I pressed my lips to hers for a moment, trying to assure her. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Don’t you see? We’re here now. Whatever we had to go through to get to this point was worth it.”
She slid her hands around either side of my neck. “I wish I hadn’t been so stupid when we were younger. Why couldn’t I see how perfect you were? It would’ve saved me—you—us, so much heartache.
I tangled my fingers in the ends of her silky hair. “You know what Sophie would say?”
“You can be bitter or you can be better,” we said in unison.
We both smiled, and I pressed my forehead to hers. “I’m staying in Seddledowne. With you and Anna. I want to marry you.” I put a hand on her barely protruding belly. “Be this baby’s dad. And I’ll wait however long it takes for you to be ready to marry again. A year. Two years. Ten.” Her face dropped, and she looked down at her lap. I scrubbed a hand over my face. “I didn’t mean it like that. I want to marry you. Right now. Like today. But if you’re not ready…"
She kissed me and then smiled against my mouth again. “When everything first happened, I never wanted to get married again. Why would I want to jump back into something like that? It brought me nothing but heartache. But these past few months, living in the same house…” She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. “I’ve known you my whole life. I’ve seen you at your worst, and even at your worst, you’re…amazing. You’re the only man I would ever trust enough to try again. But I do.” The tip of her nose brushed mine. “I do trust you and I’m ready.” Her eyes went worried. "But what about your job?”
I shook my head, in absolute wonder that she saw me that way. “I’ll get a job here. I checked last night. The high school has the principal and assistant principal jobs open still. Something will work out.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “How do they still have those openings when school starts in a few weeks?”
“They had some enormous scandal earlier this summer. Holden told me about it. They must be struggling to fill those vacancies. Here, I’ll show you.” I leaned sideways, holding her so she wouldn’t fall off my lap, and pulled my phone out of my back pocket. With her between my arms, curled up against my chest, we read the most recent articles about the scandal. They’d finally found the couple in France. One of them had stupidly posted a picture of them eating croissants in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Clem wrapped her arms around my neck. “Won’t the school board in Laramie be angry? Will they give you a good reference?”
“I think I can get Mrs. Serafin and the board to see reason. At least I hope so. They have a few weeks to find someone else if I let them know soon.”
Her eyes darted over my face. “Am I completely selfish to let you do that? Maybe you should stay there this year, complete your contract, and then move back.”
I pecked her on the mouth. “It’s not your choice. It’s mine. And that’s what I’m doing. I’m never leaving you again.”
She tipped her head back, laughed and pumped her fist.
I laughed with her, my mind still trying to catch up.
An alarm went off on her phone and she groaned. “I have to run to the studio and teach the ten a.m. class.”
I pressed my forehead against hers. “No worries. I’ll be here when you get back. I’m not going anywhere.” I tapped my nose against hers. “Ever again.”
It was agony letting her walk away to change into her gym clothes. As I walked her to the truck and kissed her goodbye, I couldn’t get the stupid grin off my face. I stood there, hands on top of my head, watching her truck head down the hill, past the barn—the love nest, as she jokingly referred to it now—and over the hill. When she was out of sight, I hooted as loud as I could and punched my fists in the air like Rocky.
Last night, I’d called Christy and told her that I wasn’t coming back to Laramie. After a string of swear words—calling me every derogatory name she could think of—and promising we would never, ever speak again, she’d hung up on me. So twelve mere hours ago, I’d been certain of what I thought was my reality: I would live the rest of my life alone, loving Clem from afar.
And I’d accepted it.
Now, my mind was boggled. How could a life completely change in half a day? It seemed impossible. Surreal.
What if this day had never happened? What if Clem had never sat herself in my lap and forced me to see the truth? What if I’d spent decades wishing, never knowing everything I’d ever wanted was on the other side of a kiss?
My chest tightened and I couldn’t breathe, thinking about it. Holden was right. I’d been a coward. So afraid of the what-ifs that I’d held back. I made a promise to myself at thatmoment: I would never miss out on loving Clem again because I was afraid. I would fight dragons—no—entire armies if I had to.
Now that I knew she loved me too, there was nothing in this world that was ever going to keep us apart.
twenty-five
CLEMENTINE
That ten a.m. barre class was the longest hour of my entire life. And then, when it was over, two new ladies wanted to purchase memberships so they could attend “that hot guy’s class,” so I had to stick around to sign them up. By the time I walked back into the house an hour and forty-five minutes later, I figured I was overdue a kiss by at least an hour and a half.
I slid through the side door ninja-like and snuck up behind Silas while he loaded the dishwasher. I curled my arms around his chest and pressed my cheek against his back. He turned, and I went up on my tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. But when I tried to pull away, he gripped my face, trying to inhale me. His lips were insistent and his hands traced across my shoulders and down my back, drawing curlicues.
I shuddered, stepping away. “I’m so gross. Let me take a quick shower.”
There was a hungry, devious look in his eye. “No.” His hands were on my hips, his steely gaze pinning me. “I’m not waiting another minute. It’s sexy when you’re all flushed like that.” His mouth crashed against mine. He cupped the back of my thighsand hiked me up to waist level. My legs wrapped around his hips. I sucked his bottom lip between my teeth and he stumbled forward, catching us against the counter. He slid me onto the formica, his lips roving greedily. His hands were on my ribs, all over my back, up in my hair, everywhere at once. Granny Eudora would die all over again if she saw what we were doing in her kitchen.
