Ready For You (3 page)

Once again, I was running.
 

It seemed to be something I was highly skilled in. When the walls of my carefully built life in Atlanta had started to cave in on me, I’d needed out, and I had bailed. I’d packed up everything I owned, and I’d found myself on the interstate, headed for home. It always felt safe and secure here, and I liked the person I had been here—before the end.
 

In the week since I’d returned, I temporarily moved in with Liv. Living with Liv was great. After so much time and how different we had both become, I had been afraid that things would be awkward and that the friendship we had once shared would be gone. But it wasn’t, and we naturally fell into that sweet spot—somewhere between best friends and sisters. I hadn’t realized how much I missed her until I had her back, and I didn’t think I would ever forgive myself for pushing her away for so long. The fact that she’d opened up her home and life to me after eight long years and one email just showed the type of person she was. I didn’t deserve such compassion.
 

She wanted me to move in permanently, but I’d spent years living with others, and for once, I wanted to live on my own. I needed to live on my own. I was twenty-five years old, and I didn’t think I even knew myself. Who was I without someone else? I’d come here in search of something
. That had to be it, right?
I needed to find out.
 

I picked out a great house not too far from Liv. It was old and needed work, and it was pricey because of the neighborhood, but I took it on the spot. With my preapproved loan and sizable down payment—thanks to years of saving money—it would be mine in a week.
 

After throwing together breakfast this morning from the last of the groceries, we decided a trip to the farmers’ market might be fun. Liv said she would go every week to get local produce, rather than buying from the grocery store. According to Liv, big-business grocery stores that choked out small farmers were going to be the death of our society.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked as we roamed around the streets filled with vendors selling everything from kale to nuts to strawberries.
 

“I’m the same girl. I’m just an upgraded, more worldly version,” she said.
 

Her sassy smirk reminded me of a younger Liv.
 

“But how did this upgrade happen? I mean you didn’t just wake up one day and decide that trust funds sucked and hemp bracelets were way cooler.”

She gave me a pointed looked and snickered. Then, she continued her search for the perfect tomato, squeezing one and then another, as I watched.
 

“It was college actually.” She picked up a juicy red tomato and turned it over in her hand before placing it on the scale with the others she’d picked out.
 

The man on the other side of the stand told her the amount she owed. They finished their business, and we moved on.

“I was sitting in a sociology class. It wasn’t my major at the time. It was just something I was taking to fill a general ed requirement. The professor was lecturing about the African society and how they had been basically crippled by the AIDS epidemic. I remember sitting there, staring at these pictures in my textbook. I was bored out of my mind. I looked down at my nails to see a chip in my Very Berry nail polish, and I was just beside myself. I was so annoyed because I’d had a manicure only three days earlier. My professor was in front of the class, speaking about people dying, and I was pissed because my nail was chipped. I mean, how bitchy is that? I don’t know. I guess I just had a light bulb moment.”

“You were not a bitch,” I said, trying to defend the friend I once knew.
 

“No, I know that now, I guess. I’ve done alright, despite my parents trying to turn me into the most pretentious being on the planet. But I still came from wealth, and I knew it. I always had someone to take care of me. My father was there to pay my tuition and rent, and a huge trust fund was waiting for me when I turned twenty-one. I was set for life.”

“So, you became a hippie?”

“No, bitch!” She laughed. “I told my parents that I didn’t want my trust fund anymore and that I didn’t see the point of going to college to prepare for a career if I wouldn’t need to work. I wanted to make my own way. So, I switched majors. I dropped business for sociology.”

“Oh, man. Your dad must have been so pissed.”

“Yeah, he didn’t take it too well,” she said.

“And then, you became a hippie?”

“Oh my God! I am not a hippie!” She giggled.
 

“I know. I just like giving you shit.”

“Well, at least that hasn’t changed,” she said, giving me a shoulder nudge.
 

We continued shopping, and I helped by picking up carrots and freshly baked bread that smelled like heaven. Liv hadn’t been kidding when she said she visited the farmers’ market a lot. Almost every vendor knew her by name and would give her a special price or throw in a few more veggies or goodies into her bag with a wink and a grin. She’d give them a hug and ask how their families were doing. They really loved her down here, and it wasn’t surprising.
 

After college, Liv had gone to graduate school and gotten her master’s degree. She now earned her living as a family counselor. She worked with families who were going through hard times, like divorce, death, or other difficult transitions. From what she’d shared, I could tell it wasn’t easy work, but the love she had for others radiated through everything she did.
 

With our bags loaded, we started to make our way back to the car, weaving through the crowd and enjoying the sounds of people talking and soft music playing. I smiled when I heard a child laughing.
 
I turned to see a child being thrown over his father’s shoulder.
 

“Garrett! Stop it! I’m too old to be carried!” The child laughed.

“You’re never too old to be tackled, Connor! We’ve got to get you ready for football!”

That voice—even after eight years, I would recognize it anywhere. My stomach fell to the concrete, and my feet cemented to the ground. I was frozen, completely frozen. Everything slowed. The street noise melted away, and each and every shopper disappeared until I saw him. He had the boy slung over his shoulder. They were both laughing and breathless from their horseplay. He looked older, but it was still him. He still had the same jet-black hair, emerald eyes, and dazzling smile. A beautiful blonde woman was smiling at the two of them as they joked around.
 

My heart finally caught up to my brain, and it felt like a jackhammer was beating hard and fast in my chest. My hands shook, and my knees suddenly felt weak and wobbly. I had no idea how much time had passed since I saw him.
 

Minutes? Hours?
 

I didn’t know, but it couldn’t have been long since Liv was just now noticing my crazy behavior.
 

“Amelia, are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost,” she said.
 

When I didn’t respond, she must have glanced up because I heard her gasp. She’d seen him, too.

