“You’re sure about this? I don’t want to get in an accident because you have a freak-out session.”
“I’ll be fine. I just need to breathe. We’re not going into Salt Lake either, so I think that will help.”
Danielle pulled out of the driveway, down Main Street, and onto the main highway. The familiar tightening in her stomach began the faster Danielle drove, getting closer and closer to the county-line sign.
Blowing out quick breaths, Becca grabbed onto the handle of the door, squeezing as hard as she could. She was leaving her safe zone, and the thought of it scared her more than she wanted to admit. But if she kept her mind on Colton, on finding out if he felt the same emptiness without her that she did without him, maybe she’d make it out of one of her fears alive.
She saw the sign to the right and sucked in a breath, tightening every muscle in her body as the car sped over the invisible line between counties. The breath stayed locked in her lungs for several moments, and for a split second, she wondered if any of this was worth it.
Minutes ticked by, and the exhaustion of her tension caused her to relax a bit. Danielle drove, dancing to each song as it came on the radio. She chatted every once in a while, but Becca didn’t feel like talking as she watched the ground pass under the car bit by bit.
The four-hour drive passed like days, but Danielle finally pointed to Becca. “Look up Dream Homes on the maps app. I’d prefer to not get lost here.”
Becca responded, feeling like each movement was robotic. The excitement that she’d actually broken free of her county had worn off, and she felt the anxiety of the leap she was taking.
Once parked outside a large high-rise, Becca walked inside, asking for Colton at the front desk.
“He isn’t here at the moment. Is there someone I can get to help you?”
Becca fidgeted with a strand of hair. “He said his boss is Adam?”
“Adam Summers? That’s the main boss of Dream Homes. I’m not sure he’ll see you without an appointment.”
Her hopes fell. She’d wanted to take Colton by surprise, to see in his face whether he was happy to see her or that he felt nothing for her.
“Who won’t I see without an appointment?” a man asked, coming from the elevators behind the desk.
The receptionist nodded. “Good afternoon, Mr. Summers. This young lady is looking for Colton Maxfield.”
The man turned his attention to Becca, looking her up and down with a gaze that made her uncomfortable. “You wouldn’t happen to be the florist from Sage Creek, would you?”
A slight hope took in her, and she nodded. “Yes, Becca Taylor. I was hoping to find Colton here. I have a few things I didn’t get to say to him and made the trek here to do so.” Her last few words tumbled out of her mouth, her tongue dry.
“You just missed him about an hour ago. He came back and said he wanted to be back on the job in your small town. Something about a flower girl he loved.”
Her brain spun. He loved her, even though she’d ghosted him for the past couple of weeks?
“Did you take him off the project?” She was trying so hard not to let the tears fall that her voice quivered as she spoke.
Adam shook his head. “No, Colton asked to be taken off when he came back almost a week ago. But then he came in today, saying how he’d made a mistake and needed to go back. Something about the lumber guy from your town saying how much he was missed.”
Tanner Hart. How had the two of them connected in Denver?
“So, he’s on his way back to Sage Creek?” Becca’s mind was muddled with all the information it was trying to process. She wondered if Colton had actually used the words love or if that was something Adam had added.
“Yep. He’s not too far ahead of you.” Adam pointed to the door as if Becca could see him right outside.
Just before she turned to look out the door, a familiar build stepped up behind.
“Hey, Adam, I was going over these—” Peter’s face was focused on a stack of papers in his hands, and when he looked up and saw Becca, he stopped in his tracks. “What are you doing here?” he asked, the look on his face a mixture of shock and embarrassment.
The tears she’d felt moments before evaporated, and tipping up her chin, she said, “I’m looking for the man I love.”
Before he could say anything, she continued, “And no, he’s not you.” Taking a step forward, she took an open palm to Peter’s face, giving it all the feelings she’d gone through since that day eighteen months ago.
His hand reached up to his cheek, and the redness spread to the rest of his face.
“That’s for not having the decency to tell me we were done to my face. To be honest, you leaving me was probably the best thing that’s ever happened.”
She turned to Adam, keeping her smile under wraps as she saw his look of surprise. “Thank you so much for your help.” She ran out the door and down the road, retracing her steps back to Danielle’s car.
“We have to go,” she said, breathless as she slipped into the passenger seat.
“What do you mean? Did you talk to him?” Danielle asked, turning the key in the ignition.
Becca shook her head. “He’s heading back to Sage Creek. Drive!” After a few minutes of fiddling with her fingers, she said, “Peter works for Colton’s company.”
Danielle turned wide eyes her way, her mouth open in shock. “No way. When I looked into him, he was at another company.”
With a quick shrug, Becca shook her head. “He was there, behind Adam, the boss.”
“What did you do? Please tell me you told him off!” Danielle adjusted her grip on the steering wheel, looking more excited than she had when Becca said she wanted to leave Sage Creek for Denver.
