The distraction had been nice while it lasted. River’s nerves flooded back in all at once. She took a slow breath, smiled at her friends, and opened the door.
Mathew stole the air right out of her lungs.
He was wearing a pair of dark blue slacks and a white button-down that was open at the collar, with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. He was clean-shaven, his hair brushed back, and his hazel eyes took her in like he hadn’t seen her in years instead of days.
“Hey,” he said, low and warm.
“Hey,” she whispered back.
“Well, have fun on your date,” Emerson announced as he slipped past them and headed down the stairs. Rose followed more quietly, but not before squeezing River’s hand.
“You ready?” Mathew asked.
River nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
And they left.
Mathew drove her to a secluded picnic area that had been transformed with strings of lights suspended from poles he had clearly set up himself. A blanket lay spread over the grass beside a basket and a bucket of ice holding sparkling cider. It wasromantic in a way that would have embarrassed her to admit she liked as much as she did.
River didn’t trust herself to speak when he asked what she thought, so she simply wandered toward the blanket and sat down.
That was when she saw them.
The flowers.
A fresh arrangement of the same unusual blooms he’d given her on the day everything had gone wrong.
By all rights, the sight of them should have dragged her straight back to that awful moment.
Instead, as her fingertips brushed the edge of one petal, all she felt was hope.
She felt him staring at her, uncertain.
She glanced up with a small smile. “Did I ever tell you that these are my favorite?”
His brows rose. “They are? I’d never even seen them before that…” He didn’t have to finish that statement. Before that day. River shook her head, returning her gaze to the bouquet.
“Me neither.”
“But you just said…”
A quiet laugh escaped her. “Theybecamemy favorite, after that day.” Her eyes lifted to his again, and so much seemed to pass between them without a single word. “I don’t think I ever really told you about my childhood.”
“Yes, you did, you told me you were in the foster system.”
“I told you that part, yes.” She drew in a slow breath. “But I never told you how it affected me.”
Mathew sat down across from River, giving her his full attention.
“I was three when I was abandoned,” she said. “Eventually, they found my parents, and surprise, they didn’t want me.” The words still hurt, even now. “After that, I got passed around fromhouse to house, and somewhere along the way I started to realize I was always the outsider. The temporary one. The one people could live without.”
Her throat tightened, but she pushed through it.
“I spent most of my life being put last. Foster families, jobs, people in general… there was never anything that felt safe enough to build around.” She looked at him then, forcing herself not to look away. “Not until you.”
He sucked in a quiet breath.
River blinked back the sting in her eyes. “I’m telling you this because I need you to understand me. I need you to understand why it was so hard to let you in.” Her voice shook, but she didn’t stop. “And when work kept pulling you away, and then your ex showed up…” She took a steadying breath. “Every fear I’ve ever had came rushing back.”