“I-I need to get out of here—now,” I gritted through my teeth.

“Are you sure?”

I just nodded and started to turn. I couldn’t face him. He probably hated me.
 

He had a kid.
That hurt. My hand went to my chest, trying to rub out the pain settling there. He had a child. That meant the blonde standing next to him was probably his wife.
Garrett was married.
It had been eight years. Of course he would be married. I didn’t know why I was surprised, but he wasn’t supposed to be here. He had moved away. He was supposed to stay away. I couldn’t be here if he was still here. I couldn’t breathe if he was still here.
 

“Come on, sweetheart, let’s get to the car,” Liv said gently, grabbing my arm and guiding me toward the car.
 

I just gave a brief nod as I let her lead me.
 

We hadn’t made it three steps before I heard the words that made my heart come to a screeching halt.

“Mia? Mia, is that you?”

~Garrett~

Since the night she’d left with nothing more than a hastily scribbled note that reduced my heart to ashes, I’d been haunted by Mia’s face everywhere I went. I’d seen her the very first day of my freshman psychology class, sitting in the front row, as I remembered how much she had wanted to earn her degree in child psychology, and eventually teach.
 

Maybe it will give me a leg up on our own hellions
, she’d always said.
 

I would see her in the airport every time I flew. If I caught a glimpse of a brunette beauty with brilliant blue eyes, I’d wonder where she was going and who she was going to see.
 

And now, with Connor on my shoulders and Leah next to me, holding her daughter, Lily, I saw her again across the farmers’ market. Out of the corner of my eye, a wisp of brown hair caught my attention, like it always did. But this one was different. This brunette had just the right amount of natural auburn mixed in, and the way the shimmery strands reflected the sun reminded me of summers gone by. I pivoted around just in time to see her face before she turned away into the crowd. My heart recognized her before my mind did, and my heartbeat galloped to full speed the second my eyes saw her.
 

I’d spent so many years imagining this moment—the day when I saw her again. I didn’t know how many hours I’d wasted, wondering what it would be like to have Mia walk back into my life. Would she come running back, apologizing for everything and begging for forgiveness? Would she look the same? Would she still want me like I wanted her? Or would she have moved on in the way I couldn’t?
 

Before I could even register the fear and trepidation of the unknown that would have me running in the opposite direction, straight for the sanctuary of the ignorant and unaware, I called out to her.
 

She turned, and I saw her, all of her, for the first time in eight years.

She looked shell-shocked, frozen, and scared. She had a death grip on the woman beside her.
 

On a closer look, I recognized Olivia Prescott. We’d gone to high school together. I hadn’t seen her in years, but I remembered her because of Mia. They had been best friends, so we’d spent a lot of time together. The last time I’d seen Olivia, I hadn’t been the sanest of men. I probably owed her an apology.

“Hi, Garrett,” Mia said softly.
 

She didn’t seem surprised to see me. That paired with the death grip and panic on her face led me to believe she’d spotted me first…and she must have been fleeing when I called out to her.

She had chosen to run, rather than face me—again.

Fuck, that hurt.
 

“You look well,” she said politely.
 

“You, too,” I answered awkwardly.
 

Now that I knew she didn’t want to see me, I wasn’t really in a talkative mood. Any scenario I had envisioned of our long-awaited reunion didn’t include her trying to dodge me in the middle of a crowd. I thought I at least deserved a,
Hey, how are you, Garrett? Sorry I bailed on you right after you asked me to marry you. Yeah, that was a shitty thing to do.

Whatever.

“Garrett, are you going to introduce us?” Leah asked, turning to me with an expectant look.
 

She had Lily balanced on her hip, which was getting harder to do. Lily had just passed her first birthday, and she was a fidgety little thing.
 

“Gah!” Lily screamed her version of my name, clapping her hands. Then, she held them out to me, using the universal signal for,
Take me!
 

I took Lily into my arms and turned back to Mia. She quietly watched, her eyes darting between Leah and me as, she bit her lip. I remembered she would always bite it when she was nervous. It used to drive me wild. Unfortunately, it still did.
 

“Leah, this is Mia and Olivia—two friends from my high school days. Mia and Olivia, this is Leah,” I said simply. “This dude right here is Connor, and the princess in my arms is his little sister, Lily.”

Mia was silent for a second longer than what would probably be considered socially correct, but she finally smiled. “They’re lovely, Garrett. Really, you have a beautiful family.”
 

Tears rimmed her eyes, and for one split second, I really wanted to just thank her and turn around to leave. I wanted to make her feel the pain I’d felt when I went to her house and found that letter along with that same pain I’d felt every fucking day because I couldn’t find a way to move on.
 

For one brief moment, I wanted her to think it had been easy for me to live without her. I wanted to let her believe that these children were mine and that the beautiful woman by my side was my wife. In this one second of hesitation, I believed it would all be so easy if I could just walk away, leaving her with the impression of the great success Garrett Finnegan had become.
 

I didn’t though. I wasn’t a jackass. But right then, I really wanted to be.
 

“Oh, I’m sorry. You misunderstood,” I said. “Leah is my sister, Clare’s, best friend. You remember Clare, right?”
 

She nodded, and I saw her squeeze Olivia’s hand.
 

“Leah is like a sister to me. We hang out quite a bit, but she is definitely not my wife. I’d consider taking this one though,” I said with a wink. I gave Lily a tickle in the ribs, which caused her to squeal.
 

“So, you’re not…”
 

“No, I’m not,” I answered.
 

More awkward silence filled the space between our two small groups. Connor started kicking a rock on the ground in front of me, and he gave me the look that kids would give when they wanted to leave. It was the look that basically said they were going to spontaneously combust if they didn’t vacate the premises immediately.
I knew the feeling.