by Noelle Adams
“I love you.” She breathed the words into his t-shirt and he took another deep breath. “I’m sorry. I hope that the meeting goes well.”
He turned. She smiled up at him. Yeah, she loved him. He cupped her face in his hands. “I’m just exploring options.”
“I know. I’m excited. But I’m nervous, too.” She fluttered her hands around her head, as if warding something off. “It’s so much to think about. And I want to focus on you. Just you. Right here, with me, for a week.”
“I want more than a week.”
She gripped his hands and pulled herself up, silencing him with a quick kiss. “Make coffee, my man. I gotta go.”
He grinned. He liked the sound of that. Her man. Yes, he was. And would be forever. But the logistics of making that happen mattered, and if Laney didn’t want to think about the details, he’d take it all on himself.
She opened the door to a bouquet of delicious aromas. Sautéed onion and garlic, sweet sausage, and apples and cinnamon. “Honey, I’m home!” She made the appropriate noises of appreciation on her way past the kitchen to dump her bag at her desk, then padded into her closet to change into comfy clothes.
“What’s your poison?” Kyle appeared in the bedroom doorway holding an oversized goblet of red wine and a bottle of beer.
Laney grinned, took the wine glass with both hands and tipped it to her mouth. “Mmmmm. You spoil me.”
He leaned in for a kiss, and she shared the taste of the baco noir with him. “And you smile at me, and kiss me like that, and it hardly seems like a fair trade.”
“What’s for dinner?”
“Sausage, white beans and kale.” Her stomach growled, and he chuckled. “I’m glad you approve. And I picked up an apple crisp for dessert.”
“See? Spoiled.” She set her wine down on her dresser, wrapped her arms around his neck and licked the triangle of skin exposed by his partially unbuttoned dress shirt. “I’m looking forward to more of this house husband luxury once school is out for the summer.”
He slid his hand into his pocket and rolled the thin platinum band between his index finger and thumb. He couldn’t have planned a better segue himself. He drifted a light kiss across her mouth and moved his lips to her ear. “I like the sound of that.”
She arched her back, pillowing her breasts against his chest. “Husband?”
“Mmmm. And summer.”
“Too bad it’ll only be for two months, but—”
“—It doesn’t need to be—”
“—it’s really for the best that we don’t rush anything, right?”
Kyle left the ring in his pocket, and shifted back with a sigh. Now was clearly not the right time. He kissed her again, but this time it was perfunctory, a transition out of the conversation. “Come on, let’s eat.”
Laney trailed behind him. He could feel confusion radiating off her at his abrupt change in tone, but given how his day had gone, he wasn’t sure he’d have the upper hand in that argument—logic and reason weren’t on his side. And that was the kicker. It wasn’t that Laney didn’t want him to live with her. She just wouldn’t ask him to give up his career, and apparently, her concern had been well placed. And since she was the smartest person he’d ever met, he was pretty sure that it would only take her another few minutes to figure that out.
“Hey, how was your day?” Apparently not even a few minutes. “I’m sorry, I should have asked first thing.”
Instead of answering, he busied himself filling bowls and finding cutlery.
“Kyle?”
He took his time settling their dinner out at the island, then leaned one hip against the counter and crossed his arms. He was disappointed, but it didn’t change anything, so there was no reason to overstate the situation. “It turns out that it’ll be a challenge to get hired here as an elementary teacher.” He tried to wave Laney off as she sucked in a breath and moved toward him, arms outstretched. “Sweetheart, it’s fine.”
“No, it’s not.” She squeezed him hard around the middle. “I’m sorry. Again. This is why I didn’t want you to rush into moving here. We can do the long distance thing for a while, and I’ll see what I can do about maybe organizing a winter locum in Detroit or London. And we’ll hire an immigration lawyer.”
“No. No more half measures. No more waiting. The back and forth is fine for the short term, but I feel like I’m holding my breath for twelve days at a time. That’s not how I want to live my life.”
Laney hated that her mind immediately reminded her she’d heard similar words before. It wasn’t the same thing. Kyle wasn’t leaving her. He wanted to move to Chicago in a few months like a short-sighted fool in love, didn’t he? She was the one putting the brakes on, slowing their relationship down. Had she sent mixed signals?
She’d been dodging this discussion for too long. Time to put on her big girl panties. “Okay, I’m listening. How do you want to live your life?”
“Can we eat dinner first? You’re starving.”
She stomped her foot and he grinned. “Okay, dinner can wait. Let’s go sit on the couch.”
He tugged her into his lap and squeezed her arm. It felt like reassurance, and she relaxed against his chest. His heartbeat was slow and strong, as always. “First of all, I love you. So fucking much.” She smiled into his neck. “I felt that. Laney, I know that I didn’t choose you a long time ago, but you gotta know that from now on, there’s nothing else that matters to me. First priority for me is spending every night in our bed, every morning making your coffee and every evening sharing dinner with you.”
“And what about work?”
He sighed. “Yeah. I love teaching. Love it. Used to think that I lived for it. But it looks like I might need to take a break for a little while.”
