“Eli, I’m your mother. I know you. I knew from the second that you said she was your girlfriend.”
I close my eyes in pain.
“I mean, you told me you weren’t together and then did a complete one-eighty and said that you were but you were keeping it a secret,” she goes on, pointing out how terrible I am at lying.
She rolls her eyes at that and I bite back a grin.
“So you just let us pretend for you?”
She gets serious then.
“Do you really think that you were pretending?” she asks as she studies my face.
I open my mouth to say yes, but then I think about everything that has happened in the last few weeks. Hartley and I kissing when no one was around. Holding hands and hanging out when the deal was over. Us sleeping together after the wedding and every single time after.
“I like her,” I mumble.
“No, you love her,” she corrects. “And she loves you too,” my mom declares as my dad walks out of the back.
Love?
I didn’t think that I did that. I didn’t think that any woman would ever give me a second look, unless it was in shock over my height. I sure as hell never thought that any woman would fall in love with me.
I’m gruff, and as Patrick pointed out, can be a bit of an asshole. I’m not polished. I never want to go out to fancy dinners or parties. I’d choose being alone in nature over hanging out with some girl.
No you wouldn’t, my mind stops me. You’ve chosen Hartley over being alone every single day since you met her.
It doesn’t matter. Hartley said that she didn’t want a relationship either.
If it’s changed for you, then maybe it’s changed for her too.
“What are you two talking about?” my dad asks as he joins us at the front counter.
“Eli just figured out that he and Hartley are in love with each other.”
My dad snorts, giving me a look like he’s wondering how I could have missed that.
“I think we should move back to Honey Peak, Frank. We’ll want to be close once our grandbabies get here.”
My dad and I both groan, but I can see the spark in his eyes. He’s excited about the prospect of grandkids too.
“You’re about a million steps ahead of us, Mom. Hartley and I just started seeing each other.”
“Just a thought, dear,” she says, but I can see the wheels turning in her head and I have a feeling that she’ll be looking for houses and listing their place in Florida as soon as she can.
I’m going to have to warn Hartley.
My heart flips when I think about seeing her again and talking to her, and it jumps into my throat when I think about telling her that I love her.
Will she say it back? Or will this ruin everything between us?
My parents take my truck back home, promising to bring some lunch back to the shop in a bit. They wanted to go visit some of their old friends and I have a feeling that my mom will be asking them about any houses about to go on the market.
I’m sure that by the end of the day, the whole town will know about Hartley and me. I wonder if my mom will tell them about how we pretended to be together before we really were.
What am I saying? We still aren’t really together.
What am I going to say to Hartley? How do you just tell someone that you love them?