"Yes, ma'am."
She led us to our usual booth—the one in the corner, where I could sit with my back to the wall—and took our order without writing anything down. She already knew what we wanted. We'd become regulars, and in Iron Peak, that meant something.
After she left, Emory reached across the table and took my hand. "She really loves you, you know."
"Ma loves everyone."
"No, she doesn't. She tolerates most people. She loves you." She squeezed my fingers. "This whole town does. They've been watching out for you, even when you tried to push them away."
I thought about that. About the three years I'd spent here, keeping everyone at arm's length, convincing myself I was fine alone. And about all the ways this town had refused to let me disappear—Ma showing up with food when I forgot to eat, the guys at the hardware store always finding odd jobs for me, the librarian setting aside books she thought I'd like.
I'd been so focused on my own guilt, my own isolation, that I hadn't seen what was right in front of me. A community that cared. People who wanted to help, if I'd only let them.
It had taken Emory to make me see it. To make me see a lot of things.
"I was an idiot," I said.
"You were hurting." She smiled. "There's a difference."
Our food came, and we ate while the diner buzzed around us. People stopped by our table to say hello, including Rosie from the garage, June from the library, and Sheriff Lawson, whotipped his hat and said something about it being nice to see me out and about.
By the time we finished and paid the check, the sun had fully set and the streetlights had flickered on. We walked home slowly, neither of us in a hurry, enjoying the cool evening air and the canopy of stars overhead.
When we got back to the cabin, Emory headed for the porch. "Come sit with me."
I grabbed two beers from the fridge and joined her on the swing I'd installed last week. She mentioned offhandedly that she'd always wanted a porch swing, and the next day I'd driven to the hardware store and bought one. The look on her face when she'd come home to find it had been worth every penny.
She curled into my side, her head on my shoulder, and we swung gently in the darkness. The mountains were black shapes against the star-scattered sky, and somewhere in the distance, an owl called.
"I checked into it and there’s no reason I can’t finish my law degree here,” she said. "So I guess you're stuck with me for at least another two years."
"Just two years?"
"Well, after that, I'll have to find a job. Take the bar exam. Figure out what kind of law I actually want to practice." She paused. "But I was thinking…maybe I could do that here too. Iron Peak doesn't have a lawyer. People have to drive all the way to the city for basic legal stuff. Maybe there's something I could build here."
I turned to look at her fully. "You've thought about this."
"I've thought about a lot of things." She set down her beer and shifted so she was facing me, legs tucked under her. "I know this is fast, Kai. I know we've only known each other a few weeks. But I've never been more sure of anything. I want to build a life here. With you."
I cupped her face in my hands. This woman—this incredible, stubborn, beautiful woman—had walked into my life and refused to let me push her away. She'd seen the worst of me and stayed anyway. She'd chosen me, broken pieces and all.
I didn't have the words to tell her what that meant to me. So I told her the only way I knew how.
"I'm going to marry you."
Her eyes widened. "What?"
"I'm not asking. Not yet." I stroked my thumb across her cheekbone. "I know it's too soon. I know you need to finish school, figure out your career, all of that. But I want you to know—this isn't temporary for me. This isn't a trial run. I'm going to marry you, Emory Morgan. When you're ready. When the time is right. I'm going to make you my wife."
She stared at me for a long moment, her eyes glistening in the starlight. Then she laughed—that bright, joyful sound that had become my favorite thing in the world.
"Is that a promise?" she asked.
"It's a fact."
She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me into a kiss. It was soft and sweet and tasted like forever.
"I'll hold you to it," she whispered against my lips.
