She rolls her eyes. “I wouldn’t be standing here helping with this mushy stuff if I didn’t. Besides, I wouldn’t hate you as a sister.”
I don’t want to hope for what she’s insinuating. It’s frivolous and way too exciting. We don’t really talk that much about the future, but we’ve circled it. Vague “someday” conversations that make me wish I could quit school and move here.
I’d figure it out if the farm is where he needs to be. All he has to do is ask me.
Neither of us says anything as she helps me heft the bag onto my shoulder. The moments stretch, quiet like the sanctity that follows making a wish—you can’t tell anyone, or it won’t come true.
“Where do you think he is right now?”
Her brow furrows like she’s running through a map in her mind. “Probably in the west field? Just aim for the white barn. Somewhere in that area.”
“Got it.” I nod and give in to a sudden urge to hug her. “Thank you.”
“You’re supposed to get mushy withhim, not me,” she groans, but hugs me back anyway. “But you’re welcome.”
I’m probably overestimating my abilities to heft this huge bag of blankets and food across who knows how much terrain to find Aiden, but it’s worth it.
Once I’m down the stairs of their family home and on more level ground, it’s not as tough, but I know I’ll be exhausted once I get to him. Somehow, like he knows I’m heading straight for him, he steps out of the treeline.
His entire face brightens like he’s won the lottery, and he half-runs, half-walks to close the distance. It’s obvious he’s torn between a welcome kiss and getting this bag off my shoulder as soon as he reaches me, so his lips are on mine before the bag touches the grass.
“What are you doing here?” he whispers between kisses. I can feel his smile without even trying.
“It’s been too long since I saw you.”
“Way too long,” he agrees.
I’m feeling over-zealous and a little careless after my conversation with Evelyn, and the oxytocin from his kisses fuels my mood. I break the kiss with a laugh, take one quick breath, and jump into his arms. He catches me without hesitation, holding me up like he was waiting for it.
“Everything finally feels right again.” My words are barely louder than a breath as I bury my head in his neck, but all the anxious feelings I’ve had settle in my chest.
“I can’t believe you came here on Spring Break, Chlo.” His deep chuckle rumbles through me, and his arms tighten. “You didn’t have plans?”
The words are on the tip of my tongue:There’s nothing more important to me than this. Ask me to stay. Ask me to make a life here with you. Can’t you see it?
But I’m terrified I’m reading it all wrong. That would mean Evie is reading it wrong, too, but again, it’s too much to hope for.
Not just because it would give me an out from a career I don’t want, but it would put me in the one place I’ve ever felt complete, like I belong with the trees and the people.
I don’t have to shrink here. There aren’t any expectations beyond loving Aiden. I know I’ll have to learn the farm and the business. But his mom and Evie can help.
“No plans,” I finally say, raising my head enough to look into the startling blue of his eyes. “This just felt like the right place to be.”
He kisses me then, slow, like he’s savoring every angle of my mouth. It’s a quiet heat. One that’s dangerous—not because of want, but because of need. Sometimes it feels like my heart is so tangled up with his that I don’t know where he begins and I end. We’ve shared so many quiet secrets that I think we’ve planned a whole future without even trying to.
And I can feel it in these moments. In the press of his hands against my back, the way his heart thunders against my chest, the way he kisses me like he’s trying to prove how deep his love goes.
It all makes me dizzy. Knowing that this is a path thatwilleventually lead to forever.
There’s no other alternative for me.
We break apart, and he sets me down, even though we don’t break the grip we have on each other yet. I press my cheek against his flannel, my arms wrapped around his middle.
For one long moment, I breathe in the scent of pine and the crisp, cold air. And I root myself in his steadiness.
This is where I belong.
I know it, with absolute certainty. And I wish I knew it was that certain to him, too.
