Dear Life(118)

Irritated, I huff my way next to him while mumbling, “This is so inappropriate. The last thing I want to do right now is talk to you. I’m only doing this because Amanda said to. If it was my option, you would be sitting on a bus back to Denver, gnawing on your own shoe because I would refuse you any and all food from the venue despite the long trip you might have taken to get here.”

“Are you done?” he asks when we stop by a bunch of bushes.

“Hey, are you being mean to me?”

“No.” He holds up his hands. “Never.”

“Good.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I lift my chin and avoid all eye contact. “Go on, say what you need to say so I can go back to the party and get my drink on.”

Exhaling loudly, he turns me so I’m facing him and then with a gentle touch, he forces me to look at him. “Daisy, that morning when Sasha turned up, it was the worst thing I could have ever done. Not stopping you from leaving. The minute you walked out that door, you took my heart with you, but I was just too damn scared to admit it.”

Why am I listening intently? Maybe because I still love him and I wish he loved me back.

“God.” He wipes his hand over his face. “It’s impossible for me to get my words straight with you in that dress. You’re just . . . you’re so damn beautiful, Daisy.” Darn him and his stupid flattering words.

Shyly, I thank him. From the minute I put this dress on, I wanted him to see me in it. And from his reaction right now, I’m glad he had the chance, because it’s worth this awkward conversation.

“Nothing happened with Sasha, nothing could, not when I’m so desperately in love with you.”

My heart starts pounding like a drum, my pulse skyrocketing, and the smile on my face brightens—there is no stopping it. Carter’s in love with me?

“You took me by surprise, Snowflake. When I showed up at Dear Life, I wasn’t expecting to meet someone so unconventional who took my breath away, who had such an addicting thirst for life. But I did, and you stole my heart with every quirky turtleneck and conversation about crafts. You brought light into my dull and aching life. You gave me a purpose, you gave me love, the one emotion I’ve never felt with anyone else.” Taking my hands, he brings me in closer. “I love you, Daisy. I don’t want to keep walking on this earth without you by my side. Please tell me I don’t have to.”

Darn it, he’s ruining my makeup. Gently, his hand cups my face and wipes away my tears.

“Do you need more convincing?” he asks. Not waiting for me to answer, he brings us around the bushes where a food truck is parked by the sidewalk. It’s bright red with a large comment bubble coming from the ordering window. Inside, it reads, “Ma, the meatloaf!”

“What is this? And what does Ma, the meatloaf mean?”

Chuckling, he pulls me in front of his chest and wraps his arms around my waist. “This, Snowflake, is my food truck. I specialize in making different types of meatloaf sandwiches. And Ma, the meatloaf is from Wedding Crashers, the movie.”

“You have your own food truck?” I ask in awe. “What about your uncle?”

“He helped co-sign so I could get it. We worked out our differences and he told me what a dickhead I was for letting you go, because even he saw the changes you made in me.” Gripping me tighter, he leans down into my ear and says, “You make me a better man, Daisy.” Pointing to the sandwich at the very top, he reads it out loud to me. “My number one sandwich is for you. I called it Daisy Owns My Heart. It’s a play on the first drink we ever had together with cranberries and oranges. I chose meatloaf because hell, I couldn’t think of anything else that would make me happy to cook. Everything about this truck is about you. You’ve influenced my life in such a short period of time that I had to have you be a part of it, if anything, just so I could hold on to what was left between us.”

“I can’t believe you have a food truck.”

“Is that a good thing?”

Turning around, I let him embrace me. “It’s a great thing, Carter. I’m so proud of you.”

His face breaks out in a large smile and everything inside me melts. I might have been mad at him, but I can’t stay mad forever. I love him. I went to Dear Life to experience life and I found a warm, loving man with so much love to give, but he didn’t know it at the time. It doesn’t seem like he has that problem anymore.

“You really love me?” I ask him, needing to hear it one more time.

“I really love you, Daisy.”

“Would it be okay if I said, I love you, too?”

Laughing, he answers, “It would be completely fine.”

“Good.” Standing on my tiptoes, I kiss his jaw. “I love you, Carter. I guess this means the groomsmen I had lined up to take me home are going to be disappointed,” I joke.

“Not funny, Snowflake. You’re only going home with one man, and that’s me.”

“Are we going to ride into the sunset in your meatloaf wagon?”

“Hey, meatloaf is what brought us together at first, so it only seems fitting.”

“So romantic,” I sigh, right before Carter tilts my chin up and presses his lips to mine.

This right here, this is what experiencing life is all about: living, learning, and loving each moment. I’m one lucky girl to be able to spend it with this man who swept me off my feet with one broody glance.