She kept talking. “And it’s also possible that you didn’t deserve every ounce of that anger.”
She unclasped her arms and rubbed at her cheeks. Still looking at various things in the waiting room that were not Fletcher, Hadley sighed. “I’m not very good at this. Turns out that apologizing is something a person can get rusty at.”
“You can start small if that helps,” he said. When she looked at him, he caught her grin and could tell that she knew he was kidding.
“Start small? Okay, so I’m a little bit sorry that I let you take the blame for that one time we were late for French our senior year because I ran out of gas on the way to school.”
“Forgiven,” he said.
“And I’m kind of sorry that Sadie Hermansen wanted to ask you to the girls’ choice formal the year before we started dating, but I accidentally lost the package she asked me to give you.”
He laughed. “She was scary. We’ll call that one a favor.”
She laughed too, but her laugh quickly turned to tears. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to your dad’s funeral. I wasn’t ready to see you, so I managed to need to be out of town.” She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “But that was really selfish, and I regret it all the time. I loved your dad.”
He leaned on his elbow on the back of her chair, close to putting his arm around her, but not too close.
“He loved you, too. He always had good things to say about you,” he said, watching the way she smiled through her tears.
Now her eyes met his and held his gaze. “And while we’re talking about the ways I’ve really messed up, I’m sorry I made you think I was going to be fine without you.”
Was he really hearing this? Did she mean it? Looking at her face, he couldn’t doubt it.
She sniffled and her breath hitched, but she collected herself enough to make the next words clear. “I was okay, but I was never all the way fine. Fletcher, I have missed you. I have missed us. And when I tried to grow up into who I was supposed to be, a real person with real work in the real world, I ignored the very thing that made my life truly meaningful.”
She reached for his hand, and a surge of energy ran from his fingertips all the way to the back of his neck. “I may not need you to open my door, and I may not need you to kill spiders for me. I may not need your help with running my store, but Fletch, I will always need you to make me the best version of myself. I will always need you to make me feel whole. I will always, always need you to love me.” Her voice shook with tears and emotion.
“Can you?” she asked, and her raw need was clear in her eyes. “Can you try to love me again?”
Tears clung to her lashes, and he gazed into her eyes.
He shook his head. “Impossible,” he said, his voice a husky whisper. “Because I have never, not for one minute of one day, stopped loving you.”
Chapter 20
Fletcher stood up from the seat in the drafty, busy ER waiting room and stepped toward Hadley. She gazed up into his eyes, those deep chocolate eyes ringed by black lashes that had always, honestly, made her a little jealous. But she had little room for thoughts of eyelashes now. His eyes never left her face as he moved directly in front of her and pulled her to her feet; he slipped his hands over her shoulders and down the length of her arms.
Every inch of her body sang out at his touch. Her skin vibrated where his hands landed, and each nerve signaled to her brain that this was right, this was true.
He bent his head and brushed the tip of his nose across the tip of hers, a hint of a memory in his playful touch.
She reached her hands to cradle his face and their lips met.
Her body responded to his kiss as if no time had passed at all. Her mouth remembered the shape of his, the warmth, the pressure. She felt every part of herself, body, mind, and soul, snap back into place from a disconnect that she hadn’t fully recognized.
Standing there in the crowded waiting room, Hadley saw clearly what she had been missing; not only had she lost Fletcher, she had lost a crucial part of herself. In his arms, her lips pressed against his, she rediscovered herself in relation to him.
Fletcher Gates kissed her back home.
*****
Hadley felt herself come back to reality when she heard Edison barking at the ER doorway. She pulled back from Fletcher’s kiss but stayed close in his arms.
“Your dog is watching us,” Fletcher said.
“Your mother is watching us,” Hadley added.
“Which one do you think is happier to see this?” he asked, tucking her more tightly in the circle of his arms.
Hadley laughed. “You really have to give Rose credit for being smarter than Edison. She definitely had the foresight to see this coming.”
“You think?” Fletcher asked, leading Hadley over toward the doorway.
“Pretty sure.” She took his hand in hers and squeezed his fingers.
“Well, I’m almost as sure that Edison could tell that we belong together.”
Hadley smirked up at Fletcher. “You and Edison? You two were definitely made for each other.”
He leaned down and whispered toward the top of her head, “Don’t be jealous. We’ll make room for you.” She felt the heat of his breath in her hair and her heart pounded.
Think about the dog, she told herself. Focus on the dog. It didn’t help. As she stepped outside and took Edison’s leash from Rose, she felt the cold air touch her face, her lips, her neck and wished for Fletcher’s hands to warm her as they had only a moment ago.
“Nick woke up for a minute,” Fletcher told his mom, never letting go of Hadley’s hand.
“That is exactly what I hoped would happen,” Rose said, nodding her head. “That’s my cue to say goodnight. Edison and I have worn each other out. Who wants to take me home?”
Fletcher turned to Hadley. “I’ll take my mom home. You go drop him off. Meet you back here in twenty minutes?”
