"Hi," he said, smiling back at her and doing his best to pretend he wasn't in a gigantic hurry to have her in his arms and never let her go. She motioned for him to come inside, and he looked around cautiously. Henry used the steps to make his way into the trailer. It was small enough that he could see at a glance that they were alone.
"Where's Ty?" he asked, since she could have been using the restroom.
"She went into Butte to eat dinner with some of the others."
"You didn't want to go?" he asked, staring at her and feeling like he was barely able to keep his hands to himself. He made a fist to distract himself. "How did the scene go today?"
She smiled at him with a little smirk before she answered. "Can I have a hug? I missed you. That's why I didn't go. I wanted to see you."
"Please," he said, without hesitation, taking her into his arms.
They held onto each other, and Henry breathed a sigh of relief. She smelled amazing, and it felt like heaven having her close. He was close to saying something to pour his heart out, but he didn’t even know where to begin. "I brought you a souvenir," he said.
She pulled back and looked at him. Her eyes were glossy—full of tears. It wasn't from what he said about the souvenir… she was tearing up before he ever said that.
Henry could not stop himself from kissing her. He leaned in, and she knew what was happening because she leaned in to meet him. He put his mouth on hers, and it was perfection. He had missed her so much he could hardly think straight.What was happening to him?
Her hand came up, and she touched the side of his face. They kissed gently twice, three times, and then four, five, six—gentle, slow kisses.
He pulled back, and she stared up at him. She blinked, and a tear fell out of her eye and ran down the front of her cheek.
"Oh," he said, wiping at it gently with his thumb.
"It's just that I'm happy," she said, quickly turning and wiping at her cheek with the back of her hand.
"I love you," he said. He didn't know why he said it. He didn't plan on saying that. He felt it, but he never dreamed he would say it out loud. It had just come out of his mouth when he saw the tear. He opened his mouth again to try to backpedal a little and explain that, "What I meant was—"
"I love you, too, Henry," she said simply.
She buried her face in his chest, holding onto him. Henry realized as he held her and looked down at the top of her head that they both meant it.
Chapter 20
Amelia
Henry Sutter was constantly caring. He was this big, strong guy, and yet he spent his day tending to and caring for those around him. He cared for his animals and his family. I loved how important Bailey was to him and that he paused his life when she needed it. And now he cared for me. I could see it and feel it when he came into my trailer after his trip.
My heart ached for him. I wanted to never be apart from him again. I was glad he had been at my house for the last few days, but it would have been a whole lot better if he had been next to me instead.
I cried when we reconnected. It wasn't intentional, but the emotions and relief were so immense that I produced hot tears without even trying to. Henry told me he loved me when he saw that, and I said it back to him. Then I hugged him and held onto him as tightly as I could. It felt like a significant moment between us. It was one. I had never in my life said those words to a man.
I took a deep breath as we embraced afterward.
"Can you come with me to the barn for a minute?" he asked.
I pulled back far enough to glance up at him. "Of course, I have the rest of the night off, and Ty left with the others, so Ihave the vehicle. I thought you might want to get home, so I sort of planned on following you to Butte for a little while."
"Oh, yeah, that'd be perfect, but we need to stop by the barn… and by the store. I need some things before I go home."
Henry and I walked from my trailer to the barn, and there were so many people around the cast trailer area that we didn't hold hands. Cameron had seen us come out of my trailer together, but she didn't seem to skip a beat. I was the one skipping beats—my heart was, anyway. Henry had held me and kissed me and told me that he loved me in the trailer, and then we smiled casually at Cameron and started walking across the ranch like nothing had happened afterward.
We were the best secret ever.
"I can't wait for you to see your souvenir," he said to me as we were approaching the barn.
"Well, thank you, but you didn't need to bring me anything."
"What do you think it is?" he asked.
