Page 68 of A Little More

Laid out logically, their relationship had to end.

With a click, the breaker flipped to the other side. She walked back to the kitchen. The Edison light bulbs over the sink began to glow. The hum of the refrigerator was the only sound as she stood at the edge of the doorway, watching Nash install the sink. The last piece of the puzzle.

“Amazing, Lexi.” He stepped back to her, slipping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her back against his body.

And ending it was the hardest part.

She didn’t focus on the room but on being held by a man she’d walk away from soon. Probably tomorrow. Breathing in, she memorized the way he smelled, that faint aroma of grass that never left.

“I didn’t want to do the kitchen with you because I knew as soon as you left I’d have to walk into this room each day and be reminded of you.”

She remembered his hesitation. “And now?”

His chest rose with a deep breath, his arm tightening around her, his head burying against her neck. “It’s gonna hurt like hell,” he mumbled, full of emotion. Shifting her to stand in front of him, he linked his hands together behind her back. “We can try a long-distance relationship.”

“A permanent long-distance relationship?”

He cupped her cheek, his thumb stroking along her skin. “It’s better than never holding you again.”

God, she loved him.

“This is really hard on me, too.” She skimmed her hands up his arms and rested them behind his neck. “I have to live in a city to be successful in my job. And I won’t be the reason you walk away from everything you’ve built here. You have the store now on top of farming. You definitely won’t have time to see someone three hours away.”

“So that’s it? You get to make the decision for both of us?”

“We made that decision at the beginning of this.” Somewhere along the way it’d changed for them. That didn’t matter. Not when she broke it down and honestly thought about how different their lives, their expectations were.

“Knock, knock!” Ms. Peggy pushed open the front door. “I wanted to come to see how the kitchen is going.”

Lexi let go of Nash. “Perfect timing.”

“Not really,” muttered Nash under his breath.

She elbowed him gently. “We just finished.”

He leaned down and skimmed his lips along her temple. “This conversation isn’t finished.”

Ms. Peggy’s eyes widened as she stepped around the corner and into the new kitchen. She didn’t speak but started to move around the room, running her hand over the new counters.

“Well?” Lexi waited, wanting Ms. Peggy’s opinion, hoping she liked it. The kitchen was for Nash. It had a functional edge to it. Nothing frilly or overly designed.

Ms. Peggy stopped in front of the white sink, the large picture window overlooking the side yard and fields in the distance. She set her hands on the counter, still silent.

Nash pried Lexi’s two hands apart, threading his fingers with one. “I thought you said you never get nervous.”

“This isn’t my job, Nash.”

He kissed her knuckles, his warm lips lingering. “No. It’s your passion.”

Passion? More like a hobby. Something she wanted to do on the side. Passion made it sound important.

Ms. Peggy crossed the room and hugged Lexi, rocking back and forth. “I absolutely love it. You are incredibly talented.” She pulled back, a tear escaped her pale blue eyes and slid down her cheek. “I can’t even believe you did all of this in a couple weeks.”

Lexi looked to Nash. “I had great help.”

“I wouldn’t have done it for anyone else.” His tone still somber, probably still focused on the end of their relationship. She’d end it. He would never do anything to hurt her.

Shifting away from Ms. Peggy, Lexi turned away from them both. This family made it impossible to leave without it feeling like she had ripped her heart out.

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