Love in the Kitchen

Chapter 18

Clint's POV
I've been racking my brain on how I was going to get Chelsee cornered just so I could talk to her. The kids are gone right now. The way I know that is well.... I've been stalking her every move. I'm pretty sure I could be arrested for what I'm doing. That doesn't matter though. I only have a few days left before I have to go back to Boston.
I was in my truck watching her with Gail sell the last tree before they closed for Christmas. She looked so happy in that moment. I wish I was could be standing there next to her. She helped the family tie down the tree to their van and then waved to them as they drove away. She took her gloves off and brushed the pine needles from her coat. She went over to Gail and gave him a big hug after he turned the sign over to closed for the season. They laughed for a moment and then he kissed her cheek before they parted ways. Chelsee put away the last few things into the shed and tucked her work gloves into her back pocket as she pulled out her phone. She answered it and had a smile on her face. She held the phone on her shoulder and she locked everything up. She had to of been talking to one of the kids with how happy she was. She turned and started walking towards the direction of the house. I got out of my truck as quietly as I could and started to follow her up the pathway.
"Yep, I'll see you guys tomorrow. Be good and make sure you have all your things together in the morning. Love you too. Bye bye." She hung up and tucked her phone into her coat. The snow crunched beneath our feet and I wondered if she could hear me following behind her. We were just about to leave the field when she turned around. "You know if you're going to follow someone. It's probably best not to be so close so they can hear you walking." She gave me an unimpressed look. I gave her a scared half smile. "I'm assuming you need to get something off your chest right?" I just nodded and she rolled her eyes. "Come inside then. I'm not standing outside freezing my ass off for you." I hurriedly followed behind her as she headed up the walk way and into the house. She stomped her feet off and then took her boots off and set them off to the side to dry. She then followed with her coat and hung it up. I did the same and she led me into the sitting room. As I walked in I noticed the giant Christmas tree in the corner. Memories of the day they picked this tree came pouring back.
"Have a seat." She motioned for me to sit down and I sat on the couch. She sat on the chair next to the fireplace and looked at me.
"Thank you for not sending me away." She shrugged her shoulders and looked uninterested. I squeezed my hands together and tried to decide where to begin. "I know no apology will come close to making up for what I said to you. I hope you know as soon as the words left my mouth I felt disgusted with myself." She stared into the fire as I continued to speak. "I was being way to pushy and I should have taken your word on the subject. I guess I was just hurt because I felt like you didn't want to move forward at all. Like I was never going to move forward with you. I hate when I can't control things like that and I felt like you had all the control I guess." She shook her  head and sighed into her hand. "I felt like that with my dad."
"You know what Clint all I've heard from you is I this and I that. You've never once not thought about yourself this whole fight." She stood up and threw her hands in the air. "You're still a child Clint. You didn't get what you needed from your parents and I get that. But I'm so tired of you taking their failures as parents onto me." She had tears in her eyes now. I stood up from the couch
"Chelsee, please don't-" Before I could touch her she backed away from me.
"No Clint." She walked to the other side of the room and looked out the window. "I don't want to continuously be beaten down when you don't get your way with things. I'm tired of our constant fights. That's not how relationships are supposed to be." She turned around and before I could speak she continued. "It's not fair to you Clint. You deserve to have someone that would want to move in with you as soon as you asked. But it's not fair for me either. I won't live the rest of my life waiting for the next time you get your feelings hurt." That cut down to the core. "I know that sounds harsh Clint and it is. What I hate about all of this is I've fallen in love with you." My heart nearly pounded out of my chest from those words. "I'm not trying to tell you that to make you feel bad or hurt you. I know you think I've not been opening to you though."
"I know you were if we just." She shook her head at me and then looked back into my eyes.
"It's over Clint." I could feel the blood drain from my face. Tears streamed down her face as I stood there and stared at her. This isn't real. She wouldn't end it like this. I rushed over to her and grabbed hold of her arms.
"Chelsee wait please. This can't be it. You're the only person I've ever truly loved." She took a hard swallow and pushed against my chest.
"It's better this way. You'll see that in time." I started to shake my head and she looked into my eyes once more. "You should leave now before it gets any harder." My arms fell to my sides. I could quite literally feel my heart being torn into bits.