Hadley didn’t think she was being competitive when she suggested fifteen. Or over-eager. Reasonable. It was definitely sensible to get Edison home and be back here in Fletcher’s arms in fifteen minutes.
Oh, and to check on Nick.
Him, too.
She wrangled Edison into the car, and he gave her a slurp of gratitude all over her face. Pushing his giant head to the other side of the car, she said, “Don’t be gross. If I smell like drool, Fletcher won’t kiss me again, and just between you and me, I’m not sure I could survive Fletcher not wanting to kiss me again.”
Delivering Edison and her Thanksgiving dinner home and checking Edison’s water bowl, she gave him a last scratch behind his floppy ears and told him to go to bed before hurrying back to the hospital.
When she arrived, Fletcher’s truck was not yet in the parking lot. She felt a vaguely familiar tug in her heart. It didn’t take her long to realize that she missed him.
They’d been apart for sixteen minutes, and she missed him.
A small chuckle escaped her at the thought, and she began to panic—what if she went on another out-of-control laughing jag?
But it occurred to her that the inappropriately timed giggling fits hadn’t happened at all lately. Maybe her mom was right. Maybe they were a symptom of something crucial that was missing from her life. Or that had been missing until very recently.
As she pictured Fletcher’s face, he walked in the door. He saw her waiting and hurried to her side.
“Hi,” he said, and every aspect of the shy fifteen-year-old was visible in the man.
“Hi, yourself,” she said. “You weren’t in much of a hurry to get back here,” she teased.
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong, but I had to fix something before I came back.”
Hadley sat in a chair, and when Fletcher sat beside her, she found that he was not quite near enough to her. She pulled his arm into both of hers and held his hand.
“I know how you love to fix things,” she said. “Were you successful?”
He smiled at her. “Depends,
” he said.
“On what?” she asked.
“On how you’d feel about coming with me to the Fireman’s Ball next week.” He gave her a look that suggested that he worried she might say no. She loved that vulnerable look.
“I seem to recall that you already have a date,” she said, remembering the ill-fated plan of Nick’s to get the four of them together. The thought of how Nick would smile to see them now, sitting so closely together with their arms entwined, made her hope yet again that they’d be able to visit with him tonight. That he’d be able to talk with them.
“Well, I do have a date,” Fletcher said.
“But you’re man enough for two?” Hadley wondered if it was too soon to tease him like that.
Apparently, he was ready for it. “I am when one of them is my mom.”
“You’re taking your mother to the Fireman’s Ball? Isn’t this the big fancy social event of the year?”
Fletcher leaned close to Hadley’s ear. “You are aware, aren’t you, that there are very few people I like as much as I like her?” Something in the way his words traveled through her ears and into her heart said more than “like” to Hadley.
“I am,” she said, feeling her heart thump in her throat.
“She needs to come to the ball, for reasons I am not at liberty to share. But I can’t picture myself dancing more than one time with my mom. I mean, I have a little bit of pride. But this isn’t really about pride. It’s about you. Because if you can imagine, I can’t stop thinking about having an excuse to hold you close for hours at a time. So how about you come along, too?”
“And be your backup?”
“And be my girl.”
Hadley felt the simplicity of his words slip directly into her soul.
“You’re really willing to give me another try?” she asked, unable to suppress her grin.
“I’m willing to give you everything,” he said. “Anything you need, and maybe a few things you never even thought you needed.”
When he leaned across the seat and kissed her again, she understood that Fletcher Gates knew exactly what she needed.
Epilogue
Hadley took one last look at herself in the mirror before answering the door. She’d put Edison behind the closed door of her room so she could stay relatively fur-free. The emerald dress set off her complexion perfectly, and her hair, always on the brink of running away from her, looked elegant and careless at the same time.
She opened the door.
Her breath stopped.
Fletcher Gates was handsome. He’d always been handsome. But Fletcher Gates in a tuxedo was truly a sight to behold.
“Wow,” she said. “You look amazing.”
He didn’t respond, but she thought—from the awestruck look on his face—that this might be a good development.
“Mr. Gates,” she said, a teasing lilt in her voice. “Have I, by any chance, rendered you speechless?”
If he didn’t know what to say, that didn’t mean he was unresponsive. He placed his hands gently on Hadley’s hips and drew her close to him. Their lips met, and a sound of pleasure escaped him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved her mouth close to his ear. “Should we skip the party and just stay in?” she asked.
Now he found his voice. “I’d love to—you have no idea how much I’d love to—but my mom’s waiting in the car.”
“You may be surprised to know that you’re the only man who’s ever said that to me,” Hadley said, picking up her coat and handing it to him. “Help me?” she said. In the past few weeks, she had worked to find small ways to let him serve her. It was still a stretch to say she needed the help, but she didn’t mind, and his willingness to stay close to her side just in case he could be useful? That was a bonus.
Fletcher’s strong arms held her coat and wrapped her inside.
He held an arm out to escort her to the limo that waited at the curb.
Nodding in the direction of the car, he said, “I didn’t want to make it more awkward by making one of you sit in the back,” he said, “so I got us a driver.”
