Page 41 of Break My Heart (The Haydon Falls #2)

Nash looks around. ‘I’ll have to replace the windows, the door, the light fixtures. All that is easy. I can refinish the floors, smooth out the scratches in the bar top, replace the glass behind the bar.’

‘Are you saying you’ll do it?’

‘Sure. It won’t take long. I’ll see if Bryce can come up and help for a day or two. If Austin and Jake can come too, we could probably be done in a few weeks.’

‘That’d be awesome. The only problem is you might have to wait for the insurance check to come in before you get paid.’

‘That’s not a problem, but what about the materials? Does she have money for that?’

‘No, but I told her I’d loan her the money.’

Nash smiles a little. ‘You really told her that?’

‘Yeah. Why?’

‘Just asking.’

‘I have the money, and it’s kind of my fault this happened to her.’

‘It’s not your fault some guy went crazy and destroyed the place.’

‘You don’t know Tom. The guy’s been trying to be my friend since high school. He probably thought doing this was helping me and would make me want to hang out with him.’

‘It’s still not your fault.’

‘Maybe not, but Gina doesn’t have the money and maybe if I help her fix this place up she’ll—’ I stop before I say it.

‘She’ll what? Stay in town?’

‘Maybe.’

‘So that’s why you’re doing this. You don’t want her to leave.’

‘I’m doing it to be nice. She didn’t deserve this. The shit online. The vandalism. I don’t want her thinking this is what people are like in Haydon Falls.’

We go back outside .

Nash walks up to Gina. ‘It’s not that bad. Once the materials come in, I’ll have the place fixed up within a few weeks.’

Gina eyes get huge. ‘Are you serious? I thought it would take months.’

‘I work fast.’ He glances at Callie. ‘I only work slow when I’m trying to get a girl who’s stubborn as hell to go out with me.’

‘Wait—that’s why you took so long?’ Callie asks.

Nash took an entire summer to fix up a house he inherited in a small town south of Chicago. Callie was his neighbor. He knew right away that he liked her, but Callie kept telling him to go away. It took forever before she agreed to go out with him.

‘How much will it cost?’ Gina asks Nash.

‘Don’t worry about that. We’ll work it out when you get the insurance money.’

‘Nash, I have to pay you something. The insurance check could take months to come in.’

‘Then until it does, I’ll take free beer. And keeping my pregnant wife company while I’m here working would be good too.’

Gina smiles. ‘I could do that.’

‘You called me your wife,’ Callie says, smiling at Nash. ‘I’m not your wife until Saturday.’

‘Close enough.’

A cold gust of wind blows and Gina shivers.

‘Let’s get you out of here,’ Mom says to Gina. ‘We need to get you in a warm house in front of a fire.’

‘That sounds wonderful,’ Gina says, sighing.

‘We’ll see you back at the house,’ Dad says, getting in the truck.

Everyone leaves except Gina and me.

‘You don’t have to go with me,’ she says .

‘Actually, I do. When my mom uses my full name, she’s not messing around.’

Gina laughs. ‘Your middle name is Allen? I wouldn’t have guessed that.’

‘What’s yours?’

‘Louise. It was my grandma’s name.’

I walk her to her truck. ‘I’m really sorry this happened to you.’

‘Sawyer, I’m not blaming you. You didn’t do this. And I know you didn’t write those posts online. I should’ve believed you when you told me you didn’t.’

‘And I should’ve believed you about your ex.’

‘You finally believe me?’

‘I know you wouldn’t cheat on me. I just—never mind. Let’s go get your stuff.’

I could’ve told her about my fears of her leaving and explained that’s why I ended it with her, but I wasn’t ready to. I’m embarrassed to admit that, and nervous to tell her, because when I do, she’ll know how much I like her, how much she means to me, and how much I don’t want her to go.

*?*?*

‘You got what you need?’ I ask as Gina comes out of her bedroom, a duffle bag slung over her shoulder.

‘Yeah, but this really isn’t necessary. I’d be okay staying here.’

‘If you’re here, you’ll just be thinking about G’s. You need to relax and let your head clear before you start making decisions about what to do next.’

