He hands me a cup and I lean in, kissing his cheek, and then lean back. “Thank you.”
Being with him has always been easy, but now there’s a new ease between us—no more barriers or questioning how we feel about one another.
Cody rests his hand on my knee and then he leans in again and places another soft kiss on my lips. “I missed you,” he says, brushing his hand along my cheek and down my neck, pushing my hair out of the way with his fingers.
“I missed you too,” I admit. “How can we feel so old and new at the same time?”
He smiles. “Because you’ve been on my mind for years.”
“And you’ve been on mine,” I tell him.
Our eyes meet and he holds my gaze.
He leaves his hand on my knee, setting his coffee to the side and picking up the board so I can choose a few items to snack on. He pops a blackberry into his mouth and hums. “Man, those are good. Obviously, not as good as the fresh ones in summer, but yeah. Good.”
He picks another one up and holds it out. I open my mouth and he feeds me.
We sit on the blanket, talking about work, the piglets, and McKenna’s wedding preparations. Cody tells me about his visit to the elementary school on Local Hero Day and I tell him funny stories about Randall. When we finish eating, Cody pulls out a bar of sea-salt chocolate and we break off pieces, eating it while I lean back on him, nestled between his legs. At some point we shifted, and I never want to leave this place—his arms, the warmth of his chest behind me, the feeling of his inhale and exhale in my hair.
“I could stay here forever,” I confess.
“Let’s,” he says, his voice low and sedate.
Then he kisses the top of my head and I burrow more deeply into his arms.
In a blink, a lightning bolt streaks through the sky in the distance. The horses’ ears perk. A clap of thunder cracks only seconds later. Lark paws the dirt nervously. Jasper stands tall and alert.
“Rain’s coming,” Cody says, jumping up.
He extends his hand to me and we quickly toss everything into the bag. He folds the blanket and shoves it into his saddlebag as the first fat drops start to fall. And then, the storm lets loose in a deluge. Cody looks over at me and I start laughing. My hair and clothes stick to my body. The water comes down in sheets.
He walks away from Jasper, his eyes fixed on mine, and when he’s right in front of me, he cups my chin with both his hands and leans in and kisses me. Water falls hard, soaking everything. But we don’t mind. I cling to Cody and he wraps his arms around me. When we pull apart, he smiles down at me.
He chuckles, looking straight up into the sky. “We’re crazy!” he shouts into the rain.
I laugh and something loosens in my chest. I spread my arms, tilt my head to the sky and let the water beat down on my face.
Cody stares at me, a look in his eyes I will never forget for as long as I live.
“We’d better go,” he says.
“Yeah. My family will worry if I don’t come in soon.”
He leans in and places another soft kiss on my lips. “I’ll text you.”
“I know,” I assure him. “We’ll find time.”
I reach up and cup his face. Droplets dot his lashes and brows and water streams down his cheeks. “Thank you for this.”
“Thank you,” he says.
We mount quickly and ride along side by side, the relentless downpour blurring the landscape. At the old oak, we split apart and each gallop toward our own barn.
Jace sees me walking out after I’ve put Lark in her stall with fresh feed and water.
“You got stuck in this?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I say with a smile that takes over my whole face.
