Page 39 of Take This Heart (Windy Harbor #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

PINK BIRDS

MILO

It’s been a few days since I’ve seen Goldie.

I’ve tried to see her.

I’ve called, I’ve texted, I’ve knocked on her door.

She’s texted back a couple times, so she’s not completely avoiding me.

But, yes, she’s totally avoiding me because I haven’t seen her.

And then today, Everett lets me know that Goldie is in Minneapolis this week.

“She went to pick up what is left at MIA from her installation…and to get something for me. I told her to take her time getting back. She’s had a lot to deal with and I think she could use the time away.”

“Everett, I want you to know—I had no idea Ava was Stella’s daughter. I should’ve asked who her mother was when Bruce told me, but I wasn’t thinking about that. She didn’t offer the information, and I was just so surprised that I was meeting a cousin that I didn’t look any further.”

“Okay…good. I believe you,” he says. “And I appreciate you letting me know.”

“How long will Goldie be in Minneapolis?”

“Another few days, I think.”

I nod, deep in thought.

“I’m struggling to know what to do, Everett. She’s upset with me. Maybe she still believes that I didn’t know about Ava—I’m not sure. But regardless, she’s withdrawn and I’m not sure how to pull her out.”

He gives me a sympathetic look.

“She’s processing all of this about Ava. She’ll come around. But there was a boy who did a number on her,” he says. “Really made her question her judgment and affected the way she trusts people…or doesn’t trust people.”

“Wes, right?”

“She told you about him?” His eyes widen and then he smiles and pats my back. “She trusts you more than you think.”

“I hope so. I know some things are stacked against me—that I’m a Granger being high on the con list and especially that I didn’t own up to it right away—but I care about her, Everett. I care about her a lot.”

“I know you do. She’ll come around. Don’t give up on her. She cares about you too. I can tell by the way she looks at you.”

“Yeah?” I say, smiling.

“And I can tell you’re in love with her…”

“I am,” I say in wonder.

“Was there any doubt?”

“Well, no. I-I can’t really say I’ve been in love before, but yes…I love her. I really do.”

“I mean, you shaved your head for her!”

“That was to support you!” I argue, but I’m laughing.

“Mm-hmm. And bluebirds are pink.”

I snort and he squeezes my shoulder.

“You haven’t been to your office lately. Are you sure you don’t need to make a visit home to see what’s going on there?”

“I take it you think I should?”

“Absolutely.” He leans closer. “Goldie’s not so much a roses kind of girl.

She appreciates quality time. When she was little, she’d start acting out sometimes if she didn’t get some one-on-one time with me or her mom.

It didn’t take much—maybe a walk, just the two of us, or a trip to Taco Bell, and then she’d be back, right as rain. ”

“You, my friend, are brilliant. Thank you.” I hug him and head to the door.

“What did I do?” he calls.

“Just gave me a great idea on how to win your daughter back.”

“I’ll text you the Summit house address.” He winks.

As soon as I wrap up a few things at Windhaven, I drive to Minneapolis. Once I’m in my penthouse, I make a few calls, and last but not least, I text Goldie.

Do me a favor?

Goldie

Depends on what it is.

Meet me at the Walker tomorrow night at 7.

It takes a few minutes for her to respond, and then it comes and I grin. It sounds like my girl is back.

Goldie

What are you up to, Lombardi?

Hopefully something that will show you how much I love you.

I hope you’ll come tomorrow night and find out.

And then I turn on some music and get to work.

The next night I stand alone in the dim gallery, shifting from foot to foot like an awkward teenager waiting for his prom date to walk down the stairs. I’m sweating. It feels like it’s been months since I’ve seen Goldie, and even longer since I had her in my bed.

The Walker is quiet. Just the low hum of the lights and my pulse thudding in my ears.

I had music ready! Damn, I almost forgot.

I hurriedly pull up my playlist and Bluetooth it so the sound goes over the speakers throughout the gallery.

I keep checking the entrance, wondering if she’s going to come.

Right at seven, she walks through the door.

She looks hesitant and beautiful. She’s wearing the emerald green dress she was wearing the night I met her and it makes me smile. I want to kiss that bare shoulder and slide my hands over her curves, sink my face in her hair and inhale. I look down and there are the Dr. Martens.

“I can’t believe I never asked,” I say.

“Asked what?”

“What you meant when I asked if you make it a habit of wearing Doc Martens with your evening gowns and you said you do now…I wondered what you meant that night, but I never asked. What did that mean?”

