Page 102 of If It's You

“It’s fine,” he said, two seconds away from shoving her off.

“No. I’m really sorry,” she said, then pressed her lips down on his. He tried to protest but she took it as a response and moved her lips against his.

He finally got his arms beneath her and lifted her off.

“Caroline, enough.” He stood up and moved away from her.

“What?” she asked innocently.

“Why did you come here?”

She ran her finger up his arm. “I’ve missed you.”

“So you’ve said. But why would you drive five hours with my family to visit me?”

“I made a mistake breaking up with you,” she started. “I’ve been so lonely.”

“Because you don’t have someone to drop everything for you every time you say jump?” He hadn’t meant it to come out so harshly, but Caroline looked like she had just been slapped in the face.

“No!”

“That’s all I was to you. Someone to cater to you all the time. I thought I loved you, and that’s why I let you use me. But you breaking up with me was the best thing you ever could have done for me,” Christian said.

His mom shrunk back, and he scratched the back of his neck. This was not how he wanted to have this conversation. He turned to look for Maizie, but Caroline spoke up again.

“You don’t love me anymore?” Tears glistened in her eyes.

At the beginning of the summer, Christian might have said he did. He might have jumped right back into a bad relationship because he didn’t know what he was worth. But the farm had changed him. Maizie had changed him. Christian lowered his voice. “I’m sorry, Caroline. I wasn’t fair to you either. I wasn’t in a place to recognize how destructive our relationship was. But we can never go back there.”

“It’s that girl, isn’t it?” she spat at him.

“What?”

“That girl in the tacky boots, always covered in cow poop.”

His chest expanded. The girl covered in cow poop was exactly the one. But it was more than that. He and Maizie may fight all the time, but that had only shown him that relationships were worth fightingfor. That he deserved to be seen.

“Yes. It is.”

“Too bad she has a boyfriend.” She threw it at him like an insult.

“Wait.” His mom spoke up. “Does she have a boyfriend?”

His head whipped around, looking for Maizie, but she was gone. So was Jayce and Hugh. That was probably for the best.

“So what if she does? I’ll wait if I have to.” Christian was getting frustrated.

“I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing, Caroline. I hope you enjoyed yourself.” Then he turned and went to his mom.

“I’m sorry I ruined your visit, Mom.”

“Oh honey you didn’t ruin anything. Except maybe your relationship with Maizie. She ran out of here in tears.”

“What?” He looked around again as if she would magically reappear. “Where’d she go?”

“They all took off in a truck heading that direction,” she said, pointing toward Grandpa’s field.

What? He must have been too distracted to hear a truck start up.