“So you want to come here and what?” She pushed herself up and turned to straddle him. She had been kidding about the house husband thing, but maybe that could work. “You’re social enough, I’m sure you’d find something to do, but…”
“I’m not asking you to support me, Laney. I’ve got savings.” The look on his face was priceless, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Oh god, no, that’s not where I was going! Although that wouldn’t be a problem, at all—seriously, you don’t think I’d care about that?” He shrugged and she smacked him lightly on the shoulder. “Kyle! What’s mine is yours and all that jazz. No, I meant…I don’t want you to regret this.” I don’t want you to resent me. “Are you still going to be happy being a house husband a few years down the road?”
“Oh sweetheart, I don’t think it’s going to come to that.” He laughed and stroked her cheek. “As much as I would love to be at your beck and call, I’ve got a new plan.”
“But I thought you said that it would be difficult to get hired.”
He nodded. “That’s why I’m going back to school.” He wiggled his hand under her thigh and pulled something from his pocket. “After my meeting, I dropped in at the university. Turns out they have a pretty decent Faculty of Education.”
Something bright sparked in her chest and she sat a little straighter. “And—“
“And the admissions officer thought I’d probably be a good fit for their M.Sc. program.”
She squealed and flung herself on top of him. “That’s brilliant. Totally perfect. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that—you are going to be the hottest grad student on campus. I’m going to buy you a backpack.”
He chuckled into her hair. “I already have a backpack.”
“This one’s going to have Laney’s Boyfriend embroidered on it so all the coeds know to keep their mitts off of you.”
He hugged her tight, then eased her off his lap.
She moved back toward their dinner, but turned when she realized he wasn’t following. It took her a second to process why he was kneeling in the space between the couch and the coffee table.
“Kyle?” She breathed his name, her voice filled with hope and longing, and she didn’t care because even
though she should have gotten it before, even though he’d shown her in deed and told her in word, now she really knew that this was forever. And she didn’t care about being a cliché, not one little bit.
“Laney.” In contrast, his voice was rich and deep, loaded with confidence. But there was hope too, they shared that, and hearing all of that in just her name, the tears started. “Oh sweetheart, if you cry, you’re not going to hear the good part.”
“It’s all pretty good,” she whispered, stepping closer to take his outstretched hand.
“Delaney Calhoun, I’ve loved you since the seventh grade. I’m an idiot, so I didn’t realize it until I was twenty-two, and then I let you go, a bonehead move that I will always regret. You went on an amazing journey, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to support you. You didn’t need it, of course, but damn…I wish I hadn’t missed it. I don’t want to miss anything else. I want to be your rock. Your forever. You’re already mine. So I’m here now, on bended knee, asking you to be my wife.”
She was nodding before the ring magically appeared in his other hand, and he grinned as big fat tears fell on the sparkling solitaire.
“Will you marry me, Laney?”
The nodding and crying continued as she sank to her knees and he wrapped himself around her. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes! Oh my god, yes.” She kissed him hard on the mouth, then pulled back and bit her lip. “The backpack label will have to change.”
He sat back on his knees and she climbed on top of him again. Dinner was going to have to wait a bit longer.
Epilogue
Cars lined the road between Evening Lane Farm and the school house, and probably stretched just as far again on the other side.
“How many people do you think are over there?” Laney peeked out the window, looking toward her mother’s house.
Kyle came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Too many. Let’s stay here and get naked instead.”
“It’s our engagement party. Our absence would probably be noticed.”
“It’ll go all night. We’ve got some time.” He nuzzled her neck and she turned in the circle of his arms. “We’re packing, it’s a decent excuse.”
Most of his clothes were already in Chicago. The furniture was all staying. They were keeping the school house so they’d have a private place to stay when visiting. “No one will believe it. You don’t have that much stuff.”
Claire and Eleanor had wanted to throw a huge party right after they got engaged, but since Kyle and Laney only had two weekends together each month, their mothers agreed to wait until the summer. Evening Lane was the obvious location. The boat was moved out of the barn to make room for a potluck lunch, and it seemed like everyone in the county had been invited.
They decided to walk over, as the closest parking spot was their own driveway, and a shiny black sports car had just blocked in Kyle’s pickup truck anyway.
“You made it, you bastard! I thought you were in France.” Kyle stepped forward and clapped Ty on the shoulder as they shook hands.
“Wouldn’t miss your engagement party, man. This is a big deal.” Their driveway interloper turned and flashed a brilliant smile in her direction. “Laney Calhoun, it’s been a long time. Congratulations.”
She returned the smile. “Thank you. I hear business is booming. Nice ride.”
He clapped his hands together and hooted. “Ain’t she, though? Just picked her up yesterday. A little bonus for selling out our subscription this year.”
The men talked shop on the walk up the road, and Laney listened with one ear. But the rest of her attention drifted to her surroundings, this place of big skies, dusty roads, fields filled with tall stalks of corn and endless rows of soybeans. There were probably two hundred people ahead at the farm, and she could hear them, but she could also hear the scuff of her boot against gravel, the hearty laughs of her fiancée and then right in front of her, a white butterfly fluttered by and she would swear she heard its wings.
