Page 33 of Oops, I Fell For The Town Bad Boy!

“Well, it’s a great deal for me,” Taylor admitted. “To get the whole house for that kind of money? I’m just worried I would be taking advantage of you.”

“You would be doing me a favor,” Kane told her. “I’ve thought it through. This is what I want to do.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Taylor said. “But I also think we need to run it by the Chesterfields first, before we start making plans.”

Kane groaned. “How did I know you were going to say that?”

“Not looking forward to that part?”

He shook his head. “I wish there was some way around it.”

“Honestly, I think the best way to handle all of this is if we try to have the event on their farm. Then we don’t have to worry about renting space. But that can’t happen unless they agree to it, so we’ve got to run it by them.”

“They’re not going to be happy about seeing my face again.”

“I mean, probably not. But that’s what this is about. Making amends. Making things right after all these years.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him, and Kane couldn’t help thinking how good it felt to be held right now. “Listen, I’ll be right by your side the whole time,” she assured him. “I know it’s hard to go back there after everything that’s happened. If it helps, I think you’re incredibly brave for doing it. I couldn’t be more proud to know you.”

It had been a long time since anyone had said anything like that to Kane. Proud to know him? He wasn’t sure anyone had ever felt that way, if he was to be completely honest. And the best part was that he felt he understood Taylor well enough to trust that she was telling the truth. She wasn’t saying that for some manipulative reason — she really meant it. She really was glad that they knew one another.

It was a thought that gave him unexpected strength. If Taylor could feel that way, it meant that there was hope that other people could too. Maybe he could be forgiven, not only by her, but by the rest of Miller Creek’s well.

Although, the fact of the matter was, getting the Chesterfields to give him a second chance still seemed like the longest shot in the world.

“Are you sure they know I’m with you?” Kane asked. “You definitely told them I was coming?”

“How many times are you going to ask?” Taylor asked as she pulled the car down the lane that led to the Chesterfield farm. “I told you they knew. You don’t believe me?”

“It isn’t that I don’t believe you. I just know it would be bad to take them by surprise,” he said. “It wouldn’t be fair to do that to them. If there’s even a chance that maybe they didn’t understand you were bringing me with you, I should probably wait in the car.”

“No, they know,” she said. “Trust me, okay?”

Kane looked over at her. She looked confident, but it was easy for her to say. What if the Chesterfields had misunderstood? What if he gave them the shock of their lifetime when he knocked on their door?

Taylor reached over and took his hand. “It’s all right, Kane,” she said gently. “This is fine. I told them you were in town, and that you wanted to come over and talk to them about something, and that if it was all right, I would be bringing you.”

“And they said okay to that? Really?”

“They really did,” she told him. “They’re nice people.”

“I can’t believe they’ll have forgiven me, just like that.”

“I don’t know if they’ve forgiven you or not,” Taylor admitted. “But they’re willing to hear what you have to say, and that’s the first step, right?”

Kane nodded. She was right. This was something that just had to be faced, no matter how difficult it was.

He got out of the car, knowing that once he had done that, there was no going back. They could easily see him from the kitchen windows. They would know that he was here.

The worst thing, he thought as he walked up to the front door, wasn’t the fire. The worst thing was that he had run away. All this time, he had let them live with the memory of him as someone who ran away from the problems he had caused. Now, meeting him again, of course they would be inclined to think the worst. Why wouldn’t they?

Taylor seemed to understand the fact that Kane wanted to be the one to knock on the door. There was something meaningful about taking that step himself rather than allowing someone else to do it for him. Even though he was intimidated, he raised a hand and knocked.

As soon as he’d done that, Taylor came up beside him and put an arm around his waist, as if to let him know that she was on his side. He wanted to tell her how he couldn’t have faced this without her, but the words wouldn’t come — and then the door was opening, and Jeff Chesterfield stood on the other side.

He was a little older than Kane recalled, of course, but still in very good shape — the years were being kind to him, even if the rest of life was not. Kane took a deep breath and found that he had no idea where to begin.

“Kane,” Jeff said. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen you.”

“Yes it has, sir.”

---