Not glancing her way, he gave a swift nod. “You needed me.”
“Zane,” she breathed. “I didn’t understand that before.”
“That was the idea. I couldn’t have you thinking I dropped out of vet school for you. I had to be careful not to let on, you know?”
She drew back. “But you told me you hated it.” Memories of pieces of their conversations niggled in her mind. “You said they’d changed the program so it was going to be even longer, and…to be honest, I guess I didn’t ask you much about yourself that summer.”
“You were ill. That blood infection wiped you out.” He paused a long while. “Theydidchange the program, and that was part of it.” He paused again. “I didn’t want you to ask about me. Besides, coming home was a good decision. I’m glad I did.”
She tsked. “But do you know what people thought?”
He flicked a glance at her and then looked out over the miles of farmland they were driving past. “Not particularly. I don’t usually care what people think about me.”
“Well, you had to know that some people in town…wondered if you’d dropped out because it was too hard or that you didn’t have what it takes.” She held up a hand. “Which wasn’t true. Of course you do. But there was this sense that you tried and—”
“That I tried and failed?” A smile spread across his face. “That? I do remember that.” He chuckled under his breath.
“You really don’t care what people think of you?”
“I care what you think of me, but most others?” He shrugged. “No, I don’t.” He rubbed a hand on his knee. “Well, that’s not exactly true. I did care about them knowing my feelings for you.”
“Oh.” Things looked so different now. It hurt that she hadn’t seen it before.
“I wasn’t ready to say, ‘I quit school to take care of Mabel.’” He let out a forced breath. “For lots of reasons. Some of it was related to my pride, that I would come rushing home for a woman who didn’t care about me in that way. But also, if you knew why I was there, you would have felt responsible in some way.”
She waited, steeling herself. “But what if I did care about you in that way?”
His eyes flashed wide and darted to hers. “Then we should have been better at communicating.” He pressed his fist to his forehead.
“Understatement.” She lifted a shoulder, her heart pounding in her chest. “And then that fall, some of KNO came home too. And by then, I was starting to feel better and getting out more.”
Hazy memories of him showing up that summer came to her mind. But now they were an actual image instead of a reflection in a murky pool.
Now those memories teemed with Zane. Hehadbeen there for her. Not wanting any thanks or for her to even know most of the things he’d been doing for her.
He’d come home for her. He’d dropped out of vet school for her.
For her.
“Zane.” Her voice broke, and she clutched his shirt in her hand.
He hit the brakes and turned to her, his brow furrowed with concern.
“Can…can you pull over?” she asked.
But he didn’t. He stayed there, right in the middle of the road, and put the truck in park. Not too big a deal. There were zero cars in both directions on the country road they were on.
She undid her seatbelt and looked from his lips to his dark coffee eyes before pulling him close. “Zane, thank you for helping me when no one else could.” She rested her head on his chest.
“I’ll always be there for you, Mabel,” he whispered. “Always.” He waited a beat. “Until and unless you tell me to go away and mind my own business.”
“I would never want that.” She squeezed him tighter. “The way you protect and defend me is…amazing, actually.”
“Mabel,” he whispered. He wrapped his fingers in her hair, trying to breathe every bit of her in. His lips found the top of her head, and then right below her hairline, then her cheek.
He stopped, his eyes questioning her.
She nodded and said, “Yes,” her bottom lip trembling.
