Page 52 of Heartbreak Hill

Grayson followed Reid into the back seat. He reached for a waiting bottle of champagne, popped the cork, and poured each of them a flute. “To us,” he said as he tapped his glass to hers. “I love you, Sully.”

“I love you, Grayson.”

The entire time she drank, he never took his eyes off her. When she pulled the flute away, he leaned down and kissed her. “I’m so damn happy.”

“Me too.”

She held out her hand, admiring her ring. “It’s beautiful, Grayson.”

“Does it look familiar?”

Reid’s brows furrowed as she pulled her hand closer, inspecting her ring. “Uh, I’m not sure. But I think ... Is it?”

Grayson nodded. “Reid, I asked your father for your hand in marriage before I even went to look for a ring. I thought we’d look together—at least that’s what Pearce says people do now. However, when I was with your dad, he handed me your mom’s ring. As soon as I opened the box, I knew that was the ring for you.”

Reid cupped his cheek and pulled him toward her. “I love it so much. You have no idea.” When she pulled back, she felt wetness on her cheeks.

“Don’t cry,” he said as he wiped her tears away.

“These are happy tears.”

“Yeah? That’s good, then.”

They pulled in front of the Italian bistro where Grayson and Reid had danced on their first date. He guided her inside and toward the back where their table was, along with the small gathering he had arranged with their friends and family.

Reid went right to her father and hugged him. “Thank you, Dad.”

“Anything for you,” he said as he held her tightly. When they parted, she showed him the ring and then hugged him again when he teared up.

After she and Grayson had greeted everyone, they sat down to a nice dinner, followed by dessert and dancing. And when they got home, exhausted, Reid made good on her promise. As did Grayson.

EIGHTEEN

NADIA

Halloween was Rafe’s thing. He’d loved dressing up with the girls, taking them trick-or-treating, and being the neighborly face everyone on their block loved seeing. It never failed: he would end up with more than his own kids as they walked the sidewalks of their neighborhood, and he never cared. Nadia used to go with him and the girls when Lynnea was still in a stroller, but once she was determined to walk, climb stairs too high for her little legs, and carry her own heavy bag of candy, Nadia stayed home and handed out candy to the kids who came to their door.

Once the first of October was upon them, Rafe would decorate the house, adding orange and purple lights to the eaves and around the columns and spindles on their wide farmer’s porch, and he’d always put up fake cobwebs, even though Nadia hated them. Without fail, insects thought they had a new home, and by November 1, she was ready to use a blowtorch to get the webs down. Rafe would spend hours, if not days, making fake corpses who would sit in the two rocking chairs on their porch. The year he added the spooky-sounding doormat almost did her in.

Rafe’s favorite holiday, aside from Christmas, was a week away, and Nadia hadn’t bought the girls costumes. She hadn’t even bought candyto hand out. Nor had she put up a single decoration. As she looked around her at her neighbors’ houses, she realized how much she missed the decorations.

The girls piled into the car. Once everyone was buckled in, Nadia drove them to the strip mall where the Halloween pop-up store was. This was part of the therapy Nadia had been going to once a week. Her therapist wanted her to start living the life she and the girls were accustomed to. Something more than being at school.

Inside the store, Nadia pushed a cart and told the girls they needed to hold on to the side. In her head, she begged them not to let go. She feared one of them would run off and she wouldn’t be able to find them, which would trigger a panic attack. When she sat in therapy, she tried to convince herself her fear was irrational and that living in fear wasn’t the way to live. It was easy to say those things aloud, but to actually shut your mind off to the notion was near impossible.

It took almost two hours, but the girls finally picked costumes. They tried to convince their mom to dress up, but she wasn’t going out with them. Kiran would take the girls trick-or-treating, and he would dress up with them, just as Rafe had. This was Kiran’s idea, and Nadia couldn’t be more grateful for him.

On the way home, the girls persuaded their mom that they definitely needed chicken nuggies to finish out their day. She compromised and went to the drive-through and told them they had to wait until they got home to eat. She didn’t want to find nuggets in the back seat or have the greasy odor stay in her car.

When they turned onto their street, Nadia slowed and took in the decorations, mindful of the people outside. Their neighborhood really went all out for the holidays, which drew hundreds to their area from October through December.

“Mommy, look!”

Nadia saw and stopped her car in the middle of the road. “What the ...,” she said. Her neighbors were outside her home, putting up decorations. The front door was open, and people carried boxesout, while Kiran stood on the porch pointing in every direction. Nadia pulled into the driveway, and before she could shut her car off, the girls had unbuckled and were out of their seats.

Gemma and Lynnea ran right to Kiran. He crouched down and scooped them into his arms. Nadia’s heart skipped a beat. Rafe had done this countless times with them. She got out of her car and walked toward him.

“What’s going on?” she asked despite the obvious.

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