This Was Meant To Be

Chapter 6

A month later, Leigh was beginning to wonder if her crush on Harrison – she had accepted it – would just quit soon.

She really wanted it to. It was beginning to interfere with the time she spent with Harrison, because she kept getting lost in his voice instead of listening to what he was saying.

That had happened the last time she’d had that crush on him, too. She had found his voice positively mesmerizing.

It was as annoying now as it had been earlier.

Well, she was going to put it aside now, because they were going out together, for a movie. And they were going to have fun.

Leigh was waiting for him when Harrison came to pick her up. When he hugged her, she leaned into him a bit too much, for a bit too long, even if she berated herself for it.

“Shall we go?” asked Leigh brightly.

Throughout the movie, Leigh found it harder and harder to focus.

Rebounds were supposed to be fun, not annoying, she grumbled at herself as she had the hated diet soda and much beloved popcorn.

When they stopped by a Mexican restaurant for dinner after the movie, she felt like Harrison had become silent, too.

“Harrison, what’s wrong?” asked Leigh, feeling a bit guilty.

She had been so wrapped up in her own pesky feelings that she hadn’t even asked what was wrong. She was a bad friend.

Harrison weighed it up. It had been a couple of months since Leigh had broken up with Carl. She seemed to be happy, and more than eager to spend time with him.

Did he have to wait any longer?

But he didn’t want to. He wanted to tell her how he felt, and give her time to figure out her own feelings.

The strain of being patient, holding himself back, biting his tongue, not holding her close, had been making him irritable. That had to stop.

But he wouldn’t do it unless he thought Leigh could handle it.

Leigh smiled at him, that soft, sweet smile that always lifted him up, and he made up his mind.

It was time.

“Leigh, I need to talk to you,” said Harrison.

Leigh tensed.

When did anything good start with that?

She nodded. She couldn’t lose Harrison, no matter what. She was sure of that.

“I have a confession to make.”

For a wild moment, Leigh wondered if he had hunted down Carl and punched his lights out.

She dismissed it immediately. It wouldn’t be his style, anyway.

“I know this isn’t something you expect, and I know this might be the last thing you want to hear. But I… Well, I like you, Leigh. As more than a friend. I was selfishly glad when you and Carl broke up. Not just because he didn’t deserve you and he didn’t make you happy. I was glad for you, but I was also glad that I might finally have a chance to tell you how I feel. I like you.”

Leigh’s mouth fell open.

“You’re kidding me. This is some kind of a joke,” said Leigh suspiciously.

Harrison chuckled, despite the nerves. That was such a typical reaction from Leigh.

“No joke, Leigh. You have been the most important woman in my life for a long time. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever spent time with. I’ve had feelings for you ever since you came home that first summer when you were in college. You grew up and had become so beautiful, and so confident! But you also had a boyfriend, so I told myself to let it go, and move on with my life. So I tried. I kept trying. But I have never found anybody like you, and I keep searching. I finally realized that as long as I searched for somebody like you, I’d never be happy, because I wanted you. So I quit searching, and waited for my feelings to go away. They never did.”

Leigh was stunned.

She opened and closed her mouth three times before she finally found her voice.

But she couldn’t find any of the right words.

Harrison was sincere. She could see that.

She was also struck by the parallel – that first time that she had seen him all grown up, definitely a man, she had fallen for him, too.

But apparently not the same way he had fallen for her.

“I don’t know what to say, Harrison,” she whispered.

Harrison nodded.

“I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way, or you thought you could give me a chance. We’ll still be friends if you don’t think you can. You’re important to me, Leigh. That will never change. I promise you that.”

“No, I… I don’t know what to say because I don’t know how I feel. I need to… I think I need some time to think about this. To understand this. This is the last thing I expected, Harrison.”

Harrison nodded.

“I know. I knew you would need time. Of course you must take time, all the time you need. But I want you to never doubt that I’m here for you, no matter what. That’s important. How I feel is secondary, Leigh. How you feel is the priority, especially now.”

Leigh had never felt so cherished in her life, she realized.

Carl had never made her feel that way.

Carl had never felt that way about her.

No, she wouldn’t think of Carl and cheapen that moment. She wouldn’t make her decision lightly, either.

She knew she had feelings for Harrison, but she needed to be sure that it wasn’t just a rebound before she acted on them. No matter what Harrison said, she didn’t want to risk the relationship they had by trying to make more of it than there was.

It was far too important for that.

“No matter what, you’re important to me, Harrison. I need you to know that. You’re more important to me than you’ll ever know.”

Harrison grinned.

“Hey, don’t look so sad. I didn’t mean to make you sad. It’s all right if you don’t feel the same way, Leigh. I’ll deal with it if you don’t. So don’t, okay?”