“You’re applying for jobs?”
“Well, I need to make money, don’t I?” She doesn’t look up. “You can’t survive in this world if you don’t work.”
I reach over and turn her phone face down on her thigh.
She looks up, startled.
“Why do you need to work when you’ve got me?”
Her eyes narrow. “I work for myself.”
“That’s fine.” I keep my voice even. “But don’t do it because you need money. Don’t ever do it because you need money.”
She turns to fully face me in the seat. “Grayson, if you know one thing about me, it’s that I don’t like to be dependent on anyone. Not even you.”
I pull off the highway.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to show you something.”
I park where the path forks. Getting out, I come around to her side and open the door before she’s reached for the handle. She lets me help her out.
“Where are we going?”
“Not far.”
The trail is the one I run on most mornings: pine needles soft underfoot, sun coming in slants through the canopy. She walks beside me without questions, glancing up every so often, and I know she’s trying to read me. I keep my mouth shut.
At the second ridge, I stop and turn her by the shoulders to face the clearing.
The lake opens below us, smaller than the one I threw her into, ringed by tall pines. The water is still. A few late birds are working their way along the far bank.
She breathes out softly. “It’s beautiful.”
“All of it is mine.” My voice has gone low. “The trail, both lakes, that ridge over there, the mountain past it. The pack let me buy it five years ago. I own this land, Miranda.”
She is very quiet beside me.
“When you have me, you don’t have to worry about money. You won’t ever need to apply to another hospital because you can’t pay rent. None of that exists for you anymore.”
She turns her head slowly, and her eyes are shining at the edges in a way that has nothing to do with the cold.
“Grayson.” Her voice is careful. “The arrangement between us is temporary. We both agreed.”
“Stop it.”
She freezes.
I take her arms in my hands gently. “Miranda, I’ve told you over and over again how I feel. You keep ignoring it as if it will make my feelings for you fade away.”
Her lips part.
“You know I love you.”
Her breath catches.
“I wouldn’t have gone this far for anybody if I didn’t love them. I wouldn’t let anybody near my son if I didn’t trust them completely. So believe me when I say it.” My jaw works. “I don’twant you to leave. Whatever you need, I can provide. I just want you to stay with me and Ethan.”
