Page 25 of Soul of the Mountain
With each passing mile, my thoughts, insecurities, and anger grow bigger and bigger until I’m a giant mess of confusing emotions. I take the exit toward Hope Mountain, my car bouncing up and down when the paved road turns to gravel.
By the time I pull into Willow Tree Inn, I’m not sure if I’m going to cry, scream, or throw myself into Sullivan’s arms. I guess there’s only one way to find out…
11
SULLIVAN
Irub my eyes and blink a few more times, positive that I’m hallucinating. Gabby,myGabby, is hopping out of her car and storming up the porch steps.
The front door swings open with a bang, revealing the woman I haven’t stopped thinking about for one second since she left yesterday. Her eyes are filled with anger, hurt, and betrayal, but she’s here. She cared enough to drive all the way up here to yell at me. That has to mean something, right?
“Who gave you the right to come into my life, say all these sweet things to me, make me fall for you, and then abandon me at the earliest convenience?” she accuses. Her hands are on her hips, and she’s glaring at me like she’s hoping to summon a demon to drag me to hell. God, she’s so damn sexy when she’s yelling at me. Wait.Did she say she fell for me?
“Gabby, I–”
“I’m not done,” she continues.
I take a few steps closer while she gears up for another rant. I don’t mind. I’ll stand here and take whatever punishment she has in store. As long as she’s here, I have a fighting chance.
“I was fine on my own before you. Then you… you… you went and made me believe in stupid fantasies like staying hereforever, when clearly, you had no intention of following through. Did I mean nothing to you?”
Fuck, the tears in her eyes gut me. Heath was right, I should have been the one who asked her to stay. My grandma never gave up on my grandpa, and I should never have let Gabby leave without laying my feelings out for her. At least then she would know what she was leaving behind.
“Gabby, you mean more to me than anything,” I tell her.
We’re only a few feet apart, standing in the entryway of the inn. Anger, disbelief, and pain radiate from her trembling body, and I want to throw myself off the nearest cliff for making her feel this way.
“Bullshit,” she spits out. “I thought I was coming here to tell you I miss you and want you in my life, but if you weren’t even going to make an effort to… What is that?”
Gabby pauses her rant and steps to the side to get a better look at what I have spread out over the front desk.
I shove a hand through my hair and rub the back of my neck, unsure of what to say. “This is my attempt at getting you back,” I start. “I was an idiot. I thought… I took your silence yesterday as you wanting to leave and get back to the big city as soon as possible. It hurt like hell until a friend helped me realize I could have said something. Maybe if I told you how I felt, you wouldn’t have left.”
Gabby darts her eyes between me and the desk. “And how do you feel?” she whispers. Her voice tugs at the frayed edges of my soul.
“I love you, Gabby. We haven’t known each other for very long, but I know I’ll never meet anyone like you again. I thought if you didn’t want to stay in this tiny town, I’d try my luck in Denver. I, uh, I didn’t have a suit, so I went shopping for a few.” I point toward the dress pants and blazers draped over my office chair. Gabby hasn’t said anything, so I continue rambling.“I couldn’t decide on the right tie, so I grabbed a bunch and was sorting through them when you showed up. Red felt aggressive, but the pastels felt, I don’t know, not serious enough. I know stuff like that matters in the business world. I haven’t interviewed for a job since I was a bag boy at Old Man Dawson’s grocery mart in high school, but I’ve been reading LinkedIn articles on the appropriate outfits and how to put together a resumé.”
“And the hairdryers?”
“Oh. Yeah. Well, I thought in case you wanted to come back here instead of staying in Denver for some crazy reason, I should get a hairdryer for you. Did you know there are like a hundred different kinds of hairdryers? One for curly hair, another for straight hair, plus a million attachments and heat levels. I ended up getting one of each model available, but I’m sure I can order another one online if–”
I catch Gabby as she throws herself into my arms, just like I always will. Her cheeks are wet with tears, but the smile on her face lets me know I must have said something right.
She cuts me off with a kiss that tells me everything I need to know. Gabby’s body speaks to mine in a way words don’t have to.
When we come up for air, Gabby looks at me with those hazel eyes that pierce my fucking soul and break me and heal me at the same time.
“I love you too, Sullivan.”
I breathe in her words and let them fill my lungs, seeping into my bloodstream and pumping through my heart. Every beat is for her. I don’t have words, so I show her what she means to me in a way I know she’ll understand.
I cup the back of her neck and draw her in for another kiss. She opens up for me, and I savor her taste, caressing every inch of her mouth. It belongs to me.
Continuing my exploration of Gabby, I run my hand down her throat and over her collarbone, my mouth following close behind, nibbling and sucking on her sweet skin as I go. Her breath hitches, her back arches, and her chest presses against my lips as I devour her.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmur once we break apart for air. “I should have told you all of this before you left. I guess I was insecure, too. You have my heart in your hands, princess. It’s all for you. I’ll move to Denver if that’s what you want. Or buy a house here so we don’t have to live at the inn. I’ll drive you to work every day if you want to keep your job. I just need you in my life, Gabby. I don’t care about the details.”
“Sullivan…” She sniffles and buries her head into my chest. I rock her back and forth, feeling complete for the first time in over twenty-four hours. “I didn’t want to admit how much you meant to me. I tried to fight it, but I quit my job and drove like a madwoman up here to yell at you.”
