Jackson looked up to see Liam leaning in the barn doorway, coffee in one hand, expression easy but eyes sharp. His twin always could read him too well.
“Just going to explore a ridge,” Jackson said, adjusting the strap again, though it didn’t need it.
“Right.” Liam took a slow sip, then pushed off the doorframe and came closer. “You want to tell me what happened, or should I guess?”
Jackson ran a hand down Xavier’s neck, the horse’s sleek muscles flexing beneath his palm. Liam waited. He didn’t push, not right away, just stood there, quiet in the way only brothers could be.
Finally, Jackson sighed. “I screwed up with Zoe. Bad. Said things I didn’t mean, spoke harshly to her.” His throat tightened. “Or maybe I meant them, but I shouldn’t have said them that way. I hurt someone who didn’t deserve it. I let fear win, again.”
For a long moment, Liam was quiet. The only sound was the steady munch of hay from the stalls. Finally, he said, “You’ve been through hell, Jacks. No one’s denying that. But at some point, you’ve gotta stop waiting to feel perfect before you start living again. You’re never gonna be that guy. None of us are.”
Jackson looked up, meeting his brother’s gaze.
“Zoe just wants you to show up,” Liam went on. “You think she doesn’t already see the cracks? She loves you anyway.”
The words hit like a punch to the chest.She loves you.
Jackson swallowed hard. “Even if I’m still so early on in working on myself? Even if I’m…this much of a mess?”
Liam shrugged, his smile sincere. “Then let her see this process. The guy who’s trying. The one who still gets back on the damn horse, literally and figuratively.”
Jackson let out a breath that was half-laugh, half-groan. “You always have to end with a metaphor, don’t you?”
“Hey, if the horseshoe fits.”
Liam clapped him on the shoulder and headed for the barn door, pausing just before stepping out into the sunlight. “Don’t let pride be the thing that costs you the best thing you’ve ever had.”
When the door closed behind him, Jackson stood for a moment in the quiet. Then he turned to Xavier.
The stallion snorted softly, as if reading his mind.
“Guess it’s time to stop hiding,” Jackson murmured, reaching for the saddle. The leather was warm from the sun streaming through the open barn doors. He cinched the strap tight, patted Xavier’s flank, and swung into the saddle.
Outside, the world shimmered with the first true warmth of spring. The fields stretched out in soft greens and golds, the air sweet with new growth. Somewhere out there, hidden in the hills, was the meadow Zoe had been searching for—the one she believed was home to the legendary Moonlight Kiss flower.
Maybe finding it wouldn’t fix everything. But it was a place to start.
He turned Xavier toward the ridge road, the wind catching at his shirt as he urged the horse into a gallop. The rhythm of hooves against the soft earth pounded in time with his heart.
He knew exactly where to head, back toward the bend in the river, near the old settlement Zoe had spotted weeks ago. They’d never found a safe way to cross, but maybe he could. Maybe there was a shallower stretch upstream, a bridge long forgotten, something she’d missed. If the hidden meadow was anywhere, it would be there.
He didn’t know if Zoe would ever forgive him. But he was done running from her.
And if there was even the smallest chance he could find that long-lost flower, then maybe he could find his way back to her, too.
THIRTY-THREE
ZOE
Sunday, March 23rd
The next morning, Zoe forced herself out of the apartment and down to the Spring Market. The air had a bit of a nip to it under the cloudless blue sky. It seemed fitting, seeing as Zoe felt numb inside. But she was going to change all that.
She hadn’t set up last week, and though she’d told herself it was fine to miss a Sunday, today felt different. She needed to show up. To prove to herself, more than anyone, that she wasn’t going to sit at home replaying every awful moment with Jackson.
Still, it felt strange. Wrong. She had never once avoided him in her entire life. He was her oldest friend, the one constant through all her years in Maple Falls. To sidestep him yesterday had left her off-balance, like she’d broken something fragile between them. And until they talked, she knew that imbalance would permeate everything in her life.
But what would she say? She’d already confessed her feelings to him. She told him she’d wait for him, but that was before he’d hurt her. Before he made love to her only to pull away again. The way he told her that she’d never understand, without even letting her try. The sheer anger in his voice.
