Page 112 of Mine
“I’m kind of busy and my boss is an ogre.”
She was referring to me, because she had yet to accept the contracts and deeds that were already drawn up in her name. But I let it go for now, because we were in the middle of creating new promises to one another. Ones that didn’t require paperwork and signatures. She didn’t want to take anything from me, just like I didn’t want to take anything from her.
Turning around, I mouthed something to the band. The singer nodded and the tempo softened into something slow and tender. Blue hesitated, then smiled as I tilted my head with an unspoked insistence that she join me for that dance.
She wiped her hands and discarded her apron, before meeting me at the front of the bar. When I took her hand and led her into the center of the room, the rest of the bar blurred. Couples swayed, neon signs buzzed, but all of it was background noise to the rhythm of her breath against my chest.
We moved like we belonged together. My forehead found hers. I pressed my lips to hers between lines of the song. When the song ended, I didn’t step back. I held her there, and the words I had repeated to her all week came out of me like they’d been waiting for breath.
“I love you so much, Blue.”
She smiled, small and honest. “I love you too.”
“I know you’ve got to work tomorrow night,” I said, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. “But Sunday, maybe we should go back to Sunday dinner. Then you come with me to Atlanta. You stay until Tuesday.”
“Back to the same routine, huh?”
“It worked for us, didn’t it?”
“True.” She leaned into me, warm and familiar. “But I want something else.”
“More deals?” I teased, though I knew deals were just compromises, and love between two people demanded compromise.
She nodded slowly, and then, after a beat, offered, “Sunday dinner at your family’s. But how about Sunday lunch with my dad? He wants to know you better.”
“I’ll be there.” The thought of sitting across a table from her father felt like another small brick in the house I wanted to build with her.
She laughed and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Wanna tend some bar tonight?”
Not really, but I’d do anything to stay close to her, so I shrugged and nodded while adding, “Let’s bring Mandy on full-time.”
“I already suggested that to her and she’s happy for the job, but she’s not here tonight.”
“Then let’s get to work,” I nudged her.
When we walked behind the bar, Tuffy gave us a satisfied smirk. “I was afraid to ask,” she said, nodding to Blue’s hand. “I saw the ring missing and—” she pointed and stalled before sighing in relief. “It’s just good to see you two being happy newlyweds.”
Blue looked at me, eyes searching. She seemed uneasy, and I knew she didn’t want anyone to know we had been deceptive. Atthe same time, she wanted us to be real and more forward, just as much as I did.
I wanted everyone to know that I was falling more and more in love with Blue every day. I wanted to shout it from rooftops. Maybe hire a plane with a banner to fly over town. I wanted everyone in Harmony Haven to know the blue-eyed girl who charmed the whole town from behind the bar wasmine.
“We decided to take a step back and do things the old-fashioned way,” I shrugged with vagueness and truth. “There is a lot more to come for us, and we wanted to share that with everyone that loves us.”
Blue nodded, satisfied, with that answer, then leaned into me, pressing her lips to mine. The noise of the bar disappeared once again. It was only her. The taste of her smile, the promise in her eyes, and the undeniable truth that Harmony Havenhomeonce again.
For the first time in years, I wasn’t chasing power or burying myself in guilt. I was chasing a future worth more than both of those combined. Harmony Haven wasn’t a cage I had to escape, it was the place that gave me back my heart, and the girl who made me believe in something bigger than redemption. And with Blue’s hand in mine, I knew everything ahead of us wasn’t an ending at all, but the start of a life we were finally brave enough to claim.