He Belongs With Me (30 page)

The easy smile left his face for just a moment, a serious expression replacing it. “I love you, Maggie Ryder. You never cease to amaze me.”

CHAPTER 26

CLARA

So freaking amazing. I sat on the hood of my new used car, watching the sun sink over the Grand Canyon...bawling my eyes out. I literally could not stop the waterworks, which unfortunately was starting to gain some attention. Three different tourists had come over to ask if I was okay, and I told them all the same lie—
It’s so beautiful, I just can't help it.

And it was beautiful—swirling pinks and oranges, contrasting perfectly against various shades of brown—but I realized that it would be so much
more
beautiful if I had someone to share it with. I came all this way to stupid Arizona and it was perfect, but something was still missing. I hated that that something had to be Leo.

With the world's biggest sigh, I scrambled off the hood and climbed into my car. Pissed and hurting, I started the long drive back toward Phoenix. As I drove, one thought took root and blossomed in my mind. I loved Leo. Go figure. Maybe he was a little rough around the edges, but that was just who he was. And actually, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was my favorite thing about him.

Damn him and his blue eyes.

On the verge of breaking down in a crying fit all over again, I dug Leah's phone out of my pocket and dialed Leo's number. It rang and rang. It was after eleven on the East Coast and Leo probably wouldn't answer, but then suddenly he did.

“Hello.”

I froze. My tongue turned fat and heavy in my mouth. His words—
Is it really so terrifying to love me?—
echoed in my head. Translated from Leo-speak, those words actually meant
just love me for who I am.
And what did I do? I ran away...again—like a little pansy. Just like his mother did to him all those years ago, I realized.
What had I done?

“Hello?” he asked, groaning. “I can hear you breathing on the other line. If you're selling something, I already own it and—”

“Who is it?” I heard a deep male voice ask.

Shit.
I really needed to hang up right about now, but I kept the phone pressed to my ear. Even if Leo was annoyed and cranky, it still felt comforting to hear his voice.

“I don't know,” he replied to the other person. “But look...there's plenty of food in the kitchen, towels in all the bathrooms...help yourself, okay?”

I couldn't hear the other person's response. I guess Leo had company over. It seemed like he was carrying on with his life just fine. Or was he? Leo never had guests in that big house of his. Outside of the holidays, of course. So, why would he now?

His voice interrupted my thoughts. “Clara?” he whispered softly. “I know it's you and don't you dare hang up on me.”

Double shit.

“Your mysterious silence tells me it's you, baby. You don't have to say anything. I realized something today. That—”

Holy dead cell phone! Worst. Timing. Ever.
I pulled over to the side of the road and screamed bloody murder at the steering wheel. I'd been too boneheaded to remember to get Leah's charger from her when we'd exchanged phones, and now Leo was probably thinking I'd hung up on him. And just as he was about to tell me that he
realized
something. My luck couldn't get any worse. I had to go home...
now
.

I didn't care that it was Leo I loved. I didn't care if that scared the shit out of me. I didn't care that a relationship with him would probably take tons of work, because we both certainly had issues. I didn't care...because I loved him. Maybe a part of Leo had always been deeply ingrained in me, and that's why I'd held my virginity and my heart so close to me all this time. Maybe I was waiting for him. Whatever. I didn't need to analyze it a second longer. I just needed to get back to Blue Creek.

CHAPTER 27

MAGGIE

We were at the airport—Dulles this time, which wasn’t too far from Washington DC. There weren't any direct flights from Roanoke to Phoenix, so our fastest option had been to pile into the Range Rover late last night and head up north. Dad was missing his tournament in Miami, but that seemed like the least of his worries. We knew where Clara was now and that's all that mattered.

After Dean and Valerie had gone over to Leo's house, I’d decided to do some snooping at mine. A simple look at the search history on Clara's computer and there was no doubt she was in Phoenix.

About the same time I figured that out, Leo came rushing over to my house—Leah Longerburger at his side—with the same exact information. I guess Clara and Leah were better friends than I’d ever noticed, and Leo somehow figured out that they'd switched cell phones. I'm not sure what Leo said to make her so verbose, but Leah had offered up information like a convict who was minutes away from the electric chair.

