“I missed you too.” Why was she struggling to catch her breath?
His hand came up and cradled her cheek. “Bronwyn?”
“Mm?”
“Could I, I mean, would you mind...” His voice faltered, and a hint of red stole up his neck. He cleared his throat. “I’d really like to kiss you.”
“Okay.”
He caught his breath. “Are you sure? You only get one first kiss.”
“So do you.”
They stared at each other, the crashing of the waterfall drowning out all other sounds. Standing this close to him, she could feel his heartbeat.
His thumb brushed her cheek, and she rose onto her toes. “I’m sure, Mo.”
It was soft, sweet, and entirely without finesse. Neither of them had any idea what they were doing.
And it didn’t matter.
He pulled away after far too short a time. “Can we do that again?”
She lifted her hands and wrapped them around his neck. “Yes.”
This kiss was as tender as the first but more confident. “Bronwyn?” Mo whispered when he pulled away. “I know we can’t tell anyone ’cause your parents would flip out. So in public, we’ll just be friends. But when it’s just you and me, will you be my girlfriend?”
She didn’t tell him that she’d already thought she was. Maybe he’d thought so too but wanted to make it official.
Either way, her answer was easy. “Yes.”
His smile was a little bit triumphant. “Does this mean you’re mine?”
“I’ve always been yours.”
Fifteen
Present Day
Mo walked Meredith and Bronwyn to Bronwyn’s car, then followed them back to her home.
When they arrived, he climbed from the Jeep, flashlight and laptop in hand. “Stay put. I’m going to make sure everything’s clear inside.”
Neither of them argued, which was good because there was no way he would stand by and watch them go inside until he was sure this hadn’t been an elaborate scheme to lure Bronwyn out of her home.
He set his laptop on the entryway table and scanned each room with his flashlight. The generators were running almost everything else on the property, but Bronwyn had told them her home was on a separate system and she’d wait to see if they needed to turn it on.
He did his best not to snoop, but when his light landed on the magnetic Chinese checkers board on Bronwyn’s home office wall, he did a double take. It was all he could do to keep himself moving.
The rock on her mantel had surprised him. But this? He pulled his mind away from rainy days and nights by the fire and a game he’d played many times as a kid but never since she left.
He kept moving and checked in the bathrooms, behind shower curtains, and in closets. He was quick but thorough.
Five minutes later, he held the door for Meredith and Bronwyn to enter. “It’s clear.”
They walked inside, and he followed them in and locked the door.
“Um, Mo?”
