Page 57 of Promise Me a Forever Texas Love

On Poppy’s instructions, Huck had gone to Walmart in the next town over and bought out the store’s supply of battery-operated votive candles and twinkle lights. He’d outlined the entire deck with the candles and draped the twinkle lights from every overhead branch.

Beneath those lights, he’d placed two mismatched lawn chairs and an old card table covered in a white tablecloth. A mason jar of wildflowers sat in the center, surrounded by more of the tiny candles. He’d even used some of Grandma Hennessy’s china plates, crystal wine glasses, and nice silver utensils. Not that Jaxon’s chicken-fried chicken sandwiches and sweet potato fries should be served on nice dinnerware.

Still, Huck was pretty proud of his efforts.

Especially when Cadee turned to him with awe in her eyes. “You did this?”

“With a little help from Poppy and Jaxon.”

“Why?”

He hesitated before he spoke. “Because I didn’t want your last memory of the treeboat to be a bad one.”

Confusion filled her eyes. “That night isn’t a bad memory, Huck. Just what . . .” She left the sentence hanging, but he knew what she’d been about to say. The bad memories were what came after that special night.

Since he didn’t want to talk about those bad memories either, he pulled out a chair. “My lady.”

She hesitated for a second before she sat down. Once he was seated in the opposite chair, he opened the bottle of wine. He wasn’t a wine connoisseur, but having grown up in a bar, he knew how to open and pour wine.

It must have been good, because after she took one sip, she followed it with a deeper drink. Or maybe she was trying to fortify herself for the evening ahead. Things did feel awkward. As they started eating, he searched through his mind for a subject that might ease the awkwardness.

“Your mama mentioned that you’d gotten a degree in interior design.”

She swallowed the bite of sandwich she’d just taken and blotted her mouth with her napkin. “One of my many mistakes. I should have majored in ranch management or animal science. Either would have been more useful.”

“I don’t know if I agree. Making houses feel homey is a worthy skill.”

“Not in Promise Springs. Most folks can’t afford an interior designer.”

He ate a sweet potato fry. “Maybe you could start with a discount for the folks living here. That’s what I intend to do with my swings. I’m hoping people coming to visit from nearby cities will see the swings and want one of their own—not at the discount.”

“That’s a good idea for your business, but for interior design, I’d need to travel to their houses. I can’t do that with Camden.”

He studied her. “I’m here now, Cadee. I can watch him.” When she hesitated, he continued. “I get it, you don’t trust me. But just so you know, I love Camden. When I look at him, it’s like seeing my heart walking around outside my body. I would never do anything to harm him. Because if I hurt him, I hurt myself.”

He held her gaze. “It’s the same way I feel about you. I know it doesn’t seem like it because I left you. But I left because I thought it was best for you. I thought you deserved so much better than a Hennessy Hooligan who had nothing but get-rich schemes and foolish dreams.”

“I never thought your schemes and dreams were foolish.”

“I know. Every time I came up with one, you were right there trying to make it happen.” He swallowed hard. “I never told you how much that meant to me. You believed in me when no one else did . . . until now.”

Her eyes welled with tears, and she pushed her chair back and got up, moving to the edge of the deck. He got up and followed, standing behind her with his breath lodged in his throat as they both stared out at the river that gleamed in the moonlight like a glittery silver ribbon.

After what felt like a lifetime, she spoke.

“I want to believe in you, Huck. But my brain tells me it’s foolish to believe we have a chance.”

“Then don’t listen to your brain. Listen to your heart. What’s it telling you?”

She turned to him. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “That it’s terrified of being broken again.”

“Oh, Cadee.” He pulled her into his arms and pressed his face into her dark, soft curls, breathing in her scent. A scent he realized now had always smelled like home. “Don’t cry, baby. Please don’t cry.”

“And why wouldn’t I cry, Huck? It’s a crying shame we wasted so many years because we couldn’t tell each other how we really feel.”

He drew back and cradled her face, brushing the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. “Maybe we shouldn’t look at it that way. Maybe we should look at it like we just weren’t ready. At least, I wasn’t.”

She stared at him, her eyes like swimming pools of glistening blue. “What do you mean?”