Permission to leave. After everything… the gremlins, Nick, finally feeling like maybe I could breathe here, she was telling me I could go.
Staying wasmychoice. The urge to bolt hadn’t vanished, but it also wasn’t my first instinct. I’d call that growth.
I looked at Nick. He waited. The Sharpie wolf had already smudged where his sleeve rubbed. Morning light from the window turned his beard gold.
I looked at the business card. At the quilting guild. At Simon. At Harvey and Walter.
I'd known since Johnny said, "He's in good hands." Since the town showed up on the green. Since Nick pulled me close in the tent, his breath warm against my neck.
But I didn't say it.
"I need to think about it."
Mum squeezed my hand. "Take your time."
"You're killing me, Sandford," Lacie groaned.
For the first time in my life, sitting in Firefly Valley surrounded by people with Sharpie on their skin and coffee going cold on tables, I felt like I had time.
“Did you bring me out here to get me naked again?”
The thought had crossed my mind. Hell, italwayscrossed my mind. Instead of jumping into the water, we sat in our shorts, feet submerged in the pool. There’d be plenty of time for swimming and horsing around. We’d get to that, but first, I had to ask the question that grew more concerning by the minute.
“Us.”
He didn’t say anything. For the next few minutes, the word hung in the air, echoing between century-old pines. I had prepared a speech, a passionate hope for the future. I’d even written a few lines in my sketchbook. If I turned mushy, I’d get lost in the complexity, and I’d mess it up. I didn’t want to messthisup.
“What next?”
Our relationship wasn’t any different from two people finding one another on vacation. Eventually, everybody had to return to their worlds. That was complicated enough. Worse, I didn’t quite know where my world was anymore. Mum had made it clear she’d like me to stay and make Firefly my home. She’d be thrilled with my decision, but first?—
“I want to see where this goes,” Nick mumbled. In the dim rays of the setting sun, he wiggled in his seat, back straightening. He squared his shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. “I want to see where this goes.”
It wasn’t a question. He had declared his intentions.
“I could find a shop in?—”
He covered my mouth. “I’m not making you drive six hours just to find out it won’t work out.” After what happened to him, I understood the sentiment. “You still have business here. You’re not done with Firefly.”
I scoffed.
“Okay, maybe Firefly isn’t done with you.”
I hated the accuracy of his words. “Not yet.” It’s the most I dared to admit. It put a kink in our plans. “Long distance?”
“Think you could survive only seeing this sexy on camera?” This new,confidentversion of Nick continued to surprise me. I’d like to think that since meeting we had both grown. Perhaps we had grown because of the other. That thought made me grin.
“What’s that smirk about?”
“I want to see where this goes, too. If that means seeing you on camera—naked, right? Just so we’re clear.”
His hand rested on my thigh. “So, we’re in agreement? Let’s see what happens?”
More unanswered questions. No, not unanswered. Yet to be discovered.
“Agreed.”
“Should we shake on it?” He held out his hand. There was no chance we were going to seal this deal with a handshake. A handsome man in the woods with nobody around for miles? I had other plans.