He’d tried to suggest we wait for Clara to come home on her own, but the second he found out she was staying in one of his hotels—information courtesy of Miss Loose-Lips Leah—he'd demanded we all get in the car immediately.

“Is the airplane gonna be fun?” Valerie asked after we’d already made it through airport security. The little girl had a giant smile on her face and her excitement was contagious. “Will it hurt my ears?”

“It kind of sounds like a loud buzzing noise while you're in the air, but it won't hurt. I bet you'll fall asleep for most of the trip. I like to sleep on planes.” I stood with her in one of those airport mini-stores. It was a family tradition to stock up on goodies before a flight, so I was buying her one of everything. “They have coloring books. Do you like to color?”

She nodded so I added that and some crayons to my purchase. After I paid, we left the store to find Dean. The three of us—plus Dad, Leo, Stephany, and Anita—were all waiting for our nine o'clock flight. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about Clara. I wanted her home, safe and sound. Our relationship would never be perfect, but I still loved my sister and wanted her happy. I especially wanted Dad and Leo to relax, so getting her home was my number one priority. Getting to spend a little more time with Dean and his daughter was my second priority.

He'd agreed easily when Leo asked if he and Valerie wanted to come with us. Even Anita wasted no time in jumping in the car. My heart swelled when I thought about how my family already had a lot more love in our lives than we ever realized.

“You really didn't have to come,” I told Dean when Valerie and I met back up with him by the bathrooms. I rubbed at my tired eyes. Today was one of those days I wished I drank coffee. I could barely function. “But I do love that you're here...even though I’m so sleepy, all I want to lie down on this carpet.”

“I know I didn't
have to
come,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist. His touch made me shiver, even though I wasn't cold at all. “But I missed six years of being present for all of your family's shenanigans, and I couldn't miss this. Plus, I've got a funny feeling you guys will be talking about this one for years.”

“Come on, kids,” Dad said, walking up to us from among the sea of moving people. “They're boarding in ten. We need to get to the gate and these crowds make me nervous with Valerie here.”

“Leo's still in the bathroom.”

“I'll go get him,” Dean said and disappeared for a moment. I held Valerie's hand for the short time he was gone. Soon both guys emerged from the bathroom. Dean gave me a small shrug and then took Valerie's other hand.

Other than the five o'clock shadow he had going on and the fact that he wasn't wearing one of his suits—only regular jeans and a t-shirt—Leo appeared completely normal. I knew better though. His face was a little too pale and his eyes a little too jumpy. How had I never noticed before that he loved Clara? Maybe others couldn't see it so easily, but Leo Maddox wore his heart on his sleeve.

“We've got another five hours to go. Calm down, Leo—”

“Jesus Christ. Fuck me.”

“
Leo! Language!
” Dad and I scolded at the same time. He'd been doing a good job about
not
swearing around Valerie. I shoved at his shoulder, but stopped when I noticed where his eyes were fixated.

Clara was here. In the airport.

CHAPTER 28

CLARA

Leo ran toward me through the crowded airport like a crazy person. I couldn't believe he was actually here, and I hardly had a chance to breathe or think before he was suddenly standing in front of me. His chest rose and fell, his eyes taking me in, but he stopped just short of closing the last of the distance between us.

My suitcase slipped out of my hand, falling to the ground beside my feet. It wasn't heavy, but my shaky hands couldn't carry it another second longer. I'd just gotten off a red-eye flight from Arizona by way of Chicago. I was utterly exhausted and I could barely stand.

But seeing Leo jolted something awake inside of me. I'd come all this way, sold my new used car back to Sloane, and left my Arizona dream behind me—and I did it all for him. Because I loved him. Because I wanted the rough-around-the-edges side of him just as much as I wanted his sweet-as-hell side. And now he was here, looking smoking hot with several days’ worth of stubble coating his jaw and rumpled no-product hair, as if my imagination had spontaneously materialized him. But I didn't know what to say to make up for running away from him, so I stood frozen in the middle of the airport—people swirling around us in a hurry to get to their different destinations—staring at him, while flesh-eating butterflies gnawed at my insides.

