Page 234 of Micah

I finally told him.

The words had felt so right leaving my lips that I wonder why I was ever afraid to say them in the first place.

“I love you.”

I whisper them into the quiet bedroom just to hear how they sound.

They sound...

Perfect.

Still...

A little knot of worry settles in my stomach.

What if I'm more trouble than I'm worth?

Patrick.

The bar.

The debt.

The men who tore through my life like a tornado.

Then there's the loan.

Lord have mercy.

That loan.

Micah transferred more money into my business account than The Watering Hole is even worth.

The number still makes my palms sweat.

I haven't touched a penny.

I don't intend to, either.

Not until I see every page of the paperwork he keeps insisting his attorney is drawing up.

He says it's a loan.

I believe him.

Mostly because Micah has that strict no-lies policy.

But still, it's an awful lot of faith to place in another person.

Especially in me.

I sit up and tuck my knees beneath my chin.

The funny thing is...

The more I think about it, the more I realize I don't even want to reopen The Watering Hole exactly the way it was.

That place...