“We’re figuring it out,” he said. “But I want you to hear something from me without any doubt.”
My breath caught.
“I want you,” he said quietly. “Not because you’re in danger. Not because you’re under this roof. I want you because I’ve wanted you for years. Being with you again only reminded me how hard I tried to move on… and how badly I failed at it.” Warmth and something tender twisted through my chest.
“Why did you try to let it go?” I whispered.
His gaze dipped for a moment, vulnerability moving across his expression.
“Because I haven’t felt like myself for a long time.”
That surprised me. I pushed up onto my elbow, searching his face. “Eric… what does that mean?”
His jaw tightened the way it always did when he was wrestling with something heavy.
“You asked me in the cabin why I still bake,” he said. “I brushed it off because I didn’t want to get into it. But the truth is… I’m not happy running the bakeries. I love the orchard. I love the land. But the rest?” He gave a small shake of his head. “It was my family’s plan. Not mine.”
“What was your plan?” I asked softly.
He exhaled. “Firefighting. Search and rescue. I wanted the academy. I wanted the adrenaline of doing something that felt like it mattered. I completed most of the ENPQ training. I used to drive to Saint-Hyacinthe for long days of smoke drills and ladder climbs before coming home to prune apple trees.”
Understanding settled over me.
“And you stepped in when your family needed someone,” I whispered.
“Yeah.” His smile was small and tired. “I stepped in. It feels like the right thing, but not my thing.”
The honesty in those words made something inside me soften.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” I asked.
He swallowed. “Because it felt selfish to talk about my dreams when you were dealing with so much. You needed safety and stability, and I didn’t want to make it about me.”
My throat tightened. “I want you to tell me. I want all of it. Even the parts you think don’t matter.”
He looked at me with an openness I hadn’t seen in him before.
“You matter,” I said. “Your dreams matter. What you want matters.” He stared at me like I’d said something sacred.
Then he leaned in and kissed me. Slow, gentle, grounding. The kind of kiss that didn’t ignite fire but steadied the heartbeat.
When he pulled back, his forehead rested against mine.
“I’m falling for you,” he whispered.
The world stilled.
“And I think you’re falling for me,” he added softly, not as a question, but like he already knew.
Emotion rose in my chest, warm and impossible to deny.
“I am,” I whispered. “I tried not to. I really tried.”
He brushed my cheek with the back of his hand, eyes warm and quiet. “Then let’s not try anymore.”
I let out a shaky breath, pressing my hand over his heart, feeling the slow, steady thrum beneath my palm.
“We’ll figure it out,” he said again. “Together.”
