Page 118 of Forgiving Fate

Willow jumps up and starts licking both of our faces, and we fall back into the large beanbag in a fit of laughter.

The sun shines through the window as it starts to disappear beyond the horizon.

Many tears and hundreds of photos later, Logan and I start to clean everything up when a photo catches my eye.

“Hey! Do you remember this guy?” I ask Logan, holding a photo out to her.

Her eyes squint for a moment, then a big smile spreads across her face. “Holy shit. Is that Harrison?”

“Yep!”

Logan takes the photo of all three of us at the Alabama vs Auburn game. “Damn. I miss that crazy boy. I was always so jealous he followed you to Florida.”

“He actually reached out to me shortly after I got here last year. I told him about Mom and Dad and you.”

“Oh shit, how did he take it?” Logan says, leaning against the bed.

“As expected. You know he loved them as much as you did. I haven’t spoken to him since I got back, but he said he was on the West Coast and wanted to see us. Would you be okay if I invited him out to Seattle?”

“Of course. It would be amazing to have another familiar face around here. Plus, Harper, Noah, and Lainey would love him. Noah, especially since they are both the biggest golden retrievers I’ve ever met.”

I chuckle. “I’ve only met Lainey a handful of times, but she reached out while I was gone. She seems super sweet and I would love to get together with her, and I definitely need to meet the infamous Harper.”

“Oh. She is something, but you will love her. Text Harrison and I will text the girls. Maybe we can do a girls’ night or something? The boys are bound to go on a mission again soon and I go back to work soon, so it may be nice to introduce you to the crew so you don’t just have me or Landon.”

I shake my head, my eyes rolling, “Lo. I love you and appreciate the thought, but I don’t need babysitters. I’m okay.”

“That’s not what I meant, Al. You will learn very quickly that this town and this family take care of their own. We love hard and protect even harder. You may not see it yet, but Shelly and Conrad have already brought you under their umbrella of protection. So I suggest you just sit back and accept the overwhelming wave of love and support from all different walks of life.”

I knew coming back would be hard and I know I have a long way to go, but I can already tell I made the right decision to come back to the place that I didn’t choose to be my new home. In a way, I feel like fate or someone drifting along the universe put me in this path for a reason, whatever it may be.

Together, Logan and Iclose up the albums and make our way back down the stairs, but I stop in my tracks and glance at Landon’s door.

“Lo. I’ll meet you downstairs. I need to grab something.”

“Okay. I am ordering food from the diner. Come down when you’re ready.”

Turning around, I pause at Landon’s door for a moment before twisting the knob and walking in. The second I step inside, the smell of Landon surrounds me. An overwhelming feeling of happiness, mixed with a slight hint of nervousness, hits me at once.

What is going to happen when he comes back? Are the feelings that have only grown stronger still going to be there when we see each other for the first time? Or are we just better as friends?

Either way, I know for certain, Landon Parker Hayes is meant to be in my life. I didn’t fight like hell to crawl out of rock bottom and get to the light at the end of the tunnel just to let him walk away.

I look around the room one last time and just as I am about to head back downstairs, I see the same gray and black flannel that he offered me so many times, that always felt like the best hug in times where I didn’t want to feelhishands on me.

The desperate need to feel a hug like that overwhelms me, and I stare at the shirt. Fuck it. Snatching it off the hanger, I pull it on and immediately feel that sensation that I have been needing for months and head back downstairs.

As soon as I enter the kitchen, Logan glances up at and her eyes lock on my new attire and smiles.

“Nice shirt. Judging by the fact that it does not look like it remotely fits you, I think you will be happy with the text I just got.”

My brows raise in question, and I cut the distance between us. Logan turns her phone around so I can see.

Bear: Landon is coming home. Dad is going to pick him up since we are on a mission. He will be home in two days. Call you later. Love you Angel.

Holy shit.

In two days I will come face to face with the man whom I feel an indescribable tether to. I’m nervous, but I’m ready to finally see my best friend again, regardless of where the future takes us.

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