Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“What on earth?” I whispered as Hutton took my hand and pulled me through the dark, silent library. “Why are we here?”
“I need a second chance at something.” He led me into the study room off the main section of the library, and over to the table where we’d once sat studying for our AP calculus exam.
I laughed softly as Hutton pulled out the chair for me. “Thank you.”
He sat down next to me. “I don’t know what would have happened if I’d had the nerve to kiss you that night. But I do know that I have always regretted not taking that chance when I had it.”
“Is this a do-over?” I asked, my heart pounding just as hard as it had been when I was seventeen.
“It’s a do-better.” He leaned in, his lips nearly touching mine, and paused. “You’re not chewing gum, are you?”
I shook my head.
“Good.” Taking my head in his hands, he pressed his lips to mine, sending sparks shooting every which way beneath my skin. “Everything is going to be different from now on.”
“It is?”
“Yes. That night, you told me something you’d never told anyone before. I’m going to return the favor.”
“Okay.” I tried to swallow and found it difficult.
“I love you, Felicity. I’ve always loved you. And if you’ll let me, I will love you for the rest of my life.”
I gasped. “Oh my God. Hutton, I—”
“Hold on. I want to hear every single word you want to say, but I’m afraid if I don’t get everything out all at once, I’ll lose my nerve. Or I’ll forget something important.”
“Okay,” I said, laughing softly.
“That day my family showed up at my house and I asked you to keep pretending we were engaged, it wasn’t only because I wanted my mother off my back. It was because I wanted the chance to be with you without the risk of losing you. I didn’t trust myself not to screw things up. I didn’t believe that someone like me could hold onto someone like you. I was convinced that if you got close enough, you’d see all my flaws and idiosyncrasies and know you could do better.”
“All I want is you,” I whispered. “But I understand your fear. I was scared too. I thought I could ration my feelings the way I usually did.”
“Like truffles?”
I smiled. “Like truffles. But it didn’t work. Every day we were together I just fell deeper and deeper.”
“I did too,” he said. “I was a wreck when we got home from New York.”
“Same! Even in New York—that day I tried on the dress.” I shook my head. “I knew it wasn’t just a dress, no matter what you said.”
“You were right.”
“And the ring.” I looked down at my hand, at the band circling my finger. “You gave me a real ring.”
“I wanted to buy you all the real things, because my feelings were real. But it was easier to spend money than to admit them.”
“Let’s make a promise that we’ll be honest with each other from now on.”
“Deal.”
“Is this where I can tell you I love you too?”
He smiled. “Sure.”
“I love you too—everything about you. What you see as flaws and idiosyncrasies are what make you different and special. I’m not perfect either,” I said with a laugh. “I’ll probably always cut my hair when I’m stressed, never walk right in high heels, and continue to blurt random things when I’m nervous.”
“I might think you were the wrong girl if you didn’t.”
“And I know that you might not always be in touch with your earthy bull feelings, but I promise to be patient and not snatch them back into my little crab shell.”
“Good.” He leaned forward and kissed me. “Because there’s only one crab for me.”
“So what happened that made you realize all this?”
He laughed. “My sister. Turns out, she knew the engagement was bullshit, but she didn’t say anything, because she thought it was just how we were working up the nerve to admit how we felt for real.”
I gasped. “Just like Millie!”
“She saw me wrestling with my feelings and pretty much told me I had to get over myself or let you go.” He shook his head. “Letting you go was not an option. So here we are.”
“Here we are.” I smiled and glanced around. “How are we here, anyway?”
“Turns out, one of the Prancin’ Grannies is the boss here.”
“Gladys?”
“Gladys.” He shrugged. “Also I made a very large donation to the Friends of the Public Library Foundation.”
I laughed. “Will there be a Hutton French wing sometime next year?”
“Possibly.” He took my hand again, playing with my fingers. “What are the chances I can get you to come home with me tonight?”
“Hmm. Are we talking theoretical probability here?”
He shrugged. “If you insist.”
“Then I would say the desired outcome is highly likely. In fact, I would say it is a mathematical certainty.”