Unbreakable (Cloverleigh Farms, #4)(83)

“Well, it’s not anymore. He loves you for real.”

“And how do you know this?”

“Because I asked him how he knows he’s in love with you, and he gave me this very long speech that I can’t exactly remember, but he looked sort of intense and sad like Augustus Waters when he says that he knows that oblivion is inevitable but he is in love with you and all your efforts to keep him from you are going to fail.”

“Who?” I asked, feeling like I had whiplash.

She rolled her eyes. “Augustus Waters! From The Fault in Our Stars?”

I shook my head. “Okay, but Whitney, you said you weren’t ready for me to date anyone. You said you were scared of what might happen.”

“I know what I said on New Year’s Eve, and I’m sorry. It wasn’t fair. If you and Henry love each other, you should be together. Keaton and I just talked about it, and we agree.”

I placed two palms on the tablecloth, wishing the world would just slow down for a moment. I couldn’t keep up. “Wait a minute. You spoke to Keaton about this already?”

“Yes, right after I talked to Henry. We want you to be happy, Mom. I know you say you don’t need anyone but us, but that’s a lot of pressure—and it’s not working. We can hear you crying at night. We think you need something of your own.”

I stared at her, openmouthed with shock. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll give him another chance. Say you forgive me for standing in the way before. I was scared—I’m still kind of scared—but the therapist says you can’t let fear get the best of you. She says I’m stronger than I think.”

“Oh, baby, of course I forgive you.” I sniffed as I rose from my chair and reached for her. “Come here.”

She stood up and we hugged for a long time.

“Your therapist is right. You are strong. And I’m so lucky to have a daughter like you,” I whispered. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Are you going to call him?”

“I’m going to think about it, I promise.”

“Okay,” she said, trying to detach herself from me. “But can I go now? Millie said she was going to be here around four, and I think it’s after that.”

“Oh. Sure.” I released her, and she gladly hightailed it out of the restaurant, leaving me to sink back into the chair and sit there in a stupor.

I couldn’t believe it. Whitney had gone to see Henry. Whitney was taking what she learned at therapy and helping me. Whitney and Keaton wanted me to give Henry another chance. They wanted me to have something of my own.

Was I strong enough to go after it? Was I brave enough to let myself love and be loved? Was I ready to talk down that voice of doubt in my head and offer my heart to Henry—whole, unguarded, and open?

I was sitting there struggling with it all when he suddenly burst into the empty restaurant. He seemed out of breath, like he’d been running, and when he spotted me sitting alone at the table, he moved toward me with long, purposeful strides.

He reached my side and stood above, his chest rising and falling fast, his eyes pinned on mine. “No,” he announced.

“No?” I blinked at him.

“No. I changed my mind. I’m not walking away. Fear doesn’t get to win.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. My legs were so weak and rubbery that he practically had to hold me up. “I love you, Sylvia. But more than that, I love us together. I love that you listen to me ramble on about volatile acidity like it’s the most fascinating subject in the world. I love that you don’t care if my shirts have holes. I love hearing you tell stories about growing up here. I love the way you smile at me across a room. I love the way I can guess what you’re thinking by the blush in your cheeks. I love the way you put family first, because that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do too.”

I’d started to cry, and he brushed his thumbs beneath my eyes.

“I know you’re scared, and that’s okay. I know you’re not used to someone keeping his promises. And I know it’s going to take time for me to break down all those walls, but damn it, Sylvia, you’re going to let me try. You’re going to let me stick around. And you’re going to let me love you, and prove to you that we can build something so real and so strong, it’s unbreakable.”

“Henry,” I whispered, shaking my head. “What did I do to deserve you?”

He smiled gently. “You came looking for me. That very first night you were home, you came looking for me. I’ll never forget that.”

“I must have known.” I couldn’t help smiling.

“You must have known.” He briefly pressed his lips to mine. “And I knew it too, that very same night. When I walked you back home through the snow and stood there with you on the porch, I never wanted to kiss someone so badly in all my life.”

I gasped, laughing a little. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled. “You don’t recall how fast I took off?”

I tried to think back. “You know what? I do remember that. You said something about being able to give in to a woman, and then the next second, you were gone. But I kept thinking and thinking about what you’d said—I couldn’t get you off my mind.”