Small-Town Sweetheart (The Spring Grove Series Book 2) Read online

  I see Noah and his family, but even then, they aren’t pulling me back. Delaney is pulling me, though, through every single detail of this summer with her. It washes over me the way the river did when I jumped off the bridge with her. I can feel her in my arms, taste her lips. I can see her on the softball mound, I can see her in the flower shop, and then as my assistant at the clinic. It is all right there, drowning me, and I don’t think I want to come up for air.

  I want to be consumed in all that is Delaney.

  I want to love her.

  Be loved by her.

  So then, why the hell am I leaving her?

  “Not right now, Mawmaw,” Delaney calls when I knock on the door.

  Since I’m not Mawmaw, I push open the door and find Delaney sitting in the middle of her bed with the blankets over her, looking like a pole in the middle of a tent. A grin pulls at my lips as I hear her groan. “Mawmaw, really, I just need to be alone.”

  I toe out of my shoes and go to her bed, sitting on the edge. I clear my throat, and she goes noticeably still. “Can I come under there with you?”

  She doesn’t answer me, nor does she move, so I pull the blankets up and then over my head until I am fully covered by the makeshift tent. I meet her watery gaze, and it feels like she’s pitched a ball into my gut. I swallow hard as I scoot closer to her, while she stares at me, unsure what I’m doing. Hell, I don’t even know what I’m doing, to be honest. All I know is I have to make this better.

  She narrows her eyes as she wipes them quickly with the back of her hand. “What are you doing?”

  “Groveling?” Her lips quirk, and I shrug. “I don’t know, Delaney. I think I’m still an idiot.”

  She scoffs. “Think?”

  “Know?” She nods as she laughs softly, and I smile. “To be honest, I’m freaked the hell out.”

  Her eyes meet mine. “So am I. Do you think it is easy to be honest with you like that when I’m unsure what will happen?”

  “I know.”

  “But don’t you think it’s better to be freaked out together than apart?”

  I swallow hard, my heart pounding against my ribs as my skin burns. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Just be honest.”

  I nod thoughtfully. She’s right. I search her eyes, and I honestly don’t think I could have walked away. I would have tried, but then, I don’t think I would have made it. I don’t know if it was her threat of never wanting to see me again or if it was my run-in with Mawmaw and Mom, but something has clicked inside me. “I can’t remember my life before you.” She takes in a quick breath, and my heart soars. “I don’t know why, because I claim to love that life. I mean, I thought I had it all, but I don’t even have to go back to prove that point wrong.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No,” I say quickly, reaching out and threading our fingers together. “When I left to go sulk in my cabin, or maybe do what you do and hide under a blanket—”

  She gives me a watery smile. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”

  I scoff as I reach out, taking her jaw in my hand. “I had a run-in with Mawmaw and my mom, and they did what they do best—meddle.”

  She scoffs. “I’m not the least bit surprised.”

  I shrug in agreement. “They asked me questions about my apartment and my clinic back home. I couldn’t remember the answers. But I could remember all the details of your face, your body, and every single thing we did this summer. I can still remember how I felt on top of that Ferris wheel or when I climbed up the side of the house to get to you.”

  “Reed, I feel the same way. Everything is on constant replay.”

  I nod. “I don’t know if it’s because it’s new and exciting or if it’s just us—”

  “It’s us. And you want to know how I know?”

  “How?”

  “Because I can remember everything about us when we were younger too.”

  My chest aches as I gaze into her eyes. “I can too.” I draw in a deep breath, filling my lungs as she holds my gaze.

  “Reed, how can you deny what we have here? You’re the one who pointed it out after we first kissed, about how this is different.”

  I shrug. “I told you I’m an idiot.” Her face lights up, and I lean in, pressing my forehead to hers. “I’ve been alone for so long. I thought I didn’t know how to be any other way, but then you came along, and you just fell into place.”

  “It’s a great place to be,” she answers softly. “Beside you. Reed, it’s a place I’d like to stay if you’d let me.”

  “Even after the shit I just pulled?”

  She reaches out, taking my face in her hands. “Reed, I know you. I know you are freaked out, and you didn’t know what to say. The thing is, your actions tell me how you feel. If you didn’t want me, you would have left. Instead, you came back.”

  “Because I love you.”

  She exhales suddenly, her tears spilling over her cheeks. “I love you back.”

  Even if I didn’t already know she loved me, hearing her say it back blows me away. My face breaks into a grin as I bring her to me, pressing my lips to hers. She opens her mouth for me, and I take advantage, sweeping my tongue along hers and tasting her sweetness. I draw out the kisses, each one deeper and full of more emotion. When we part, we’re both out of breath as we gaze into each other’s eyes. No one other than my parents and siblings has ever told me they loved me until now.

  Until Delaney.

  She licks her lips as she leans into me. “I know it’s scary to think of picking up your life and coming back home, but Reed, this is your home—”

  “No, you’re my home.”

  Her eyes widen for a second before more tears fall from her sweet brown eyes.

  “I don’t want to go back to a life I can’t even remember.”

  “I don’t want you to either, but if you do, I want to go.”

  “Why, when we have everything here?”

  “I mean, I’m pretty sure I said that from the rip.”

  Her lips quirk, and I lean into them, kissing them softly. “So, what you’re saying is, you’re always right?”

  “Well, duh.” She kisses my nose, her eyes so sweet and full of tears, but thank God they’re not sad tears. “Good you learned that early.”

  I feel my own tears burning my eyes as I fall even more in love with her. “It’s funny.”

  “What?” Her fingers stroke the hair on my jaw as she touches her nose to mine.

  “I found what I didn’t know I was looking for.”

  “That is funny,” she says. “Your dad always said you would.”

  I close my eyes as the emotion takes over. “He did.”

  “I always hoped it would be me.”

  “It is,” I say, breathing her in. “It’s only you.” The grin that spreads across her face stuns me. “I think I knew that day with Gary.”

  She chokes on her laughter, and she nestles closer into me, her lips moving against mine as she whispers, “I will protect you from all the ducks.”

  “Oh, thank God. That’s the only reason I’m staying,” I say with a wink, and she giggles.

  “I was hoping. I need something to do around here.”

  I trap her face in my hands. “You’ll have plenty.”

  “Oh?”

  I nip at her bottom lip. “Yeah, sweetheart, between being the mayor of this town and loving me, you’ll be swamped.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Her eyes dance with excitement and so much love before she presses her lips to mine. I hold her tightly to me, pulling her into my lap. The blanket gradually falls off us as our kiss deepens. When I pull back from her lips, I do so to look into the face of my forever. I slide my thumb along her bottom lip, and I shake my head. “You’re never going to let me live it down that I tried to walk away from this, are you?”

  “Never,” she teases with a wink, and then she kisses my nose.

  “I love you,” I whisper, and s