Page 33 of The Cowboy Who Came Home

“Ready.”

Chapter Ten

Edith suddenly didn’t know how to exist inside her own skin. She couldn’t make her thoughts settle as Finn found a parking spot next to the park on Main Street. They hadn’t spoken much since leaving his grandparent’s house, because honestly, Edith had no idea what to say.

It felt like letting Levi’s name out of her mouth had brought him back to life somehow. All she could think about was the things they’d done together. Walks through parks much bigger than the one she currently looked at. Finding all the dessert shops in the city. Laughing and learning about one another. Holding hands and kissing and falling in love.

Oh, how she’d loved falling in love with Levi.

She glanced over to Finn, who looked straight out the windshield. He turned toward her and gave her a handsome smile. “What’s in your head right now?”

She smiled, because she’d forgotten that he used to ask her this. And she had to tell him the truth.

“You’re hesitating,” he said.

“I’m embarrassed,” she said. “I feel like I’ve thrown ice water all over our spark.”

He leaned his head back against the rest behind him. “We have a spark?”

Edith rolled her eyes. “If we don’t, why’d you ask me out?”

“Probably because you’re so pretty,” he said. “And all those sparks I felt when I saw you standing on the sidewalk.”

“Mm, right.” She turned toward the park to get out of the truck. “Should we go get some ice cream to cool off?”

“Yep.” He met her at the corner of the truck. “I’d have gotten your door.”

She met his eyes, all the vulnerability inside her doubling and then tripling.

“Edith,” he said softly. “You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about.” He took her hand and squeezed, and Edith sank into the touch of his skin against hers.

“I love holding hands,” she whispered as he turned and fell to her side. “It’s so simple, and yet it makes me feel so warm. It makes me feel like I belong somewhere, to someone.” She shook her head, her emotions once again teetering on the edge of tears. “It’s silly, I’m sure.”

“It’s not silly,” he said. “I haven’t held someone’s hand in a long time.” They walked along slowly, as if they didn’t have a care in the world. “It feels really nice.”

Edith smiled to herself as some of her humiliation started to bleed away. “You’ll tell me what you think about…all of it, won’t you?”

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to think,” he said. “I mean, I dated people too over the years. Nothing as serious as an engagement, but I don’t—I don’t know what I’m supposed to think.”

Edith wasn’t sure what she wanted him to say either. They walked to the corner to the light so they could cross the street, and she finally landed on a thought and found enough courage to look at him. “Finn, you’re such a handsome man.” She smiled at him, liking the bright fire of life in his eyes. “You’re so sweet, and so good, and I guess I just want to know that I haven’t ruined us before we even know if we can be us.”

He reached up and covered her hand against the side of his face. “You haven’t ruined anything.”

She wanted to hug him, because she sought comfort through physical touch, so she eased into his arms. A thrill moved through her, and then she simply sank into his strength. “Thank you, Finn.”

“I never get enough hugs,” he whispered. “This might surprise you, but the Army isn’t known for being touchy-feely.”

Edith giggled, the sound releasing more of her tension and embarrassment, and she pulled back and looked up at him. “Are you touch-starved too?”

“Is that a thing?”

“It’s absolutely a real thing,” she said. “They mostly study it in infants who’ve been abandoned, but it can happen to anyone.” She leaned back into his chest, wrapping her arms around him tightly again. “As you can imagine, Alex isn’t the super huggy type.”

He said nothing, but he held her just as tightly as she held him. “Please don’t worry about what you said tonight. It’s not like you could’ve kept him a secret from me forever, and my job in the Army was literally to think of and ask all the hard questions.”

Edith’s heart felt like a block of ice for a single beat, and then she melted to his side. “I’m sure that’s true.”

“What does that mean?”

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