Page 186 of Catch the Sun

Guilt gnaws at me, knowing how much he craved waking up beside me in my bed. How much he yearned to watch that golden light spill in through my open window and bring us a little bit of warmth.

“Max,” I choke out, my arms drawing up to link around his shoulder. “Stay.”

He smiles as he guides me to the bed, scattering kisses along my hairline as we kick off our boots. I pull him down with me, flipping off the lamp until we’re only illuminated by the candles’ low light, and I reach for the white stonesitting on my bedside table.

We snuggle up, side by side, his hand resting on the small of my back, under my sweater, and my face pressed to his chest. I inhale deeply, my soul filling with pine needles and fresh mint, with another life and a new life flickering on the horizon in every hue of orange.

Our legs tangle beneath the blankets as my eyes drift closed. Before peace carries me away, I whisper into the silence, “Max?”

He holds me tighter. “Hmm?”

A playful smile hints as I lift my arm slightly and flex my bicep. “We never did have that arm-wrestling match.”

I feel his chest rumble against me, a soft laugh teasing the quiet. Max finds my lips for a lingering kiss before he breathes out, “That’s because I was never bored when I was with you.”

He stays until morning.

He’s there when the sun crests and a new day dawns.

We sleep past sunrise, but when my drowsy, dream-kissed eyes flutter open in the glimmering daylight, his face is the first thing I see as I come back to life, wrapped up in his strong arms, while my precious white stone is fisted in my hand.

And it’s just as good as every golden sunrise.

It’s better.

Chapter 46

Max

An engine purrs outside the front window and a nervous lump lodges in my throat.

I have Brynn and Kai on speaker phone as I move through the main living area with Klondike zipping around at my feet, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

My heart jumps between my ribs. “She’s here.”

“Ahh!” Brynn squeals.

Kai smiles into the screen, his arm around his girlfriend. “How nervous are you?”

“What’s the scale?” I shake my head. “Doesn’t matter. The scale exploded five seconds ago.”

“It’s going to be great!” Brynn says, grinning brightly. “Oh my God, Max. It’s all coming down to this moment.”

She’s right about that.

Ella is here for a job interview.

Little does she know, she’s pulling up to Sunny Rose Farm for far more than just a job.

Years ago, I recall browsing through Ella’s collection of storybooks, novels, and poetry compilations that lined dozens of bookshelves in her cantaloupe bedroom. Those were the days I’d sneak through her window and we’d talk and laugh and let go of every burden weighing us down. That’s the best way to describe that year with Ella in the months before darkness rolled in and eclipsed our hard-fought sunlight.

Weightless.

Nothing felt heavy when she looked at me.

Nothing felt like too much when her hand was clasped with mine.

I made a routine of choosing quotes and passages from her books and highlighting the ones that meant something to me—the ones I believed meant something toher.

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