Wardham would always be the home in her heart. But her heart had found a home in the man ahead of her, and with the dog loping along at his feet. As if he knew she was thinking about him, Buddy turned as if to tell her to hurry up, and she laughed quietly to herself. Her life before had been good. Nice. Pleasant. But now…it was so much better. It was real and sweet and complicated and precious.
Kyle entwined his fingers into hers as they arrived at the farm. Ted climbed on top of the picnic table and clinked his beer bottle with his keys. Everyone else joined in, making noise with whatever they had in their hands, and Kyle swept Laney into a kiss that would normally make church ladies blush, but today was greeted with cheers. He raised his hand, and the crowd quieted.
“Thank you all, so much. It means a lot to Laney and me that everyone is so happy about our engagement.”
“When’s the wedding?” someone catcalled from the back of the crowd.
Kyle laughed and shook his head. “I’m trying to convince my bride to run away with me to Jamaica for that. If our mothers have anything to say about it, I’m sure it will be right here, next summer.”
A few people murmured about hurrying up, and Laney stiffened. She didn’t want to get into twenty questions about when they were going to have children. Kyle stroked her back and smiled. “There’s no hurry, folks. I’m really enjoying being engaged to this beautiful woman, finally—” cheers sounded loudly to that pronouncement “—and when we exchange vows, it’ll be when it’s right for us.”
Claire was the first to hug the bride-to-be, which started a chain reaction that suspiciously resembled a receiving line. An hour later, Laney had talked to almost everyone there. A few people tucked envelopes of money into her pocket, which she found quite touching, and no one asked the baby question.
She made her way to the barn, her stomach growling. She’d seen people walking around with plates of Mrs. Frid’s secret meatballs, and she hoped there were some left. Ted was there, along with a handsome young man.
“Laney, have you met Liam yet?” She’d just forked a meatball into her mouth, so she shook her head. “My sister’s boy. He’s come to stay with me for the summer. He’s looking to buy property here.”
Liam shook his head and laughed. “Uncle Ted, you gotta stop introducing me as a boy.”
She chuckled and accepted his outstretched hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Congratulations. I’ve heard a lot about you, and your family.”
“Thanks. Have you met my mom and my sister yet? They’re both around…” Laney swiveled her head in vain. “They’re somewhere. What kind of property are you looking for?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll know when I see it. Maybe a duplex, something I could fix up and rent out.”
She felt Kyle approach before he spoke. “Hey, you must be Ted’s nephew.”
“Word travels fast, eh?” Liam nodded.
“Mrs. Wilson told me that the young newcomer was hitting on my woman.”
Laney smacked Kyle lightly on the stomach. “I told you not to call me that in public.”
He growled in her ear, and she grinned at the other two men. “Excuse me, gentlemen, I need to have a word with my fiancée.” She laid a quick kiss on Kyle’s jaw. “But first, I need to eat something.”
They loaded up plates of food and settled on straw bales just outside the barn.
“This is overwhelming,” Laney said, taking in the celebration. “There’s a lot of love in this town.”
“There’s a lot of love on this straw bale too,” Kyle murmured.
“I’m being serious.” He shot her a look that said, So am I. She didn’t doubt it for a second. He’d proven his love for her many times over the last few months, even though he didn’t need to. “Aren’t you going to miss this place, though?”
He took a long, slow drink of beer. She appreciated that he didn’t blow off the question. It’s not like Chicago had ever been his dream. He was leaving almost all of his life goals behind when the
y headed out tomorrow.
“If we never came back again, then I’d miss it. If this was the last Wardham potluck for me, I’d be sad. But we’ll be back for holidays and the odd vacation.”
“Not every vacation?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m being serious now too, Laney. Our next vacation isn’t going to be shared with our family, or spent driving between Chicago and Wardham. You want to know what I’m excited about?” Her breath caught in her throat. She did, she really did. He took another sip of beer and gave her a smoldering look. “You. A string bikini. A private beach.”
She bit her lip. “That sounds perfect.”
“I’m telling you, sweetheart…Jamaica. Or Hawaii. I’m not picky. We don’t need to tell them.” He nodded toward their mothers. “Let them plan a big party. Let’s just go away and get married, just the two of us.”
He slid his lips across hers and she nodded. His plans were always the best.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed Laney and Kyle’s story. If you did, please share this book with a friend, and share a review with the world—on Goodreads, at the e-store you bought this copy…everywhere! If you sign up for my mailing list, you’ll be the first to receive an opportunity to read my next book, in advance of publication. Visit www.zoeyork.com and sign up today! While you are there, check out the links to the other books in the Wardham series.
Carrie and Ian in Between Then and Now…their story didn’t start with a fairytale romance, and their marriage wasn’t chosen for love. But they still chose each other, time and again.
Karen and Paul in Where Their Hearts Collide…she’s the heart of a small town, and he’s an island of one, determined to start over again and focus on what really matters this time. But she’s everywhere he goes, and always in his thoughts. Too bad she’s decided to finally set off on a grand adventure.
And coming in the Spring of 2014: Evie and Liam. One anonymous night together will change their future forever.
