“I felt it was fitting, since something you once destroyed in me has been healed.”
“What’s that?” David asked.
“My heart. And I’m here to say I forgive you.”
The words resonated, ringing true like a crystal-clear bell. Peace sank straight through her like an arrow, penetrating her bones and her soul, bringing restfulness and satisfaction with it. It felt so good to let all of that hurt go.
All at once, David and Amanda seemed suddenly smaller.
They said nothing as Saylor turned. She strayed in the slightest, just enough to place Parker’s little suit on a decorative table. Parker bolted over, bombarding her with a hug. She bent and lifted him, holding him close and spinning just slightly.
“Hi, Mommy,” he said, his little arms wrapping around her neck.
“I love you,” Saylor told him, feeling all of her heart swell.
“Love you too,” he said in his sweet, small voice, right in her ear.
When Saylor closed the door and trudged back to her car, she didn’t go alone. Change accompanied her. She welcomed it into the seat beside her, guiding it home, letting it share its peace. Parker was spending time with his father. This was her son’s family, and all at once, the crooked puzzle pieces of her life that had been sticking out at all angles shifted to fit together a little better than they had done before.
Saylor fingered the other box in her pocket. She still had one more mistletoe delivery to make, but this one is for an entirely different—more traditional—reason. Saylor never realized before how much she really loved that tradition.
The only drawback was Cole. The last time she’d been at his apartment, she’d borne her soul to him, and he’d sent her away. Could she handle another rejection?
Chapter Twenty-four
Palms damp, muscles quivering, Saylor approached Cole’s door on the third floor and exhaled. She couldn’t not try. She had to at least tell him how she felt, to see if he’d be willing to give her another chance. She could prove she’d changed. She wasn’t the same person she’d been.
Cole opened after one knock. The sight of him stole her breath. He was delectable, cut from steel in a black, tailored tuxedo, on fire in a way only Cole Osteen could pull off. His chiseled jaw was clean shaven, his dark hair slicked to one side, his eyes sparkling bluer than starlight.
Her heart pittered and pattered all at once. He had a date. He was heading out to meet someone else.
What had she been thinking to come here?
“Saylor,” he said in pleasant surprise. “You’re here.”
Confusion and defense took place inside her. Not only did he seem happy to see her, but it was almost as though he’d been expecting her. Had she missed something? Maybe he’d tried to reach her and she hadn’t noticed.
Seriously, though. How could she not have noticed? She’d been checking her phone every ten seconds for days.
If Cole seemed bothered by her appearance on his step, he sure had a great way of hiding it. He beamed at her, his eyes sizzling with intrigue and mystery and unspoken invitations. It sent her pulse into a foxtrot.
“You’re dressed up,” she said. Her breath hitched.
“Actually,” he said, gesturing to his tux. “I was just—”
Saylor pressed a hand to her stomach. She suddenly didn’t want to hear it. He was probably getting ready to go out with his ex-wife. She seemed the type of woman to expect him to wear a tux to things.
“I’m sorry for bothering you. Clearly, you have plans, and I’ll just—I’ll let you get to them.”
Cole reached for her hand. His skin was warm and calloused and razor sharp for all the impact it had on her. “Please don’t go,” he said. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been meaning to call you for days, but I wasn’t sure you’d want to talk to me after the way I treated you.”
“Cole—” She wanted to wrench free of his grasp, but she couldn’t move.
“Please, will you come inside?” He stepped back and gestured for her to enter his warm apartment. A friendly fire flickered in its place behind glass. Bubba Jones stared at Saylor with yellow eyes from his perch on the couch’s arm rest.
With uncertainty, Saylor entered, allowing Cole to close out the cold behind her.
“I owe you an apology, Saylor,” he began. “I was an idiot. I know how hard it was for you to tell me about your painful past, and I pushed you away when I should have held you closer. I didn’t even help you get your car fixed, when I totally should have.”
Her mouth slackened. “What are you saying? You don’t want to see other people?”
He rubbed a hand behind his neck and then fiddled with his bowtie as if worried he’d upset it. “I can’t believe I said that. It was a stupid, impulsive claim. I was worried about you, and I didn’t want to be the reason you ever hurt that much again, so I thought it would be for the best to end things.”
Saylor’s thoughts scrambled to understand. “I—”
“I was wrong,” he said, swallowing. “So wrong. Can you give me another chance?”
Without knowing who moved first, they were embracing. Cole held her tightly—so tightly. “I’m sorry,” he said into her hair. “I never should have let you go.”
She was tingling all over, from his words, from his hold, from the smell of his cologne. Part of her couldn’t believe this was really happening. She’d half expected for him to maintain his see-other-people claim.
“Do you want to tell me why you’re all dressed up?” she asked.
He pulled away and stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Only if you tell me why you aren’t.” He quirked a brow as though puzzling over her jeans and ponytail.
She tugged at her coat. “Am I supposed to be?”
“Isn’t the wedding in an hour?”
A chill spread across her back and legs, though it wasn’t all uncomfortable. “How did you know about that?”
Cole checked
