispered. “In fact, I never want to say goodbye to you.”
He stood up then and pulled me up so we were standing face-to-face. Throwing his arms around me, he scooped me up off my feet and buried his head in my neck.
“I never want to say goodbye to you, either.”
Our embrace went on for what seemed like an eternity, until finally, he set me down on my feet, and then his mouth covered mine.
When our lips finally parted, he hugged me again. This time, he whispered in my ear. “I’ve been waiting to say this for a really long time. I love you, Linda.”
My heart felt like a bottle rocket, just waiting to explode as I said the words. “I love you too, Mark.”
I waved at Mom as I entered the fire hall minutes later with Mark on my arm.
Her eyes opened to the size of ping-pong balls. She and her girlfriends rushed right over to greet us. “Hello, sweetheart. Hi, Detective,” she cooed.
“Hello, Phyllis. Ladies,” he said, giving them a polite nod. “It’s a beautiful evening for a dance.”
“I’d say,” said my mother, lifting her brows as she stared at the two of us excitedly. “Detective, do you mind if I steal my daughter for just a moment?”
He held my arm tightly and looked down at me. I could tell he didn’t want to let me go. “I’d prefer to keep her, but…”
Mom swatted at him playfully. “Oh, I promise you. You’ll get her back in just a few moments. Why don’t you just go get the two of you some punch, and by the time you come back you can have her. Alright?”
I touched the base of my throat. “I am rather parched. Mark, do you mind?”
He leaned over and brushed his lips against mine. “I don’t mind. Anything for you.”
When he’d disappeared into the crowd, the girls all stared at me. “You picked Detective Whitman!” said Char excitedly. “Oh, I think you made the right decision.”
“He’s very handsome,” agreed Gwyn.
I nodded excitedly.
“So what did Scarface have to say about getting the old heave-ho?”
“Mom,” I chastised. “That’s rude. And you need to quit calling him Scarface.”
She pursed her lips. “Psh, he doesn’t care. So what did he say?”
I shrugged. “He took it well. Of course he said he’s not giving up hope just yet, but I’m sure in time his feelings will fade now that we’ve both been released from our past together.”
Mom patted my shoulder. “I’m proud of you, sweetheart. You made a good decision.”
I couldn’t help the smile that covered my face as I nodded. “I know, I made the right decision,” I agreed. I looked at Hazel. “And I owe it all to you, Hazel.”
Everyone looked at Hazel, who was just returning from the bathroom.
“What?!” she barked.
“I picked the right guy, thanks to you,” I hollered over the music.
“Thanks to me? What did I do?”
“You told me to pick the most comfortable pair of shoes.”
Hazel’s brows knitted together. “I thought we were talking about men.”
I smiled at her. “We are.”
“Then why are you talking about shoes?”
I glanced up at her daughter, Gwyn. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
“I wasn’t talking about shoes. You told me to pick the most comfortable pair of shoes, but you were talking about men. Don’t you remember?”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t talking about men. I was talking about shoes. Everyone should wear comfortable shoes.” She pointed at my high heels. “For what it’s worth, those don’t look very comfortable.” Then she knocked the end of her cane against her black loafers. “What you need to do is get yourself some of these Dr. Scholl’s. That fella really knows his way around a foot. That’s the guy you should marry. And he’s a doctor!”
I giggled and threw an arm around Hazel’s shoulder. “You’re too much, Haze. Just know you gave me some good advice.”
“Good. Gwynnie never takes my good advice. Glad to hear it’s working for someone.”
“Linda!” exclaimed Sweets, joining in on the conversation. “You’re here. Tell me my potion worked!”
Mom, her friends, and I all exchanged looks as Mark returned to us with two glasses of punch in his hands.
“Sweetheart, I bumped into Merrick by the refreshment table. He wished you and me well. He actually said he wouldn’t cause us any problems and that he was going to bow out gracefully.”
“Wow!” I said, lifting a brow suspiciously.
Mark nodded. “Yeah, he said he thinks that I’m the right guy for you, and then he asked if I wanted to hang out sometime. Maybe shoot some hoops or something.” He smiled at all of us. “Maybe I was wrong about that guy after all. He’s really not as bad as I thought he was.”
I swallowed hard as my eyes swung over to meet my mother’s. She let her head fall into her hands. Then, with a heavy sigh, she put a hand beside her mouth to whisper in Sweets’s ear. “Yes, Sweets. It looks like your potion worked. It might have even worked a little too well.”
Also by M.Z. Andrews
Have you read all the books in the Witch Squad series?
Book 1: The Witch Squad
Book 2: Son of a Witch
Book 3: Witch Degrees of Separation
Book 4: Witch Pie
Book 5: A Very Mercy Christmas
Book 6: Where Witches Lie
Book 7: Witch School Dropout
Book 7.5: Witch, Please!
Book 8: The Witch Within
Have you read my new Spin-Off Series also set in Aspen Falls, PA?
Book 1: That Old Witch!
Book 1.5: Hazel Raises the Stakes
Book 2: That Crazy Witch!
Mystic Snow Globe Romantic Mystery Series:
Prequel: Deal or Snow Deal
Book 1: Snow Cold Case
About the Author
I am a lifelong writer of words. I have a wonderful husband, whom I adore, and we have four daughters and two sons. Three of our children are grown and three still live at home. Our family resides in the midwest United States.
Aside from writing, I’m especially fond of gardening and canning salsa and other things from our homegrown produce. I adore Pinterest, and our family loves fall and KC Chiefs football games.
If you enjoyed the book, the best compliment is to leave a review - even if it’s as simple as a few words - I tremendously value your feedback!
Also, please consider joining my newsletter. I don’t send one out often - only when there’s a new book coming out or a sale of some type that I think you might enjoy.
All the best,
M.Z.
Follow me at:
www.mzandrews.com
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