Chance laughed, took both my hands in his and turned me around so that I was looking right at him. “I know,” he said. “I’m not trying to buy you back into my life, Ashlyn. I’m here because I want to be a part of yours. I’ve wanted it since the moment I met you, but I had to go through a couple of lawsuits to realize it.”
“You’re a very strange man,” I smiled.
Chance shrugged. “One of my better traits.” He squeezed my hands softly, rubbing my knuckles with his thumbs. “I’m not going to lie to you. I do have a crazy life, and I won’t be able to leave my company after everything I’ve been through to build it. But I understand that it’s not all about me, and that I can’t expect you to do what I was unwilling to do myself. But I want to find a way. I want this to work. I need this to work.”
I looked at the shop, then back at him. My mind raced, and I tried to come to terms with what he was asking of me. I didn’t know if we could pull it off. I didn’t know if there could be an ‘us’ with all the complications that came with it. But I was definitely willing to give it a shot. I couldn’t deny it anymore, couldn’t kid myself otherwise; I wanted Chance Ridder in my life. I needed him just as much as he needed me, and it didn’t scare me to admit that.
“So what are you proposing, Mr. Ridder? A partnership?”
Chance laughed and shrugged. “I’m not sure,” he said, “but I’m here on a ‘break’ for a week or two, so I’m sure we’ll figure it out somehow.”
“Another sabbatical?” I asked.
He leaned down, pulling me to him and locking his lips with mine. The kiss was so passionate, so loving, I felt my knees threaten to buckle beneath me.
He broke away and cupped my chin, looking me straight in the eye. “This can be whatever we want it to be. Happy New Year, Ashlyn. I’ll do everything in my power to make this coming year amazing.”
Chapter 18: Chance
We spent most of the day in the store, with me walking her through everything we had done, each renovation made, and of course the sheer power of the software on her new computer that would allow her to grow the business and help her reach the potential I knew she could reach. All the time, I held her hand tight, keeping her close to me, not wanting to let her go.
It had been almost impossible to keep the opening of Ashlyn’s Flowers a secret. Hank had been responsible for that, and the man was craftier than I had expected. He had been involved in the purchase of the store in every way, making sure Polly was compensated well for it and wouldn’t need to worry about money for a very long time. Of course, the one condition as that she not mention anything about who was buying the s
tore, or that she had sold it in the first place.
Even the team that had been sent to oversee the renovations had been handpicked by Alice herself, each promised a bonus if they could maintain the work’s secrecy. We received constant reports from them, each day bringing us one step closer to the opening. Since the investment into the store was coming from my personal pocket, it had been easy to keep our work under wraps and away from prying eyes.
I had hoped to have the place open by Christmas Eve, but that didn’t work out as planned (people took time off, vendors shut down), so New Year’s Eve was the target date to present the store to Ashlyn.
All the while, I had imagined the look on Ashlyn’s face when she would finally witness the unveiling. Just thinking about that had made me anxious, and a couple of times I had to stop myself from texting her all about my plans and spoiling the surprise. It had been hell not being able to talk to her, even worse when I had tried to contact her and she wouldn’t answer. But with every rejection came the resolve that when my project was finally done, she wouldn’t be able to ignore me anymore.
And it had worked. I had never seen her happier. She was like a child racing through a Toys R’ Us, high on the fact that every toy was theirs. She never stopped smiling, or crying for that matter, and by the time we were done and standing outside again, looking up at the new sign above the door, I felt like it was all worth the wait.
Ashlyn leaned against my arm and rested her head against my shoulder. “So, how long did you say this sabbatical was again?”
“Two weeks,” I replied, wrapping an arm around her and holding her tight.
“I’m glad this one’s longer,” she said.
“Well, no one’s trying to steal my company, and my truck didn’t break down on the interstate,” I smiled. “I actually planned this one.”
“How did you get all this done without anyone knowing?”
“Let’s just say a lot of bribery was involved, and threats, and of course I had to hold a few people’s children as hostages.”
“Sounds like something you might do.”
“Ouch,” I chuckled. “How can you still have that low of an opinion of me?”
“You have this uncanny ability of making people think the worst of you.”
“Must be the big city vibe,” I joked.
“Or the pretentiousness,” Ashlyn offered. I laughed and squeezed her closer. “The motel’s closed,” she said after a few seconds of silence.”
“I noticed. The boys tell me you were running it for a while.”
“Chuck and Martha needed a break.”