“There’s no such thing as Me-mas.”
“Don’t tell my nieces. They still believe.”
Her gaze fell to his bag, expression softening when she spotted the crackers. “You brought me crackers?”
“Would you have preferred flowers?”
“No.”
He smiled, in relief and fondness. “Good. These are your emotional support snacks.” Jefferson handed them to her. “This is your real present.” Reaching back into the bag, he pulled out a small satin pouch.
After a beat of hesitation, she took it from him, carefully unsnapping the closure to let the contents spill onto her palm. He’d wondered if she would recognize it; the immediate curving of her lips told him she did.
“For me?” She threaded the delicate gold chain through her fingers, letting the pearl they’d found together dangle beneath.
“It always was.”
She blinked hard, brushing at the front of her apron. “I imagined this a little differently. Seeing you again. For some reason I thought I’d be in a ball gown.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. I wasn’t supposed to smell like fried food, either.”
“Do you want me to come back later?”
She grabbed his forearm, holding him in place. A pulse of heat passed from her skin to his. “Don’t leave.”
He took a second to gather himself. “I missed you, Libby.”
“You did?”
“Every day.”
Hesitantly, she raised her eyes to his face. “I thought you were mad. About the lying.”
“I freaked out a little.” He was man enough to admit it. “I was afraid you were playing me. Or I read the signs all wrong. But then I realized that didn’t feel right.”
“And then what did you think?” She was a little breathless, like this was the most suspenseful story she’d ever heard.
“That I should have trusted my gut and stuck around long enough to hear what you had to say.”
“It was kind of a tense moment.”
“I still shouldn’t have run out on you.”
“You came back,” she pointed out, like that evened the slate.
“I couldn’t stay away.”
Her eyes were huge, the afternoon sun turning them the color of a shady creek. “Yeah?”
“It felt like I left part of myself across an ocean.” He touched the place on his chest that had ached for her.
“That sounds painful.”
“It was. But now I can breathe again.”
“Oh.” It was a tiny puff of air, like that was all she could get out. And then she was crashing into him, arms twining around his neck. Jefferson staggered back a step, bumping into the side of the trailer.