Hadley grinned at him playfully. “I would have been happy to drive so you could sit in the back.”
She allowed him to open the door for her, and even thanked him as he handed her in. Rose sat on the long leather seat, smiling and lovely. Hadley leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Ready to party?” Hadley asked her.
“For exactly as long as I need to,” Rose responded.
Once inside the hotel ballroom, Hadley found Savanna and Nick seated at a round table. Savanna stood up and gave Hadley a hug, and as Nick began to stand, Fletcher put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and told him to keep his seat. “We’re coming to sit with you,” he said.
Nick was recovering nicely, and had regained all of his function, but a mean headache accompanied too much movement and bright light, so Savanna planned to escort him home at the end of the meal and program.
“There are years ahead of us we can fill with dancing,” Savanna had said.
Hadley found herself amazed by the change in Savanna, but her friend insisted that she was exactly how she’d always been. “I’m still me, but I’m me with all the missing pieces put back,” Savanna had told her. Hadley imagined there was much more explanation to come, but for now, she was delighted to see her friend so happy.
And she was allowing herself to feel happy with Fletcher, too.
Hadley barely tasted her meal; she was so consumed with watching Fletcher. She couldn’t get enough of him. He played the table like a fine musical instrument, attending to everyone and making them each feel like the most important person in the room.
When Chief Grantham stood to begin the program, he spoke a few words of introduction.
“For many years, our friends in the Gates family have served beside us, and this evening, we would like to honor the memory of Paul Gates. Rose, if you would please come stand beside me?”
Rose, already crying, but smiling through her tears, stepped up on the dais. Behind her, Hadley saw a picture of Fletcher’s parents looking young and fearless and untouchable.
“They’re beautiful,” she whispered to Fletcher.
He smiled at her. “You’re beautiful,” he said.
They listened together as Chief Grantham enumerated Fletcher’s dad’s merits, awards, and honors. She had a suspicion that he would have gone on much longer if Rose had looked stronger, but he kept his tribute simple and sincere.
“With gratitude in our hearts for the years of faithful service and brotherhood, we present you, in memory of Paul Gates, with this lifetime achievement award.”
The audience rose as one to their feet, clapping and cheering, and Rose nodded and smiled her thanks. Hadley watched Fletcher’s face, his pride and happiness at seeing his father honored for so many of the same things that mattered so deeply to him.
Chief Grantham settled the audience and opened the ball by directing Rose and Fletcher to lead the first dance. Nick and Savanna joined in, as did many of the other guests. Hadley was delighted to stand and watch Fletcher lead his mother across the floor, Rose’s eyes still shining with happy tears. At the close of the song, Fletcher bent down and kissed his mom on the cheek before giving her his arm and escorting her off the floor.
Hadley hugged Rose and congratulated her. “Will you stay for the party?” she asked.
Rose shook her head. “Time for me to get back before my carriage turns into a pumpkin,” she said.
“I’ll ride with you,” Fletcher said, helping Rose into her coat.
“Oh, no,” she said. “You can’t leave your date behind. I’ll send the car back for you two when I’m home. Have a good time,” she said, the glint in her eye as sweet as sugar.
Fletcher walked his mom to the car and returned to Hadley, who was happy to wait; there was something magical about watching him cross the room, looking elegant and confident in his tuxedo, his eyes never leaving her. She felt his smile reflected in her own face.
Holding out his hand, he invited her to join him on the dance floor.
She slid into his embrace effortlessly, as if her body remembered that this was, in fact, where she’d always belonged.
Looking up into his eyes, Hadley grinned. “You kind of like me, don’t you?”
A look of confusion crossed Fletcher’s face. “What do you mean?”
Hadley playfully swatted at his arm. “Admit it, Fletch. You like me and you want to date me, and you can’t get enough.”
He shrugged. “Everyone’s wrong sometimes,” he said, an air of disinterest in his voice. Before Hadley could object beyond her small noise of disbelief, he spoke again. “I don’t kind of like you. I am undeniably in love with you, and if you’ll have me, I plan to never again let you go.”
When he leaned down and his lips brushed across hers, she felt herself lean in—all the way in. Nothing could come between them now. She wouldn’t stand for it.
He was hers, and she was his, and every day she would prove that nothing would make them happier than fulfilling each other’s wishes.
As their lips parted, she placed her hands on his face. “Thanks,” she said. “I needed that.”
What a relief and a joy to know what she needed, and that what she needed was him.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
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Keep reading for a sneak peek at Chapter One of the next book in the ABCs of Love series, Gambling on a Modern-Day Gentleman.
Chapter One
As soon as the woman in the Gucci track suit took the seat across the aisle from him, Geoffrey knew he was in trouble. He pulled down his Dodgers hat—a little souvenir he’d picked up when his agent took him to a game—and hoped she got the message that he was in no mood for socializing.
She didn’t.
Falling for a Former Flame: A Sweet Romantic Comedy (ABCs of Love) Page 17