Hours could have ticked by, but it was probably only a couple of seconds before he spoke first. “Hey.”

I gulped. “Hey.”

“What's that?” He nodded toward the stuffed animal that my hands were gripping the hell out of. I'd forgotten I was still carrying the one thing that had made the journey back with me from Arizona.

“Um…an armadillo.” I stared down at the gray, 'I'm-so-ugly-I'm-cute' little thing. “I got him in the gift shop in Phoenix. It's dumb, I know, but I got him for you.”

“They have armadillos in Arizona? I thought that was Texas.”

“You're right. It's really stupid.”

I bent down, ready to bury my foolish gift away in my suitcase. Leo bent down with me, his hand stopping mine on the zipper of my bag. “Give me the stuffed animal, Clara.”

The soft way he said my name and the light touch of his hand on mine had me giving up the armadillo in an instant. Leo stood back up, studying the stuffed animal for a moment. I stood up too, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt. I'd never been so embarrassed by something so silly before.

“He reminded me of you,” I explained, “because armadillos have hard shells. But then at the same time, they're cute and soft on the inside. And—”

“You're so fucking adorable.”

My eyes darted up to his. “What?”

“You heard me. I love your gift, and I especially love how flustered you're getting. It's really sexy. I have tons of expensive shit and nothing I own means as much as this. It means you thought of me while you were away.” He dug around in his pocket. “I actually got you something too. And now you can watch while I get flustered.” My already thumping heart started to race. He pulled out something silver. “Give me your hand,” he commanded. His words were strong, like he knew exactly what he was doing, and he didn’t seem at all flustered like he just said.

I extended my hand and saw that the flash of silver was a bracelet. His fingers traced against my skin as he clasped it around my wrist. It wasn't flashy or covered in diamonds like something I would have expected from Leo. The bracelet had elegant silver links of varying sizes, and there was one little charm dangling. A four-leaf clover charm, to be exact.

“Leo?” I stared blankly up at him.

“I can remember that night in my library perfectly. And for years I searched through random books, finding nothing and thinking the clover was lost forever.
Great Expectations
. I had forgotten the title until you said it on the subway. That's the actual clover, by the way. I had it dipped in white gold. I've always wanted to give it back to you.”

“Holy shit,” I muttered. I had a knot the size of a big-ass truck stuck in my throat.

“I know you never wear jewelry...so if you'd rather wear it as a necklace or something else or not at all, I'll understand.”

“No, it's perfect.” Suddenly, the distance between us was growing torturous. I couldn't stand
not
touching him another moment longer, but he still wasn't budging an inch toward me.

“I'm gonna say stupid shit sometimes,” he admitted. “That's a given. And you're probably gonna find new and interesting ways to piss me off. That's a given too. But nothing can take away from the fact that I love you, and I'm pretty sure you love me too. At the end of the day, that's all that will ever matter. I know you're not going to trust me one-hundred percent immediately, given our history, but one day you will. And I know you will because I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving that, yes, I am an ass, but...I'm your ass.” He sighed, burying his face in the furry body of the armadillo. “Fuck. That came out awful.”

I moved closer to him, pulling his hands down so I could see his face again. “Nope, it was perfect…and so are you. I love flustered Leo just as much as I love the rest of you.”

He gave me the sweetest smile I’d ever seen on his beautiful face, and I had no choice but to fling myself at him. I leapt into his arms, gripping his neck tight and squeezing my legs around his waist, and then pressed my lips to his. Not so gracefully either, I might add. Jeez...he was just too damn cute not to try to jump his bones right there in the middle of the airport.

I loved that he hadn’t apologized or taken back any of the things he’d said during our argument. Because I knew I had been ridiculous—even
fucking ridiculous,
as he'd called me—for leaving him seconds after spending a wonderful night together. I knew that. And I liked the way Leo never sugar-coated anything.