Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“Okay,” I said, and I curled my hand on Jesse’s chest, into his long-sleeved top. I was sure I felt his heart beating fast underneath.
“You sure?” Jesse said, leaning in close.
I nodded, keeping my eyes open until the very last moment, just to be sure this was really happening. Jesse’s woodsy scent wrapped around me first, then his soft lips pressed against mine. In that moment, against the backdrop of the Texan sunrise on an idyllic ranch, I let the warmth of Jesse’s affection cocoon me.
It felt like magic.
All that I had dreamed was nothing compared to the real thing. Jesse’s hand moved to the back of my head, gently holding me against him. I held on tighter to his shirt and embraced every single second of this kiss. My heart swelled, my stomach danced, and my soul sang with joy.
When Jesse pulled back a fraction, breaking the kiss, I brushed my hand against his cheek. No words were spoken, and we both bathed in this newfound closeness, until he whispered, “Write me for you.”
“What?” I whispered back in confusion.
Jesse met my eyes, keeping just an inch from me as he searched them. “Write me for you. In your great love story. Fall for me.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “Allow me to fall for you. Write me for you.”
My pulse raced, as did my breathing. Jesse saying those words… He couldn’t… He didn’t…
“You would want that?” I asked, dumbfounded. Jesse was beautiful inside and out. He was funny and loved by everyone who met him. And he wanted me?
Jesse smiled, and if there had been anything left within me that could have gotten faster, it would have joined the fray. “Junebug, I’m not sure if I’ve made it obvious, but you’ve kind of knocked me off my feet.”
I smiled too.
“I’m kinda obsessed with you.” He held his hands up defensively. “In the most non-stalkerish and non-creepy way possible.”
I laughed loudly, the sound causing birds in the surrounding trees to scatter to the dawn skies. Jesse laughed too as our sweet moment was disturbed by a chorus of shocked avian squawks. When the birds flew away and peace had been restored, I said, “I’m kinda obsessed with you too.”
Jesse’s smile was blinding. He kissed me again, then held up his fist. “Group two for the win,” he said.
“Group two for the win,” I echoed and laid my head against his chest.
Jesse wrapped his arm around me, and I was lost to pure contentment. As I stared at the sun, now high in the sky, the beginning of our love story came to my mind…
When I arrived at Harmony Ranch, I knew it would change my life, just not in the way I expected. I expected to be healed, or I expected to die. What I didn’t expect was to meet a country boy who would utterly change my life…
CHAPTER 9
Jesse
Several days later…
Itapped my foot on the floor as I waited for the truck to come up the driveway. I checked my watch just as the familiar, red, beat-up Chevy came into view.
I pushed myself to my feet. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded—I was exhausted and every part of me ached—but nothing was gonna stop me from greeting my family. I went and opened the ranch’s main doors and made it to the porch just in time for my mom and sisters to reach me. Emily’s and Lucy’s eyes fixed right on me, and like a double tornado, they ran, slamming into my legs and almost knocking me off my feet with the force. I gritted my teeth from the twinge of pain they caused in my hip but hugged them back.
They squeezed me tightly, only for Lucy to tip her head back to see my face and say, “Jesse, you don’t look too good.”
I laughed at her forever-honest reviews of my health. Emily slapped Lucy on the arm, then hugged me more gently. “I’ve missed you,” Emily whispered.
I kissed her on her head. “I missed you too, baby girl.”
I stepped back as my mom walked up. “Sunshine,” she greeted and wrapped her arms around me. The past couple of weeks had been so hard. I’d held it together the best I could, but a hug from my mom had me fighting back tears. She rubbed my back, then pulled back to scan me with her eyes. I could tell she thought I looked awful by her worried expression.
“I’m doing good, I promise, even though it might not look it,” I said. “We get assessed again at the end of the month. Dr. Duncan said there should be markers in our blood already indicating how we’re responding to the treatment.”
“It’s too intense,” Mom said, worrying her lip.
“It is intense, but I can handle it,” I said nonchalantly, and waved them into the ranch to change the discourse. She didn’t need to know about the deep pangs of sadness that hit me more and more each day or about the nights I worried I couldn’t do the treatment anymore. I needed to be strong for my family. They’d been through enough.