Page 67 of Lost in You

I just gape at him, words escaping me.

“We’ve got forty acres. Plenty of room for anything we want.”

“Linc...I’m...stunned.”

His smile slides away. “Is it a good stunned?”

“I don’t know. I’m overwhelmed.”

The light fades from his eyes and an ache forms in my chest. I crushed his excitement. I take one of his hands in both of mine.

“Look, I just need some time to process this. Until last night, I didn’t even know if you wanted anything with me. And now you tell me you bought a ranch in Wyoming?”

“I thought you’d love it. You don’t have to think about money ever again because I saved a lot and invested well. I’m renaming the ranch Shining Light because that’s what you are to me.”

I don’t have a choice about it—I cry. I never imagined anyone would do something like this for me. Feel so deeply for me. And I feel just as deeply for him.

I wipe tears from my cheeks and smile at him. “You are the worst communicator ever. I still adore you, though.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

I laugh a single note. “This is definitely a surprise.”

He sighs heavily. “You’re not happy.”

“No, Linc. It’s not that.” I squeeze his hand. “My last boyfriend wanted to split the check when we went to dinner. No one has ever done anything remotely close to this for me. I am happy. I’m just also shocked.”

He cups one of my cheeks in his hand. “When I was back on the road with my team, I kept wishing I was back at the cabin with you. I want us to have a life where we can wake up every day and do what we love. Cook. Dance. Read. Take a dozen dogs for a walk. Start a garden. And, since I’ve already shocked you, I might as well go ahead and add that I’ve changed my thoughts on having kids. I thought I didn’t want kids, but...I called my dad and he was happy to hear from me. He wants to have a relationship with me.”

“I’m so happy to hear that.” My voice is thick with emotion.

“It’s not just that, it’s also...I hadn’t met anyone I wanted any of this with until you. A home and a life and a family. It would be really fucking ironic if I finally found you and you don’t feel the same way.”

A fresh round of tears floods from my eyes. “Of course I feel the same way. I was just so sure there was no way for us to be together.”

His lips quirk up in a smile. “After the cabin, there’s no way for us not to be together, Trin. Not for me. I always thought my purpose was hockey, but now my purpose is you. Us.”

I kiss him, my mind still spinning from the news. “And we don’t have to move immediately, right? Like that could be our plan for the future? Because I have my work, and you’re retiring, so you could move here.”

He opens his mouth to speak, then closes it again.

“What?” My heart races as my anxiety starts setting in.

“I mean...we’ll need to talk about things, but I was hoping we could move there soon.”

We aren’t even engaged. Twenty-four hours ago, I didn’t even know he wanted to be with me. And now he’s asking me to give up everything I know to start a new life with him.

I’ve never been late for work in my life, and no matter how much I want to be here having this conversation with him, I can’t be late on the day our CEO is coming.

“I’m so sorry, but I have to take a quick shower and get to work. Can we talk later?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“When will I see you again?”

He considers. “I’ll be at the ranch for a few days getting work plans figured out. Then I have to go back to Minneapolis and get my house there listed and hire movers.”

I sigh softly. “So not for a while.”