“I slapped him across the face there in the lobby. You should have seen how surprised he was.” With a thin smile, she relived the small moment of triumph after waiting eighteen months.
“I would’ve paid to see that.”
The drive back seemed to take longer, and with each white truck they approached, Becca turned her head to look inside, hoping to see the face of the man she loved.
They didn’t see him on the drive, and when they pulled onto Main Street in Sage Creek, Becca’s eyes darted up and down the street, looking for his truck. Danielle slowed down so they could look both ways on each street they passed.
It wasn’t until they made it to Becca’s street that she spotted the green truck, parked outside her house. She opened the door before Danielle had come to a complete stop, hearing a loud hammering sound.
She followed it around the side of the house and saw the source. Colton was standing in the middle of her open flower garden in the back corner, working the ornate birdhouse she’d seen at the festival into the ground.
“What are you doing?” she asked, trying her best to keep from showing emotion.
Colton jumped and turned her direction. He looked guilty and gave her a hesitant smile. “I thought I’d get this put into your garden where it belongs.”
Taking a few steps forward, Becca asked, “What do you mean? I thought the mayor purchased the birdhouse from the raffle.”
“I might have asked him to. I knew you wouldn’t be bidding on the items you were auctioning off, and I made this with you in mind.” He ran his hand up the side of the birdhouse and tapped on it.
Becca closed the distance, leaving about a foot between the two of them. She pointed up to the feeder. “You made this for me? Why?”
Colton glanced at the ground, his jaw working back and forth. “I just wanted to show you how much I cared about you.”
She couldn’t help but let the corner of her mouth turn up a bit. “And you showed that real well by disappearing on me and going back to Denver after you got my vote.”
His mouth opened and quivered a bit, his hands raised as if to help him think. “That was a mistake I wish I could take back. I tried to stop by your house the night of the festival and talk to you, but I was too late. You’d alr
eady shut me out. I should’ve tried harder, but I might have felt like I wasn’t worthy of you after hearing a description of your ex-fiancé.”
“You were worried about a piece of scum like Peter?”
He took in a deep breath. “Everyone said he was different after he got his promotion. I was worried about hurting you like he did.”
Becca reached out for him, slipping her hand in his. “Colton, there are some similarities between the two of you, but the differences are where it counts. Peter would have never helped out a flooding town, nor would he have made the effort to get to know a bunch of townsfolk who he might or might not see again. And he definitely wouldn’t have taken the time to make something as special as this just for me.” She motioned to the birdhouse, her chest squeezing a little at the effort he’d put into the little green two-story creation.
She squeezed his hand and smiled. “Colton, I love you for the man you are. I don’t worry about you changing like him because you’ve already got your head on straight.”
He shook his head, his foot moving back and forth in the soft dirt at their feet.
She reached forward and tipped his chin up with her pointer finger, swallowing as she looked into his eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t respond to your texts and calls and avoided you. I felt like you’d already started pulling away from me, and I knew I wouldn’t make it through another heartbreak. And when I saw all those women around you at the festival, I ran.”
“I promise I was just working on the walls and birdhouse, and every time I went to text or call you, it was really late. It won’t happen again. Those women came to me unprompted, unfortunately. You’re the only one I want.”
“I’m sorry I assumed. You’ll never believe it, but Danielle just drove me to Denver and back.” She chewed on her bottom lip, waiting for his response.
His eyes went wide, his mouth open in a half-believing smile. “Why did you do that?”
“Because I love you, and when you love someone, it’s worth it to get out of your comfort zone to show that person how much they mean to you. I really screwed things up between us, and I wanted to fix them, in person.”
He pulled her toward him, his strong arms holding her against his chest. She slid her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his chest as she glanced up at the birdhouse. “It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” he said, catching Becca’s attention. “I can’t believe you crossed the county line…for me.”
She glanced up, and he moved a section of hair away from her eyes, the softness of his touch causing shivers to ripple through her body. “I love you too. I think I was so scared you would leave me heartbroken that I ran. But I’m done running. I’m here to stay, if you’ll have me.”
Her brain went blank, and she did the only thing she could think of to remedy the situation. She moved on tiptoe and pulled him down enough to press her lips to his, feeling like she’d entered her dreams and they were finally being fulfilled.
“I’ll go where you go, Colton Maxfield.”
Epilogue
The fall weather brought the smell of leaves, and Becca grinned as she hiked up to the pond after working at the flower shop. Colton had texted for her to meet him there, and she was excited for some time by the place she loved the most. It would be winter soon enough, and even though it was pretty with all the white and the frozen water, there was something about the autumn leaves that had her remembering all the times her mother had taken her there.
At the top of the hill, she noticed several flower petals along the ground, looking to have come from several different flowers. She tried to see where the path led, but it passed by the pond, and she couldn’t see anything from there.
She followed the trail, going through the orders from that day. There wasn’t any certain order that contained each of these flowers all together. How did he get these?
