Heart of Grace Read online

  “Why should I?” she asks, crossing her arms. Heather slowly makes her way behind the counter where she is.

  “Because all I could do while I was over there was bake banana bread at four in the morning because it reminded me of you. Because I had all these jokes to tell and I wanted to tell all of them to you. Because I thought I knew how I wanted to live my life and didn’t consider that maybe God and the universe had other, better plans for myself. Because the entire time I was over there, I wanted to go back home.”

  Amber draws her gaze away, waiting for the other shoe to drop because this feels too good to be true.

  “I haven’t called a place home since I left my parents' house. Until now. Until you. Ambs, I need you to unbreak this breakup,” Heather pleads as she stands face to face with her. Amber brings up a hand to wipe away the tears in the corner of her eyes.

  “I need to know if you’re gonna be here tomorrow,” she rasps.

  “I can’t promise that,” Heather says. Amber tries not to let those words break her heart again. “All I can do is try. But only if you try not to resist where the wind blows too much.”

  Amber stays silent, feeling like her voice has abandoned her in this moment. She looks around them to find her friends and some Bean patrons watching her, watching them.

  She swipes at her eyes again, drying them as best as she can before takes a deep breath. She can’t help but think about the future and how they’re going to have to sit down and talk seriously about what it holds for them. But Heather’s also standing in front of her and not in Hawaii and that already sounds like a vast improvement for their future.

  “What do you say?” Heather asks, bringing her out of her thoughts and back to reality where Heather’s in front of her asking for another chance.

  She smiles at her. “Are you gonna be hungry later? Say around 7? I know this really good Italian restaurant.”

  Heather beams. Amber lunges forward and wraps her arms around Heather’s shoulder before closing the gap between them where, in the background, she can hear their friends hoot and holler in celebration.

  She clutches at Heather’s shirt, fists them in her hands, refusing to let her go again.

  Amber leans forward and kisses the many lives Heather's lived. She kisses her again to mark the many more that Heather’s yet to live. But this time, it’s with the grandest of hopes that Heather shares them with her.