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Glancing over her shoulder, Tess’s jaw dropped as Cyrus stalked off to the cash register without a chase. Turning those sparkling blue eyes on me, Tess shook her head. “This really is your day, huh? Even Cyrus is being human.”

“I don’t ask for much,” I shrugged. “This day is one of the few indulgences I really care about. And as much as she likes to hide it, Cyrus is kind of obsessed with me under all of that bristling.”

As I nudged her shoulder, Tess rolled her eyes. “Obsessed is one way to put it.”

There was no hiding the smirk pulling at her lips. As we stepped into the short line for cider, she gazed up at me with a smile. “What makes this place so special, then? Why’s it worth spending your one annual indulgence from Cyrus?”

I took a deep breath, biting back the grin that rose to my face. My instinct was to play with Tess — to keep her dancing around the real answers, to watch how cute she looked when she got flustered, or when she tried to pretend like she was more upset with me than she was.

But instead, I tried to meet her question with the same earnestness she was showing me. “I think in another life, I would have liked living on a farm.”

She cocked a brow, waiting for me to elaborate. And when I didn’t, a small scoff puffed past her lips. “That’s the whole reason?”

I nodded. “What other reason would there be?”

In my head, it had always made perfect sense. Being raised by wolves in an abandoned amusement park, it was only natural to imagine what other lives we might have led. And while wild west cowboy had always been at the top of mine, farmer was a close second. It felt like a spiritual sibling.

But as Tess tilted her head, I did my best to elaborate. “I mean, farmers get to work with their hands — no boring, stuffy office work. There’s a degree of freedom to that, an ability to be myself. And the work they do is super important. I think I also like the simplicity of it though. It’s hard work, no doubt, but also straightforward. I like how earnest it is. And if I had my own farm, just think about how much time I’d get to spend with all the cute farm animals.”

“I bet Butch would love being a barn cat.” She smiled, eyes wide with amusement. “Do you think I could visit you on your farm?”

“Visit?” I wrapped my arms around her from behind, pulling her close against my chest. “You’d be my farm wife.”

“Farm wife?” She laughed, hair rustling against my shoulder as she peered up at me. “What does that entail?”

“Whatever you’d want it to. You could help me look after the property, plan the crops, cook us some delicious meals.”

“Cooking is definitely more Nash’s forte,” she laughed.

“Okay fine, Nash would probably want to do most of the cooking still.”

“And Cyrus?” Tess raised a brow.

“She could clean the stables.” The idea of Cyrus’ clothes all muddy made me laugh.

“She’d kill you if she heard that.”

“Good thing she’s not here to hear it then.”

We stepped forward in the line, one spot away from ordering. The delicious sweet scent of apples and sugar wafted out from the kitchen. Fresh donuts and hot cider were already pumping out in a steady stream, and my mouth watered at just the thought of that first taste.

Rocking on her heels, Tess looked back up at me. “You think we’d all still be together? Even in another world?”

“Of course we would.” I locked eyes with her, rubbing her shoulders. “Heaven or hell, this life or the next, I would find you three in any timeline.”

Her wide smile nearly knocked the wind from my lungs. Turning to hug me, she nuzzled her face against my chest. “I like the sound of that. And maybe next time, you can come looking for me first?”

“Deal,” I murmured, planting a kiss against her scalp.

As Tess pulled back to look up at me, I could see the whole universe in her eyes. She was everything to me: every spark of wonder the universe had to offer. And somehow, I’d lucked into holding all of that magic in my arms.

I leaned in, pressing my lips tenderly to hers. In any lifetime, I think I could have died happily like this. But luckily for me, my time with Tess was only just getting started in this one.

“Next!” the cider stand cashier called out. As we stepped forward, fingers intertwined, I could have sworn there was a slight blush on her cheeks. But it wasn’t until we left the stand with four hot ciders, a dozen donuts, and a to-go bottle on the house that I realized just how taken with us she was.

As we walked back to meet up with Cyrus and Nash, Tess nudged me with a grin. “She really liked you. Whaddaya think, looking for a fifth?”

“I think we’ve got enough on our hands with just you,” I grinned. “Besides, if she was into anyone, it was you.”