“Loving Mac is the best feeling in the world. It makes me feel like I can soar and do almost anything, if only to make him proud of me. But the thought of losing him terrified me. So much so that I shut down before I could get hurt. Or rejected. The way I’ve always been hurt. But without Mac my world is pretty empty. It’s like a big black void is staring me in the face. Mac can fill that void with his amazing heart and his strength and courage. And his quiet dignity and love. But I blew it. He won’t even look at me now I imagine.” Delilah began to sob and she lifted her hands over her face. She stood up from the table. Her shoulders began to shake violently and she felt her sister’s gentle arms embracing her.
“Don’t cry, Lilah. We’ve all made mistakes in love. None of us are perfect where our hearts are concerned.” Sarah’s voice soothed and comforted her. “And I know how badly your heart has been bruised in the past.”
Layla was on her other side, patting her gently on the back. “We love you, Delilah. And we love Mac too. We just want to see you happy.”
“We’re rooting for you,” Rose said. “All of us.”
Delilah lifting her head. Through a haze of tears she realized she was being surrounded and supported by all of the ladies. A circle of love and friendship and support. They were lifting her up in her time of need. And she desperately needed their support and friendship. Sisterhood!
“What can I do to show him that I am madly, deeply, fervently in love with him?” Delilah asked. “If ever there was a time for a grand gesture, it’s now.”
“Grand gesture? Oh, we know a little something about that,” Tess said with a knowing look around the circle. “Let’s put our heads together and figure something out. Operation Mac is underway.”
Everyone started clapping and letting out hoots of excitement. Delilah’s pulse began to quicken as excitement throbbed in the air. For the first time in days she began to hope as she’d never dared to hope before. It was time to take a gigantic leap toward her future.
Please, Lord. Grant me the courage to make things right with Mac. I love him more than I ever realized it was possible to love a man. Please let him still be in love with me. Don’t let him have given up on me.
“Love didn’t just fall into our laps. We had to work at it from day one. And we still work at it today. Don’t ever forget that! Love is like a fragile flower that needs watering and nurturing and protecting.”
Alec Donahue
Chapter Eleven
Evening came, bringing with it a reminder that his work day was officially done. His mind had been all over the place today. It was no small wonder he’d even gotten out of bed this morning. A quick look out of his shop window showcased the orange cast of the sky and the myriad of colors that complemented it—purples, grays and blues. He could appreciate God’s masterpiece even though a part of him felt dead inside. Technically, he could have closed up shop earlier, but working was the only thing that allowed him a few moments of forgetfulness. For a brief time he could erase the fact from his mind that Delilah was no longer in his life. She didn’t want him.
He was just going through the motions. Callie had called earlier, and although they had talked for half an hour he couldn’t bring himself to tell her about his break-up with Delilah. It still felt too raw, too brutal. Knowing Callie, she would have hopped on a plane from Savannah so she could console him. That would have been amazing, but he also knew that Callie had a lot of things to figure out for herself. Her father’s betrayal had caused her an incredible amount of pain. Those wounds needed to heal or they would fester and torment her till she drew her last breath. He didn’t want that for Callie. As her big brother, he wanted to wrap up the world, put a big red ribbon on it and give it to her.
He let out a ragged sigh. For the life of him he didn’t know how a person could get over loving someone who didn’t love them. Would it sear his insides for a lifetime? Change the course of his life? Probably. He couldn’t imagine ever loving a woman the way he loved Delilah. Loving her was a victory of sorts. It showed him that despite the actions of his birth mother and stepfather, they hadn’t ruined his ability to love a woman. He could still trust. Hope still lived and breathed inside him. His heart was still intact. Or at least it had been until Delilah had broken it.
The sound of a bell jingling alerted him to a customer. It was past the shop’s hours but he had forgotten to put the closed sign on the front door and lock up. The words “We’re closed” froze on his lips as his gaze landed on Delilah. She had just crossed over the threshold and the sight of her standing there felt like a sucker punch to the gut. Dear Lord give me strength! Big guys like himself were supposed to be like Oak trees, or at least that’s what everyone seemed to think. At the moment he felt like he didn’t have an ounce of strength to muster a single word or guard himself against her.