She takes a minute to answer. “They’re my mom’s boots. She stopped wearing heels because they hurt her feet and I wear these every chance I get because they remind me of her.”

“I like that.”

I hold my arm out and she loops her hand through it. We wind our way through the gallery.

“I’ve missed you,” I tell her.

“I’ve missed you too.” Her lips lift slightly and she gives me a tentative look.

“You look beautiful.” I reach out and smooth a strand of her blonde hair around my finger.

“How is your hair already half an inch long?”

I smirk, rubbing my hand over the stubble. “My dad would say it’s my Italian heritage, and my mom would say it’s my French heritage. Who can really say?”

“It’s growing faster than my brothers’. Maybe both of your parents are right and you’re blessed with doubly-good hair genes.”

“My parents would be very pleased with your diplomatic reasoning.”

Her lips lift slightly. “Where are you taking me, Milo?”

“We’re almost there.” I stop where we first met, only so much has changed since then. “Remember this spot?” I smile as she looks around and her eyes narrow when she sees the architectural model.

I move to block her view before she gets a better look at it.

“I wanted to tell you how much I care about you…well, it’s more than that…I love you, Goldie Whitman.”

Her mouth parts and she blinks up at me.

“I love you,” I say, stronger this time.

“When you smile at me, when you’re mad at me, when you won’t let me get away with anything…

I love how you look at me, spar with me, how you kiss me, how you make me feel alive every second we’re together.

” I take a deep breath and a tear slips down her cheek.

I catch it with my thumb. “I know it’ll take time to earn your trust, but I’m not going anywhere.

I promise to be honest with you, and part of that honesty means telling you how I feel.

” My voice is raspy and I clear my throat.

“Maybe this will say it better than I am.”

I move out of the way and turn to the model.

“You’re saying it pretty great.” She smiles then turns to look at the model and gasps. “Milo. This is…this is Windhaven…outside the pavilion.”

“Since my other work was a travesty, I thought I’d make it right for you—”

She laughs and glances up at me apologetically, which makes me laugh too.

“—And in a place where you can enjoy it. If anything isn’t just right, we can change it when it comes to the real thing.”

She leans over so she can get a better look at each sculpture. There’s a brick path winding around the pavilion and flowers on either side, wild and beautiful, just like her. And the sculptures accentuate the beauty of the landscape with their simplicity, which is all Goldie.

“Is that a marigold?” she asks, her finger pausing on the metal flower that turns like a windmill.

I nod.

“It’s beautiful.”

“And…is that…” She giggles and turns to look up at me, her eyes twinkling. “Did you create a Cherrybridge and Spoon?”

“I did. And I think I might even prefer it to the original. What do you think?”

“Well, of course you do. Your ego knows no bounds.”

I laugh. “You’re not wrong.”

She leans in and whispers, “But I have to agree. This is superior. Very clever.”

The cherry is huge with the stem angled as the bridge and the little spoon is nestled on top of the cherry, the opposite of the real thing.

We’re under no pretense that my mini sculpture is truly better than Claes Oldenburg’s work, but it makes Goldie smile and that is worth everything.

“And this…I love this.” She leans closer to look at the golden metal sun. She flips it over and the other side is the moon. “I like their faces, especially the moon’s. He reminds me of you.”

I flip it back to the sun. “And this reminds me of you.”

“It’s perfect, Milo. I love it, everything about it.

And I love you.” She takes a deep breath.

“I’ve had some time to think. I’m so sorry I went quiet on you this week.

I’ve been trying to make peace with the fact that my mom had a daughter I never knew about and it happens to be Ava Piper…

your cousin. Doubting whether I should believe you didn’t know or not.

I’ve been in a bad cycle for a long time, not letting these walls down.

But we’d moved past that. I shouldn’t have shut you out again.

I’m sorry that I did. We should’ve worked through this together.

I won’t keep letting my distrust get in the way of us.

I want to do better—I will do better, I promise.

I…I know that you weren’t keeping it a secret from me. ”

“You love me?” I turn her to face me and she puts her hands on my chest and then winds them around the back of my head.

She rubs my head and I turn into it, groaning. “That’s what you heard out of all I said?”

I smile. “I heard it all and I’m happy about all of it…but especially that you love me.”

She laughs. “I love you so much. You have no idea.”

“You really do?”

“I really do.”

“I have some idea then.”