Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
“What?” My eyes snapped to his, my tears forgotten. “How could you worry about that?”
“Uh, because you haven’t told me you love me yet?”
“Oh!” God, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t said the words out loud, despite how hard I’d been thinking them for months. “I love you! I love you so much. Of course I do.” My cheeks ached from the size of my grin. I didn’t think. I didn’t stop to worry or doubt or second-guess. I just moved. My hands were on him, pulling him closer, and then I kissed him—hard and desperate, like I needed him to feel everything I’d just confessed.
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, but all I could hear was the sound of Lane’s breath mixing with mine. It was the kind of kiss we’d remember years from now when we thought back to the Entwinin’ declaration we’d made.
When we finally broke apart, Lane was smiling at me like I was the only thing in the world he wanted. Like I was the prettiest peacock in the flock. Like I was the one he’d chosen.
People surged around us. Their comments ranged from speculation that we’d simply been overcome by the spirit of the season to comments like Pete’s “It’s about damned time.” I didn’t have much care about any of that since I was too busy soaking in the commitment Lane had made by ensuring his declaration was so public, so permanent that I’d truly believe it.
“I have a confession,” I whispered. “I, uh… I don’t just work at the Suds Barn. I… I kinda own the place?”
Lane’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yeah. Long story, and I promise I’ll tell you all of it, but—”
“Oh, who cares about that?” Ava Siegel said, waving a hand in the air while holding a baby on her hip with the other. “We’re so happy you two found each other!”
Amos tilted his chin down. “While I can think of a better way of declaring your love in this town, I have to say I’m happy to have a vet in the family, yes I am. Old Clarabelle isn’t carrying her letter boards the way she used—”
“Oh, hush,” Grandma said, grinning at us as she tucked her hand into Amos’s elbow. “We’re pleased as punch to have you in the family, Lane, because you’re you. And Jaybird deserves someone who recognizes how special he is. Even if you don’t know how to twine a wreath worth a dang. Is that a butterfly? Because it’s missing antennae.”
His eyes never moving from my face, Lane pressed his lips together like he was trying not to laugh.
Ava stepped closer and looked at the mangled bow tie wreath.
I blinked. Now that she mentioned it… it did kind of look like a butterfly without antennae. “Huh,” I said, turning it around. “It’s multifaceted.”
Amos tsk’d. “It’s a right mess is what it is. You need to give that boy some lessons in twinin’ a vine, Jaybird. He needs some help.”
In the circle of my arms, Lane’s shoulders shook like he was about to erupt with laughter.
“I like him just the way he is,” I assured him.
Amos shrugged. “Eh, suit yourself,” he said before wandering off, asking Grandma what kind of discount he should expect on the friends and family plan at the clinic and whether or not his “new grandson” Doc Lane would do a bulk deal on bovine house calls.
Lane lost the battle he’d been waging and laughed out loud. The pure joy of the sound made me feel even giddier than I already was.
Still, I couldn’t help asking, “You sure you’re ready for this, Lane?”
As the noise of the festival wrapped around us again, Lane leaned in, his forehead resting against mine. “You’re stuck with me now,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around my neck.
And despite growing up in Licking Thicket, despite loving every single thing about the place and never doubting for an instant that this was where I belonged… with Lane’s arms around me, for the first time, I truly felt like I’d found my home.
Epilogue
Jay
I put the finishing touches on the mural and stood back to admire the finished product. Bright, jewel-toned colors spread out in a fan across the far wall of the nursery. Lane was going to lose his mind when I finally revealed it to him.
Even though we’d only been married for eight months, we’d been together for two and a half years. It felt like longer in some ways, and in others, it felt like we’d only just met.
The way my stomach still clenched when he walked in a room, the look in his eyes when he noticed me staring at him in the morning—because watching the man sleep never got old—and the fact I still learned something new about him every day made it feel like we were still new together. But then there was the deep, long-term knowing that sometimes made me wonder if we’d been together so long it had spanned multiple lifetimes.