It's been a long day.

I drag myself from the car and stagger to the porch, sifting through the keys on my ring. When the door swings open, Sonny's greeting me with a grin. I scratch his head before weaving around Mom's clothes, still sitting in piles around the living room.

The heels of my palms press into my eyes as I drop down to the floor, my back against the front of the couch. It still feels like a thousand knives are stabbing into my retinas. I should have taken the bottle of ibuprofen with me this morning, but that was the last thing on my mind.

"Hey, good boy. How was your day?" Sonny sits next to me and I circle my arms around his neck. His chin plants into my shoulder.

Just having him here is enough to lift my spirits. At least, a little. With the afternoon I've had, I'll take it.

"You won't believe my day," I tell him. The words muffle against his fur. "At least I can say I did the right thing. I finally confessed to all my lies."

Sonny licks the side of my face, as if he understands my admittance. We sit in silence, taking comfort in each other's company, when there's a knock on the door. Because of the familiar four-knock pattern, I know it's Willa Mae.

I can't find the strength to get up. "Come in," I call out from my spot on the carpet.

Willa Mae's face peeks inside. "Is this a bad time?"

I shake my head and lay my cheek against Sonny's neck.

When the door opens all the way, Willa Mae stills for a moment and takes everything in. Thankfully, she has the decency not to mention the mess, or the fact that it belonged to my mother.

She wanders inside and sinks into the chair across from me. "Bad day?"

All I do is nod.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

I let out a long sigh. "Maybe later. I'm too exhausted right now to think."

"Getting things off your chest might help," she says in a soothing voice. "It's never good to keep it bottled up inside. It'll only make matters worse."

Where do I even begin? So much has transpired in such a short period of time, my brain is still reeling from the commotion.

"Valentino woke up—which, of course, is great news—and there doesn't seem to be much damage. Nothing serious anyway. He basically took a nice long nap while I fell in love with his dog. Now, I'm sure it won't be long before I have to give him back," I say, pulling Sonny a little closer.

Willa Mae smiles sadly. "I was afraid this was going to happen. But there's nothing stopping you from getting a dog of your own. Maybe some time we can stop by the shelter together and take a peek around? Maybe I'll even adopt one, too! That way our fur babies can be neighbors, just like us."

"Yeah, maybe."

She gives another gentle push. "Is there something more on your mind?"

Her question is all it takes to bring back the tears. But this time, there's no stopping them from spilling down my cheeks. "I told Leo and his family the truth. There's no engagement. There never was."

"And how'd they take it?"

I shrug. "Valentino's parents took it better than I thought. I'm pretty sure they forgive me. But Leo—" My voice cracks. "Leo is so mad, and I can't blame him. He's transferring to Denver. I tried to stop him—I even had all sorts of help. Except...it didn't work. He's gone."

Willa Mae pulls in a breath. "Are you certain?"

I nod. "The damage is done," I say, wiping away a tear. "He flew out to Denver this afternoon."

She shifts in the chair. "Perhaps you should take a look out the window?"

When her suggestion sinks in, I lift my head from Sonny's neck. Willa Mae is smiling at me.

Pushing myself off the floor, I bounce around the stacks of clothes and glance outside. A black pickup is parked in my driveway.

I look back at her, confused. "How is he here? He's supposed to be in Denver!"

Willa Mae laughs. "Leo took me to lunch. I had the cutest date in the whole restaurant!"

When I turn back to the window, Leo hops out of his truck and my stomach immediately drops out from underneath me. He's beautiful. Everything about him. So much more beautiful than Valentino. How did I not see it before?

Willa Mae stands from the chair. "I guess I'll leave you two alone," she says, sneaking off toward the back door.

"Wait!" I swivel around and stare at her. When she pauses in the kitchen, I hurry over and throw my arms around her neck. "Thank you, Willa Mae. You're the best."

"Oh, child. I feel the same way about you." She squeezes me a little tighter. "Now go let that boy in. Your happily-ever-after is waiting."

I choke out a laugh as she lets herself outside, then I race over to meet Leo on the porch. When I open the front door, he's waiting on the other side.

The moment he steps into the house, an electric tension blazes between us.

"Hi," he says, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I give him a shy smile. "Hi."

Leo opens his mouth to say something, but I jump in and stop him. "Before you say anything, I need to tell you in person how sorry I am. For everything. For what I did to Valentino, and for what I did to you and your family. It was wrong on so many levels." I take a deep breath. "I'm really really sorry I lied to you."

For a minute, Leo says nothing, as if he's not ready to accept my apology.

And then, "I'm sorry you lied, too. It really hurt. But the more I thought about it, I realized that you lying isn't the worst thing in the world that could happen. The worst thing would be leaving you." A warm smile stretches across his face. "Someone once told me not to let opportunities pass me by. That the what ifs will leave me with nothing but regrets."

I smile back at him. "That sounds like something Willa Mae would say."

Leo shrugs. "That lady knows what she's talking about."

As I watch him watching me, something funny swirls in my chest. "I like you a lot, Leo. More than a lot, if you want to know the truth. And the truth is what you'll get from here on out—I promise."

He steps closer. And then even closer. "I like you more than a lot too, Molly." Leo's fingers tunnel through my hair as he grasps my face in his hands, and then a slow grin creeps along his lips. "In fact, I think I'm falling in love with you."

And then his mouth brushes against mine, and it's the most glorious feeling in the whole world. I stand on my tiptoes and curl my arms around his neck, bringing him as close to me as I can with Sonny leaning against our legs.

When we finally part ways, I laugh against his lips.

"What's so funny?" he asks, resting his forehead against mine.

"Remind me later to tell you about my day."

He gives me a lopsided grin. "It couldn't have been any crazier than mine."

"I'm not so sure about that," I say, gazing up at him.

There's an old proverb that goes: sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye. But I never fully understood it until now.

Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes we get lost in our own heads. But to truly embrace life, we need to follow our hearts.

I guess there's no stopping this thing called love.

The End.

Final word count, approximately 34,504 (according to Google Doc)!

Phew, I finished in time! I hope the story didn't feel too rushed! 😅

Just wanted to take another moment to thank you for your reads, votes, comments, and support. The ONC community is amazing! I have so much appreciation for all of you! Thank you! ❤️