22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Jamie

Every muscle in my body tightens at her question. Ugh. I forgot I didn't tell her this part. I take a deep breath and blow it out.

I look away sheepishly and say quietly. "Actually, me being away was training to see if they wanted to keep me on in a more permanent capacity. If they decided to hire me, where I ended up working from was my decision."

I can feel her eyes burning a hole in my face, and her hand entwined with mine loosens. I grip tighter, afraid that she's going to completely pull away. Not just her hand but from us. From me. I can't lose her after I just got her.

"Evie." Her name falls from my lips with a bit of desperation, and I gaze into her eyes, begging her to understand. "I wasn't thinking straight when I left."

I can see doubt cloud her expression, and my stomach clenches. "So you knew that you could be back in Willow Falls when the six months were over?"

My mouth is suddenly dry, and I have trouble swallowing. "I knew it was a possibility. But at that point in time, I wasn't sure I would be coming back since I did have the option to work anywhere in the world."

She looks away from me, her lips pressed together.

"Evie—" She puts up a hand to stop me from saying anything else.

"Just give me a second to process this." She turns her gaze back to mine, and I feel my body relax as I see the rational expression in her eyes. "Okay?"

I blow out a big breath and nod, giving her the silence she's asked for. I can see her brain ticking as she connects all the dots.

Luckily for me, the O'Connells are rational people. They always look at both sides of a story and try to understand the full picture.

Unlike my family, where we can all be hot-headed and not think something through until after the fact.

Case in point—me leaving and ending things only to realize how ridiculous I was being. Once I ended things, it became obvious to me that I was in love with Evie. But after I acted so stupidly, I wasn't sure how to fix the biggest mistake of my life.

Plus, what if I just did what I always do and ruin things? I couldn't take that chance with Evie. To be honest, I was surprised that neither Sean or Jess questioned me about what happened. I waited for them to grill me the entire time I was away but it never came.

Their silence was probably the biggest game changer since I didn't need to defend what I had done. Normally, everyone is butting in when it comes to my love life. This time, no one said anything.

I lift my gaze to the woman in front of me, and my eyes slowly take in every inch of her face. My heart expands with the love I feel for her, and it clicks. No one said anything because it's Evie.

I needed to be the one to figure it all out for myself.

She's looking down at her cup, her fingers circling the rim. It's a nervous tick of hers that I've noticed over the lifetime that we've known each other. Anytime Evie is contemplating what to do, she fiddles with something in front of her.

I put my other hand on top of our entwined hands, and I squeeze. She meets my gaze, and I see her swallow hard.

I feel every part of my body settle in. Any doubt that I had about us is gone. But now I need to soothe hers.

I see her bite her bottom lip, and my heart aches for the pain I've caused her.

"Evie," I say softly. "I am an idiot. We all know this."

A small smile lifts her lips, accompanied by the tiniest of giggles, and my chest lifts.

"I promise you," I pin her eyes with mine to make sure she understands that I am fully committed to us. To her. "I will never, ever do anything like this to you again. I will make sure that we talk about anything that affects the both of us first, and we will make a decision together."

I feel her hand tighten under mine, and my voice comes out stronger.

"I can start my own business if I need to."

"Or I can come with you," she says so softly that I swear I misheard.

"What? You would give up Bake My Day?" My eyebrows furrow, and I frown.

"I don't have to give it up; I can hire someone to run it. I'm not attached to the bakery, Jamie."

I can't believe how lucky I am to have the love of this woman. I know how much she loves her career, and I would never ask her to give up Bake My Day. Knowing that she would, for me, leaves me speechless.

I lean in to kiss her so full of gratitude that I swear my heart is going to burst when I feel a hand on my lips pushing back.

"Oh no, you don't, mister." My eyes pop open at her firm tone full of chastisement, but I see a bit of humor dancing in her eyes, too. "We need to finish talking about this."

My lips pull up at the corners, and I sit back in my chair. "I'm all yours, Evelyn O'Connell."

Her eyebrows shoot up, and her eyes are as wide as saucers. I don't think she expected me to back off so easily. She clears her throat, and I just sit quietly back and wait for her terms.

I am not looking to negotiate a winning contract; it's just whatever I need to do to keep Evie with me.

As she's recovering, I take a sip of my now lukewarm Peppermint Latte and sigh. What better way to spend time than sitting across from this beautiful woman with the taste of Christmas in my mouth. I press my lips together to keep the smile off my face from my thoughts.

"Evie?" I notice a tiny shake of her head. "Tell me what you need."

"What I need?" Her eyes are wide again. No, I'm not acting normal. Usually, I'm much more concerned about the debate.

"Yes." I nod my head and look directly into her eyes. "I messed up, and I need to know what you need to be certain about me."

"Oh. Yes. That." I hold back the smirk that wants to break free because I don't want her to think I'm not taking this seriously. I am. Very.

"Okay. First, I need you to talk to me and tell me what you're thinking."

"Done."

"Done?" She narrows her eyes and tilts her head. "Jamie, you are the absolute worst at that."

" Was the absolute worst." I notice the skepticism in her eyes and add. "Okay. I see your point. Can we at least agree that I've been better at it since I've been back home?"

She shakes her head and laughs while holding her fingers an inch apart. "This much better, but it still needs work."

"Okay. And like I said, done."

She blows out a big breath and slowly shakes her head. Her blue eyes dance at me, and my heart stutters.

"Seriously," she chuckles. "I am not joking."

"I know you're not. All I can do is promise you that I will talk about things with you in the future. I can't say that I will do it perfectly, but I will make sure to do it." I cover our hands again, and I lean in. "Being without you was awful and something I don't ever want to do again. If that means I need to work on talking about my feelings and making decisions together, then I will do that."

A slow grin spreads across her face as she leans closer to me. "I'm going to hold you to that, Mr. Stewart."

"I'll count on it."

I move my face closer to hers but hold back. The movie Hitch pops into my head as I realize that I moved in ninety but am waiting for Evie to close the gap. I watch her eyes intently, feeling completely exposed but, for the first time, completely safe.

When she closes the distance, and her lips touch mine, every part of my body hums. I have never been so grateful for anything in my entire life. The love of this woman is more than I deserve, and I have no intention of taking it for granted again.

"Thank you," I whisper against her lips.

"For what?" She pulls back her eyes wide.

"For loving me. For giving me another chance. And for accepting me as I am…which is a complete mess."

Her lips curve into a smile and she leans in to give me a brief but meaningful peck.

"You're welcome."

Ding.

Evie's phone goes off, startling both of us. She reads it and jumps up.

"I'm late! It's almost 11:15. I gotta go."

She shoves her chair back, throws on her coat, and starts to run out the door. I notice that she forgot her drink. "Evie!" I call, and she turns around to see me holding up her cup.

"Thank you." She comes back to me, grabs the cup, and turns to run out again. But then she stops and turns back to me. She walks back to me, lifts her hand to my face, and kisses me. "I'll talk to you later?"

All I can do is smile and nod. I stand there grinning like a schoolboy as I watch Evie leave.

"It's about time you settled down, Jamie Stewart!" I turn to see who said that and find almost every eye in the shop looking at me. I feel my face heat.

I wave at everyone, put my coat on, and head toward the exit. The chuckles that follow me make my face heat even more.

"Small towns," I groan, shaking my head and chuckling as I let the door close behind me.