Page 109 of Love and Cherish

Stuart sidled up beside her and looked in at the display case. “None of them have prices?”

“Don’t want to scare away potential customers,” Cherish mumbled, not wanting the owners to overhear the conversation.

“What will you get her?”

Cherish looked around, lips puckered in annoyance until she found a bell. A half-circle silver one with a button on top. She tapped it with precision and the sound rang out crisp and sharp.

“I want to make a custom one.”

“Saying what?”

“I’m an idiot, give me another chance,” Cherish muttered and then froze at the sound of laughter. It wasn’t Stuart’s guffaw, but a rich sound that filled her head every time she closed her eyes.

Slowly, cheeks on fire, Cherish turned around, her heart in her throat.

“Haylee.” Cherish held her breath and then words tumbled out without thought or permission. “I’m so sorry. For everything. I’ve been such an idiot, like a complete and utter idiot. I’ve tried so hard not to be the stupid country girl in the big city, but here I am being exactly that. Your idea was never the problem, you were never the problem, I’m the problem. But that’s what therapy can be for and—” Cherish cut herself off as she focused on Haylee’s smile and silent chuckle.

“Hey.” Haylee’s chuckle softened into the sweetest smile Cherish had ever seen. It lit Haylee up in a spotlight while everything else disappeared.

“Hi.” Cherish stepped forward, pulled into the gravity of Haylee’s existence. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I did have a plan, but a little birdie told me that we aren’t so different after all. So I changed my plan.”

“What?”

“Read it out loud. Please?” Haylee handed over a small white box.

Cherish opened the box and smiled down at a custom iced donut. Her eyebrows crinkled as she saw what was written on top. She opened her mouth to ask, to demand it make sense, but instead she closed her eyes.

All along, it had never truly been about love. She understood that now. Love could exist and could be worth it. But not without a little bit of trust and faith.

Opening her eyes again, Cherish smiled at Haylee. She could do that. She could have faith and trust in them. Hope in what they were building together. Cherish was about to speak when Haylee shook her head, her eyes glittering with mischief.

“Alexa,” Haylee started, still grinning like a fool. “Play Cherish by Madonna. Volume up.”

Haylee’s laugh reverberated through Cherish’s chest as the music she hadn’t recognized earlier played louder. Haylee clasped onto Cherish’s hands and immediately spun her into a circle as they started dancing, Haylee humming and singing right along with Madonna.

Cherish laughed out loud, closing her eyes and letting the song wash over her. She wrapped her arms around Haylee’s back as they swayed to the beat of the music. She closed her eyes on a deep breath, gathering herself before she reached up and cupped Haylee’s face in her hands, stopping them right in the middle of the donut shop.

“I love you,” Cherish whispered.

“I love you, too.” Haylee smiled, her eyes glistening.

They had kissed so many times, heated and rushed, promising a night of bliss and forgetting. But this time, Cherish drank in Haylee’s taste and the sensation of every movement of lips against her own. She breathed deeply the sense of newness and love. She opened her heart, letting Haylee in more than she’d ever let someone before.

Cherish grinned as she pulled away, tears on her cheeks again, but this time, they were tears of joy. Haylee cleared them away and kissed her again, but she kept this one brief.

“We’re not alone,” Haylee murmured. “I’m not sure how much PDA you’re prepared for.”

Leave it to Haylee to think of that. Cherish’s eyes widened as she pulled away, silently thanking Haylee’s forethought. Glancing around, she found Stuart and another man she didn’t know. But she would have bet he was Haylee’s brother. He looked so much like her.

“Thanks, Jackson.” Haylee scrunched up her face, and Cherish pulled her in closer. “Nice job of staying outside and giving us our moment.”

“Yes, thank you, Jackson.” Cherish turned back to Haylee and pulled her closer once more, unable to resist those lips that she hoped she would kiss for the rest of her life. And if not, the time she got to would be worth it.

thirty-five

“Fucking finally,” Haylee muttered as she shut the door behind Jackson.

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