‘I already know what I’m going to do. If I reopen G’s and nobody goes there, I’ll close and try to sell the place. I’ll move back to— ’

‘No.’ I walk up to her. ‘Don’t say you’re moving. You don’t need to make that decision yet.’

‘Sawyer, if G’s fails again, it’s over. I’ll have nothing left here. No reason to stay.’

‘You have me. And my family.’

She looks down, not saying anything.

‘Gina, I know you have a lot to think about, but you don’t have to make any decisions yet. At least give me a chance to convince you to stay.’

She smiles a little as her eyes meet up with mine. ‘Why would you want that? If I’m gone, you’ll be the only brewery in town.’

‘I don’t want to be the only one. I like having a competitor.

It makes me work to be better. And even if G’s didn’t reopen, I’d still want you to stay.

I know the past week things haven’t been good between us, but that’s my fault.

I didn’t want to believe you about your ex because . .?.’ I look to the side.

‘Because why?’

‘Because I wanted to end this before I let myself get more serious with you.’ I look back at her, deciding just to tell her the truth.

If I want a relationship with her, I need to be honest with her.

‘Kendall, the girl I almost married, took off right before the wedding because she decided she didn’t want to live in Haydon Falls.

She wanted us to move, but I didn’t want to leave.

I love this town, and I thought she did too, but she decided she’d rather live in a big city.

So she left. It hit me hard. I loved her, planned my future with her, and then she was gone.

I didn’t want the same thing happening with you. So I found a way to let you go.’

‘Are you saying you saw a future with me?’

‘Yes, and I still can, which scares me because I know how easily it can all be taken away.’ I take a breath.

‘Gina, I know you have to do what’s best for you, and I’m not saying we should get back together today or this week.

You need time to deal with what’s happened and figure out what to do next.

But I’d like you to at least consider staying in Haydon Falls and seeing if we could make this work. ’

She nods, then adjusts her bag on her shoulder. ‘We should probably get going.’

I’m not sure if I freaked her out by telling her that or if she just doesn’t want to say anything until she’s had more time to think. I’m not going to worry about it. I said what I needed to say. Now it’s up to her to decide what to do.

‘Let me take that.’ I take the duffle bag from her. ‘I hope you’re hungry because my mom cooks like crazy when she has guests. She’s probably home making something for you right now.’

‘Your mom is great,’ Gina says as we walk to the door. ‘You’re really lucky.’

‘I am. But if you live here, she’ll be like a mom to you too. She can’t help herself. She has to take care of people, especially her family, and if you haven’t noticed, she considers you part of the family.’

Gina laughs a little. ‘She barely knows me. I’ve only been in your life a few months.’

‘You’ve been in my life since we were seven. I talked about you all the time, about how pissed I was at that girl who beat me at camp.’

‘You’ve been talking about me since we were seven?’ she asks as we go out to the parking lot.

‘Not all the time, but enough that my family knew all about you.’

She stops next to her truck. ‘I might’ve talked about you too.’

‘To who?’

‘My grandfather. I told him how I beat this boy at camp and made him really mad.’ She smiles.

‘My grandpa said “that’s my girl” with this proud look on his face because he was the reason I won all those competitions.

He taught me everything I know.’ Her smile drops as she looks down.

‘And now I used up all his money for a brewery I could only keep open for a few weeks. He’ll probably haunt me now and tell me how stupid I was. ’

‘If he haunts you, it’ll be to tell you to reopen, to not give up.’

She nods. ‘You’re right. He would tell me that.’

‘So do it. Don’t give up. You’re not a quitter, Gina. You hate losing as much as I do, maybe even more. Don’t let those assholes win. Don’t let them run you out of town. You can come back from this and make G’s a success.’

‘Maybe I can,’ she says, her smile appearing, a fire in her eyes. She was starting to lose it, but I can see that competitive fire coming back.

That’s the Gina I know and love. But my fear of losing her kept me from giving her my heart. It made me not trust her. It made me push her away and make her want to leave. I was actually causing the thing I feared the most.

I could still lose her, but I’m not holding back this time. I’m giving her my heart, and hoping she doesn’t break it.