Page 89 of Against All Odds

Was Alexa clapping?

What the fuck was going on?

I felt like a bomb had gone off, leaving a persistent buzz in my ear. The band had started playing again, and the sounds of conversation flowed through the crowd, but I didn’t hear any of it. All I could hear was Heath’s voice, echoing in my mind on an endless loop.

“Sable didn’t deserve what I said to her.”

“Sable, I’m sorry.”

“I’ll spend as long as it takes to make it up to you.”

I crossed my arms over my chest like a shield, my face burning thanks to all the curious stares. I’d always been a source of gossip, but this was a whole new level of attention,which I hadn’t asked for—and yet, it wasn’t unwanted. It was…nice.

Heath had just stood in front of Aspen’s most powerful people—who in the past had mocked and dismissed me, had looked down their noses at me for years—and defended me. Publicly. Loudly. In a way no one had ever done before.

“Holy shit,” Casey whispered. “That was intense.”

“Yeah.”

“Heath Falkner just went full rom-com hero on you.” Mackenna nudged my shoulder. “How do you feel?”

“Like I need air,” I muttered.

I got up on unsteady legs and walked out of the ballroom, into the garden, where people milled. I kept walking. The night air was cool and crisp, telling me that the change of the season was on its way.

I didn’t realize I wasn’t alone until I reached the gazebo at the edge of the resort’s garden. Someone had followed me. I turned to tell Casey I just needed a moment when I saw Heath.

I took a step into the gazebo and stared at him. “What was that?”

He took a few steps to reach me and stood close, facing me.

I was torn between walking away and staying. I’d already run once tonight—was I going to do it again?

“Why did you do that?” My voice shook.

“What part, Bambi?”

Tears filled my eyes at his use of the nickname.I’d missed him calling me Bambi. I’d missed him so much. You couldn’t turn love down like the volume on a radio. You couldn’t just reduce its intensity because the man you loved was an idiot. And you definitely couldn’t ignore it when the man apologized in front of God and everyone in Aspen.

I gestured vaguely toward the ballroom. “The speech, the apology, all of it.”

As he stepped closer, I could smell his cologne. I remembered how comforted his arms around me made me feel. “Because you deserved a public apology.”

I shook my head, wrapped my arms around myself, and looked down at my feet—at the stupid heels I was wearing, the ones that hurt. But I wanted to look good, to showhim,and vanity had made me put them on.

“I don’t get it.”

“Yes, you do.” He put a finger under my chin and raised my face. “I hurt you. I didn’t stand up for you when you needed me most. And I hate myself for it.”

I blinked back a sudden surge of fresh tears. Soon, they’d be rolling down my cheeks, and I’d feel pathetic.

“I love you,” he confessed and blew me away. “I love the way you care about people. The way you’ve turned the Wildflower into something amazing. The way you make everything brighter, even when you don’t mean to, because that’s who you are.”

I took an involuntary step back. “Heath….”

“I know you’re scared.” He took a step forward. “I get it. I’m scared, too. I’m scared of messing this up again, of hurting you again. But I’m more scared of nottrying. Of losing you completely. My love is bigger than my fear.”

Was my love bigger than my fear? I didn’t know, I thought, panicked. I didn’t know anything anymore.

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