MACEY

As soon as I dip behind the makeshift curtains hanging from the rafters of the barn, I'm bombarded with people. Tons of people.

All of them want to congratulate me on how incredible the designs are, and at first, it feels like a dream. This is all I've ever wanted, and yet... A piece of the puzzle is still missing. I feel like I won't be able to celebrate until it's complete.

The only person I want to congratulate me right now is nowhere to be found. I want to jump up and down and fly into his arms because he knows how important this is to me. This accomplishment is huge, and I know he wanted to put some distance between us, but did he really not come? He didn't want to see this?

Plastering a fake smile on my face to try and mask my disappointment, I'm interrupted by an editor for the local newspaper, who wants to do a piece on the collection I designed for the auction. I'm still in shock, and somehow my legs are able to walk over to two bails of hay.

"How does it feel to know the collection is already sold out?" She asks

My eyes pop up to hers, then to the pen and paper clutched calmly in her hands. "I'm sorry, what?"

"In less than five minutes," she says smugly. "How does it feel?"

"It feels..."

Unbelievable.

"It's the most the auction has ever raised," she adds.

Holy shit.

All those years I spent in New York trying to find my place seemed wasted. I told myself I wasn't good enough, and my designs were shit, but maybe I was just in the wrong place, and if I had stayed here in Darlington... If I hadn't let my dreams get in the way...

Wyatt and I would be married. I would never have fucked up that night, and we'd have that farmhouse in the middle of the country, and our kids would be running around barefoot through the fields, fishing in the pond, and learning to ride their first horse.

That is the life I always dreamed of.

Not moving to New York City.

Not having this fashion line be successful, even though it's incredibly cool.

It's always been Wyatt, and yeah, I screwed up that night, but I will never do anything like that ever again, and instead of letting him end things, I need to fight for him. I've never fought for him, and what if that was what he wanted all along? Parker came back, and he felt insecure, and instead of telling Wyatt he's all I've ever wanted, I let him cut things off because it's what felt safest.

"Can we continue this interview at another time?" I ask. "Tomorrow? At the diner?"

The woman in her mid-forties pushes a strand of dark hair behind her ear and gives me a subtle nod. "Does noon work?"

"Perfect. I just... I have to do something first. Sorry."

Rising from the hay bail, I ignore the crowds around me and make a beeline for my Prius parked in the grass. Loretta is leaning up against it with a cane in hand, and she points a thumb over her shoulder to the passenger side seat. "I need a ride to The Starlighter," she says.

Of course, this is at the most inconvenient of times, but she had to start using a cane from the arthritis in her hip, she said, and after all she's done for me, it's the least I can do. I'm not that rude.

"Hop in," I reply.

***

When I pull into the familiar gravel parking lot, Loretta asks me to help her up the steps to get inside.

The only place I want to drive to is Wyatt's home, but just a few more minutes, and I'll be able to.

Just a few more minutes.

"Why'd you have to come here so late? Did you forget something?"

She shakes her head and flips on the overhead lights, which flicker on and beam down from the high ceilings. The construction Wyatt is doing is almost done. It'll only be a month or so until the indoor space can open again.

"When I was a girl..." She starts, hobbling to the center of the room. "I wanted to go to school for fashion design."

My eyebrows shoot up. "What? Really?" That would explain the sewing room in her house.

"I wanted to get out of Darlington as much as you did, but I got pregnant before I graduated high school, and all those dreams I had seemed stupid. Insignificant."

"Loretta—"

She holds a finger up. "My husband never forgave himself that I had to remain here and give up my dreams, so we started The Starlighter with the intention of one day bein' able to combine our dreams. He'd have the restaurant he always wanted, and I'd run my own shop out of it, too. But then he got cancer, and I didn't have a problem givin' up my dream to focus on him. He was the man I loved, and after he passed..."

Tears burn the backs of my eyes, but I quickly blink them away. All those people who said she murdered her husband... She was just a grieving widow.

"I started the auction to raise money for the cancer he passed from. He didn't want anyone knowin' that was how he went, so I kept it hidden, and I wasn't expectin' ever to make The Starlighter anythin' more than a restaurant until the hurricane hit. It was a chance to start over, and with the insurance money, I knew I could make it into what we always wanted, and I also knew a firecracker just like me who moved to the city to chase her dreams."

She points to a large sectioned-off area of the building, which is vacant and empty of any furniture. "I knew you were good even before tonight, and I'm too old to make clothes now with this damn arthritis, but you..." She smiles, and my hands are shaking so much I can't control them. "You can bring this dream of yours to life if you want. I'm willin' to let you open your first shop here, free of charge."

"Loretta, I can't accept that. I—"

"It's what my husband would have wanted. I'll still be here to run the restaurant, but nothin' would make me happier than to see our dream come to life, thanks to you. Plus, after tonight, you're goin' to need the extra space. People are gonna be houndin' you like huntin' dogs for those damn dresses."

This whole time she invited me down here for this, and while she could have told me about this opportunity when she first called, I think some part of her knew I'd have to find my place here on my own. I would have said no if I had known she wanted me to open my own shop. I didn't believe in myself, but after tonight...

"I don't know how I can ever thank you." Choking out a sob, I place a hand over my heart as I walk around the space—my shop. "God, tonight would be perfect if only—"

"He was there," she supplies. "Saw every second of the show."

I whip my head around. "He was?"

"Yep. Left a minute before you came out. Said it was too busy, and he was going to find you tomorrow."

"Find me for what?"

Her lips twitch, threatening a smile. "What do you think, Macey? The man has been smitten since you first came into town. He was bound to get his head out of his ass at some point."

"He forgives me for it? For all of it?" I'm clutching onto a wooden beam to try and keep my balance. Wyatt was there. He showed up for me.

When Loretta's eyebrows furrow together, she cocks her head to the side, and finally, understanding falls on her face. "This is what ya get for holin' yerself' up in that damn sewing room. Ya' didn't know Parker showed up at Wyatt's?"

"What? Is he insane? I swear, he's asking to get beat to death! What an idiot. Fuck. What did Wyatt do to him?"

Loretta chuckles and pulls out one of the new barstools, giving it a pat. "Ya' might wanna take a seat for this one," she says.

Author's Note:

I'm so sorry this update is a day late!!

Typing with a sprained shoulder is intense. lmao :(

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