Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 97053 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97053 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“Jack!” I call.
He’s out of the car, striding toward me like he’s going to mow me down.
“Jack,” I say, my voice soft. It’s so good to see him, it feels like I’m going to erupt, with emotion. Anger that he left me. Relief that he’s safe. Bliss that he’s here.
All of it.
I can feel everything now that he’s here.
He’s so handsome, but he looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.
He cups my face as he gets to me. Our faces are wet as we gaze at each other.
“You’re here,” he says.
“I was looking for you,” I say, gazing up at him. Seeing him again doesn’t hurt, it heals something in me. His jaw, his perfectly shiny hair, his now-sad eyes. I’ve missed him so much.
His eyes narrow in confusion. I press my hands on his chest, wanting to feel him, to make sure he’s real, wanting him to understand that I’m right here, staring at him.
“Your mom’s sitting at our kitchen table.”
“She’s in Star Falls?”
I nod. “She was worried about you.”
His gaze hardens, but he doesn’t say anything.
“And I was worried about you when I heard you were missing. I couldn’t get hold of Juniper.”
“I just wanted to get away,” he says. “To think.”
“Think?” I ask.
“About everything. About how I’m supposed to live the rest of my life miserable without you.”
“Maybe you aren’t,” I say on a whisper.
“I don’t want to live the life that my mother wants me to.”
“What do you want?” I ask.
He blinks and then his eyes meet mine, and they’re so sad. So hopeless. And the pull towards him is too strong. I can’t help hold him. I want to make this better for him, even if in the long term, it makes my pain last longer.
“I love you,” he chokes out.
The words chase my breath from my lungs. They’re the last thing I expected him to say. But they hit like the Colorado rain—making everything fresh and green and perfect.
His confession brings me to life. It makes me believe that life can be good. That life is just about perfect. Jack being here means everything is where it should be.
It’s like he’s placed a glass slipper on my foot. And it fits.
Perfectly.
My prince came back.
“I love you too.” I gaze up at him, not wanting the moment to end.
“I think I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you at the ballet.”
It’s like we’re encircled in a warm blanket and immune to the freezing November rain. With Jack here, nothing can be anything but perfect.
My lips curve into a smile. “How could you love me when we hadn’t even met?”
“I don’t know, but I did. And now that I’ve been lucky enough to know you, everything has changed.” He pauses. “Maybe it hasn’t changed, maybe I’ve just seen things differently. I can’t accept the things I thought I could. I don’t want the destiny mapped out for me…
“I want more.
“I want you. I want to move to Colorado and help you and Bray with the farm. I don’t want to have a life without you.”
I close my eyes, trying to commit what he’s saying to memory. Moments like these are the ones poets write about. The ones that live on forever when committed to paper and lovers read to each other for generations.
I open my eyes and smile. “Actually, I’m not going to be working on the farm for much longer. I’m showing Marnie my job, and she’s going to be taking over. Dad wants to start the frozen fruit brand, and I think he and Bray are going to be working on that together.”
His completely confused expression makes me laugh.
“You haven’t been gone long, but you’ve missed a lot.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
I shrug. “Dad wants me to figure out what I want to do.”
“American History?”
“You know, I don’t think so. But I’m not sure what’s going to take its place. Oh, and Dad’s throwing me out of our house. So I don’t have anywhere to live either.” I laugh to myself. I’m nearly thirty and about to have nowhere to live and no job.
Jack shifts so he’s facing me. “You want to stay in Colorado?” he asks, urgency in his tone.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really had time to think about it.” I sweep raindrops from his brows. “All I know is that I want you. Do you want to stay in New York?”
“I want to be anywhere you are.”
His words melt in my chest like ice against a flame. I nod. “Same.”
“I should have never ended things,” Jack says. “I’ve been so stupid. I thought it was for the best. That I was being selfish by trying to figure out a life together. I thought I’d be asking you to make too many compromises. My mother said I was selfish, that you’d face too much nastiness back in New York. Too much gossip and sniping.”