Never Getting Back Together

TWENTY-NINE

My heart's beating so fast, it literally hurts. I press a palm to my chest and force myself to take a steady breath as I scan the park. Everything appears in order. The lights decorating the trees and gazebo glow against the periwinkle sky. People have been stopping by all day to claim their spots. Blankets in every color of the rainbow are spread over the lawn. The giant screen and projector are ready to go, and Giselle's already set up the refreshment table with a variety of gourmet popcorn balls.

There's nothing left for me to do but announce the movie and thank everyone for their participation in the festival this week. Usually, speaking in front of everybody would turn me into a hot, shaky mess. But that's the least of my worries tonight.

I'm going to apologize to Ty and ask him to give us another chance. Because the only thing scarier than baring my heart to him would be not to. If he rejects me, at least I'll know I tried. I can't live with the idea of letting us fall apart again without telling him how I feel. I just hope he shows up.

I thought he might be here early to help get everything ready, but I haven't seen him. Each minute that passes makes the knot in my stomach double in size. I'm terrified he's not going to come. That he's going to disappear on me again.

Lucia said these things have a way of working out, and I don't think she'd encourage me to pursue her son if she thought it was a lost cause. But there's no guarantee things will go how I want them to. I'm doing my best to let go of the need to try and control the outcome, but the anticipation is so heavy it might actually crush me.

"Hey there, hot stuff. What can we help with?" I turn to see Liv and Betty cutting across the lawn toward me. Betty's got her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail with her neon-green scrunchie.

I grin. Having them here eases some of the panic I've been fighting to keep at bay. "I think we're ready." I wave a hand, gesturing around the park. It looks like a set out of a Hallmark movie.

"Hmmm." Betty scans the lawn and bunches her lips to the side. "How mad do you think the owner of that hot-pink Minky would be if we swapped places with them?"

I glance over at the fuzzy, pink blanket in the middle of the front row. "Well, considering the owner is Gary and you don't even have a spot yet..." I tilt my head toward the red-and-white-checkered throw in her arms. "I'd guess pretty mad."

"Rats. I knew we should've cut French Toast Friday short." She frowns and goes to lay their blanket out on a patch of grass beneath a giant maple tree. I can't help noticing Al and a few of his crew members standing nearby, chatting. Betty gives him a wave and fiddles nervously with her ponytail.

"What do you think of that?" I ask Liv.

Liv follows my gaze and shrugs. "She's in the butterfly stage. We'll see if she's still all googly-eyed next week." She lowers her voice and glances around. "Is Ty here?"

"Not yet." I try to keep my smile in place despite the fresh cracks tracing themselves across my heart.

Liv squeezes my arm. "He'll be here."

I nod, but I can't meet her eyes. I'm afraid if I see any sympathy there, I'll dissolve into a puddle of uncertainty.

"You better have brought the tissues," Betty says to Liv as she walks back to us. "We're officially in nose-bleed territory."

Liv rolls her eyes. "The screen's, like, twenty-five feet away, you drama queen."

"It's the principle." Betty narrows her eyes at her, but then her gaze lands on something over my shoulder, and she brightens. "Oh, hey! Look who's here."

My mind immediately goes to Ty, and my stomach tries to catapult itself into my throat. I whirl around. It isn't Ty, but it's almost as good.

"Dad!" I squeal and run across the street to where he parked his Ford Fusion.