Page 61 of Spring Showers

“I’m not sad,” she said, as the tears fell freely. “I’m just...tired.”

Grant took her chin and turned her face towards his. “It’s more than that.”

She nodded and tried to smile.

“Tell me.”

This was the moment that America had prepared her for. It was time to fight for him. For Grant. Through her whimpering, she eked out three little words.

“Help me up.”

“Not until you talk to me.” He planted his feet in the mud, and she cringed at the thought that they might both be stuck there forever. She might as well get it over with.

“I love you,” she said. The words felt sweet, like icing coming off her tongue. “I don’t know what else to say...”

“You need a shower,” he said and stood up with ease. He took her hands and helped her to her feet. Looking into her eyes, unwavering in his intensity, he nudged her head back with the back of his forefinger. His lips landed on hers, barely pressing into her, as though he was mapping their every curve.

She froze, not out of fear, but she had never felt so much passion in such a small act. She let him have her how he wanted in that moment. His dirty hands came around the small of her back and he pulled her waist against his body until no space existed between them.

Grant cradled her head with one hand, playing in the curly tendrils that had fallen out of her ponytail, and pressed his mouth against hers again. His lips fit with hers and they moved in rhythm together, neither taking nor giving more than the other. All their kisses leading up to this one had been merely practice. This one was the real thing.

When she needed air, she pulled back and broke their bond. Her eyes remained closed as she breathed him in. The air was thick and fragrant from the evaporating rain, and his body was hard beneath her fingertips.

“I love you too,” he said.

“You do?” Her question wasn’t one rooted in true disbelief that he was capable of loving her, but in how proudly he said it. “I love you, Thandie. I want everyone to know it!”

She kissed him quickly and backed away, looking around. “There are a couple of problems with that.”

“I can get us out of this mud,” he said.

“Yes, that is one obstacle, perhaps the most pressing,” she said and moved her feet toward the pile of sticks behind her car. She crushed them down into the mud with her boot. “My ex-fiancé is your boss, and Leo said that he’s probably investing in The Foundry.”

“Ex-boss. Davis fired me,” Grant laughed out.

“Fired you, for what?”

“For failing to fulfill my contracted duties. I told him not to invest here.”

“Wait, why?” Thandie asked and could feel her anger rising in her chest.

“I don’t want this place to become a cookie cutter corporate project where they only care about the good-old dollar. This place is too good for that.”

“I think Davis was only interested in this place because he thought he could win me back. But really, I think he was just lonely after he got dumped.”

“Dumped? By whom?”

“Bianca from Vegas. His affair didn’t go so well.” Thandie laughed at the irony.

“They never do, do they?” Grant chuckled.

“Either way, Leo needs the money. And I need the job.”

“They’ll get it. Somehow, I know it,” he said, and she had no doubt he was telling the truth. “Just think about how far we’ve both come this week. If this place can help us heal and forgive, and open our hearts again, I want everyone to have an experience as powerful as that.”

The truth was hard to argue against. Leo might have something to say about Grant sabotaging his chances at getting that money, but that really wasn’t her concern. She had clearly done the job she was brought in to do, and she’d done it a little too well. The evidence was standing starry-eyed in front of her, and smeared with sticky dirt and verdant grass stains with mud just like she was.

There was something she needed to get off her chest, though. She took a deep breath, knowing what more she needed to confess. “Davis broke up with me the night before our wedding. I’m sorry. I should have told you this earlier?—”

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