With a grin, she moved along the path, taking in the beauty of the vibrant red, orange, and yellow leaves mixed in with the dark green pines.
As she came around the bend, she saw a blanket with a picnic basket atop it and Colton grinning up at her.
“How did you do this?” she asked, gesturing back to the petals on the ground.
He shrugged. “It took a little bit of planning. Are you hungry?”
“Yes,” she said, almost in harmony with the growl of her stomach. She sat down, taking a small container of berries from him. She noticed his hand shook a bit, and she studied his face. “Are you all right?”
“Uh, yes. Why?”
“Because you’re acting a bit strange. And this is quite the setup for a simple date night out.”
Colton’s eyes widened, and he looked like the breath had left him completely. He turned, pulling something out of the basket. Moving to one knee, he said, “I was going to wait until after lunch, but I might not be able to get through it if I wait any longer.”
Becca felt light-headed, like she’d been through a world of emotions in only a few seconds.
“I love you, Rebecca Jane Taylor. I know we’ve gone through a lot, and I want you by my side for the rest of forever. Will you marry me?”
A single tear ran down her cheek, and she nodded. “Yes, I will.” She wrapped her arms around him, pulling his lips to hers. “There’s no one I’d rather spend my life with than you.”
Keep reading for a sneak peak of Danielle and Liam’s story in Love Under Review
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Chapter 1
Danielle
Liam Pearson watched the sunrise from the front porch, breathing in the fall morning air. After a long day at the hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, the day before, it was nice to sit on something other than hard waiting room chairs, especially after trying to keep Cari occupied as her mother went in for surgery.
He’d had to fight his six-year-old niece to get in the car to go home late that night. An image of her defiance played in his mind, and he smiled, realizing she was the spitting image of her mother when she did that. Cari had been lying on the hospital bed next to her mother, playing a game on his tablet. He understood somewhat the fear the young girl harbored. She’d gone through so much in her young life, and the hospital was a place of unknowns. Would her mother come back home alive after her treatments? Because her father hadn’t after his car accident.
At this hour, he should be waking her up to get ready for school, but he needed the silence, the quiet reflection this moment gave him. He’d never had moments like these in New York, and he wondered how he’d made it five years there without slowing down even a bit.
Every day over the past six months, his decision to leave investment banking and move in with his sister and niece in Sage Creek, Colorado, proved to be a good move, and better health was only the tip of the iceberg. Had someone told him he’d now own an independent bookstore, he’d have thought they’d lost a few brain cells.
Most of the stress he felt now was in regard to his sister’s health. She’d been diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma the month before, after several months of fatigue, nausea, and weight loss. As stubborn as Kara Plumfield was, it had taken her fainting and blacking out on two separate occasions to convince her she needed to get checked out. But Liam hadn’t imagined the whirlwind that would come of it.
They’d had to wait for the specialist to come over from Denver. The surgery from the day before had been to remove the tumor in her stomach, a procedure with several risks. But Kara had never wavered, knowing she had to do whatever she could to prolong time with her daughter.
On the doctor’s recommendation, Kara had chosen to do a session of radiation before they sewed her back up. Liam just hoped it would get all of the cancerous cells and help his sister get back to her normal vivacious personality. She still gave off as
much enthusiasm as she could from her hospital bed, but that spark of excitement seemed to wane each time she saw the doctor.
The door opened, and Cari walked out, her hair sticking out in every direction. She rubbed her eyes beneath her glasses and climbed into his lap, snuggling her head against his chest. For the moment, all was right with the world, and he could have stayed like that for days. He’d checked his phone several times in the half-hour since he’d been awake, knowing this morning’s updates would bring critical information about his sister’s health.
“How’d you sleep?” he whispered into Cari’s ear.
“Okay. I had one bad dream that woke me up. But I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.”
Liam smiled, kissing the top of her head. He could only imagine what she would dream about. Most likely hospitals and needles as she’d seen the nurses poke and prod her mother for blood samples over the past few weeks.
“How about pancakes for breakfast? I’ll get making them while you get ready for school. How does that sound?” He leaned back and smiled as her head popped up, eyes wide.
“Can we call my mom?” Her eyelashes fluttered, and as much as Liam wanted to call his sister, he knew she still needed the rest.
He shook his head. “Your mommy’s probably really tired still from the surgery yesterday. When I hear back from the hospital, we’ll know we can call her. Maybe after school. Is that okay?” He watched as the sadness on her face disappeared with his proposal.
“Can I wear my purple dress?” Cari asked, bouncing up and down on his knee.
Liam turned his lips to the side and tapped his cheek with one finger, watching as she waited in suspense. “It looks like it will be a nice day. I think your purple dress would be fine.”
She slid off his lap and danced on her toes in celebration before running inside. Her footsteps pounded up the stairs, the sound echoing through the hallway and out the front door.
Love Under Construction: A Sage Creek Small Town Novel Page 15