Looping the water sanctuary, we held hands, taking in the sights and sounds.
“I don’t think I could live here,” Aiken admitted.
“Me either. Too fast, too crazy, too hip. Even though I was raised in Pittsburgh, I’m a small-town girl at heart. Not that Pittsburgh is anything like here, but it’s a busier city than the center of the state where we live. I like the pace, the change of seasons, the leaves, how the whole town bustles from the college, all of that. Probably why I never left rural PA. That and tenure. I thought about it a lot after Abby died, but I just didn’t want to leave.”
“Makes sense. You have roots.”
“What about you? Where do you see yourself putting down roots one day?”
“Did you hear what I said earlier? With you. Used to think near my dad, now I’m not so sure.”
“Aiken, don’t.” The breeze felt good against the beads of sweat forming on my neck. I took my hand back and busied it with tying my hair in a messy knot.
“I mean it. With you. I always thought it’d be back in the Midwest, but I like your place and mine, and I like you better than all of it combined.”
“I don’t know what to say. I’m not really of the age for putting down roots. That was like a decade ago for me.”
“Shh, don’t ruin the moment, Claire.”
He took my hand back, the leash in his other one, and led us down a path. “Let’s go get some good grub and enjoy ourselves. You don’t know it yet, but we are putting our own roots down every damn day.”
He squeezed my fingers, and I shut up.
