“And you’ll what, chase me every time?”
“If I have to.” He pulls back just enough to look at me. “But I’d rather you just talked to me instead. Radical concept, I know.”
A laugh escapes me.
“I’ll try. I can’t promise I’ll be perfect, but I’ll try.”
“That’s all I’m asking.” He kisses my forehead. “Now can we please go home? Your mom is worried and I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.”
Home. The word settles into my chest like a key finding its lock.
“The wedding is in three days,” I say.
“I know.”
“You’re the best man. I’m doing the flowers. We’re going to have to see each other constantly.”
“Tragic.” His mouth quirks. “However will we cope?”
I rise up on my toes and kiss him. Right there in the cemetery, next to my father’s headstone,with Ruffy trying to wedge himself between our legs. It’s not romantic-movie perfect. But it’s us.
When I pull back, I glance at Dad’s grave.
“He would have liked you,” I say. “My dad. He would have said you were too stubborn to give up on me.”
“Smart man.”
“He really was.”
We walk back to the cars together. Ruffy bounds ahead, tail wagging, clearly relieved the humans have sorted themselves out.
“I’ll follow you back,” Levi says.
“You don’t trust me not to take the wrong exit?”
“Your Honda might break down somewhere in the mountains.” He opens my door for me. “Plus, someone needs to make sure you actually go home instead of finding another cemetery to hide in.”
“There’s only one cemetery with my father in it.”
“That you know of. You seem like the type to have backup graveyards.”
I laugh, a real laugh this time, and climb into the car.
Ruffy settles into the passenger seat. He gives me a look that clearly says,Finally. Can we go home now?
“Yeah,” I tell him. “We’re going home.”
I watch Levi walk to his truck in my rearview mirror. He catches me looking, waves once, and climbs in.
Someone who showed up anyway.
I start the car. The check engine light glows. The mysterious smell wafts from the back seat.
But nothing else is the same.
I’m not running anymore.
TWENTY-FOUR
