Page 189 of Catch the Sun

“Oh my God. You’ve known where I’ve been this whole time?”

My lips purse as I slide my hands in my pockets. “Don’t be mad.”

“Max…you’ve been living thirty miles away from me and I didn’t know?” Her chest heaves with quickening breaths, her fingers tightening in her hair. “I can’t… I’m just…”

“Whoa, hey.” I step forward and reach for her, my hands curling around her shoulders. “Ella, listen. I was giving you time and space to heal. That was the whole point of you leaving Tennessee. It wasn’t my place to intrude on that. Natine thought it was too soon for me to reach out to you and that you were still finding your way, still vulnerable,” I explain. “But I never stopped loving you. Never. I’ve thought about you every damn day since you drove over that hill in your RV.” Squeezing her shoulders, I find her teary eyes and smile softly. “I’ve carried you with me, all this time. You rise and fall with every sun. You’re between the pages of every book I read. You’re with me on every bridge, and you’re in the verses of every song that plays,” I confess. “I never let you go.”

Tears trail down her cheeks as her eyes slam shut, lips quivering. “Did you…buy this farm for me?”

The awestruck words fall out on a hitched breath as she leans into my touch. I slide my hands upward and cradle her neck, my thumbs dusting her jaw. “You gave me and my father something I could never repay you for, Sunny Girl. This is nothing compared to that.Nothing.I never had a chance to truly thank you, so this is what I decided to do.” I press a kiss to her hairline and whisper gently, “So, yes. This farm is for you. It’s yours. There’s a little horse I adopted in the stables waiting to meet you. There are hundreds of sunrises and sunsets waiting for you to watch them from the open field. There’s a life waiting for you here…if you want it.”

She collapses against me, her face slamming to my chest. Sobs pour out of her. Her hands latch onto my T-shirt, fisting the gray fabric as her tears soak through to my skin.

I cup the back of her head with my hand and stroke her hair. “This is mythank-you, Ella Sunbury. You gave my father a fighting chance at life. You gave us both a fresh start when I had absolutely nothing left to live for,” I tell her,emotion catching on each word. “You told me this was your dream, so I’m giving that to you. No strings attached. This is yours.”

She shakes in my arms, face smashed against my chest. “I d-don’t know what to say…”

“Say you’ll take it,” I murmur into her hair. “Say you’ll stay.”

Her face lifts, nose bright red and eyes wet. “Max, I…” Sniffling, she sucks in a breath and swallows. “Is this for both of us?”

I falter, my teeth clenching as my heart teeters with unknowns. “That’s not why I did this. A lot of time has passed, so I’m not expecting anything. This is foryou, Ella.” My chest feels strangled because I want to live this life with her more than anything. It’s what I’ve wanted since the day I met her in a sun-soaked school yard. “There’s no pressure. Even though it was never over for me, I understand if you don’t feel the same way. I’ve made arrangements if things don’t work out between us and I can—”

“Max.” Ella’s hands raise up to clasp my face. With my cheeks between her palms, she holds my gaze as she whispers back, “It was never over for me, either.”

A geyser of hope explodes between my ribs. I drop my forehead to hers, closing my eyes, smiling as a relieved breath falls out. I don’t need a direct answer yet. We don’t have to move in together straight away and make big plans. With rebirth comes rebuilding, and I will put us back together, brick by brick, even if it takes a lifetime.

I inch away and find her eyes, smile still intact. “I want to show you around. I want to show you everything.”

Ella swipes her tears away with two fingers, nodding through an incredulous laugh. “Show me.”

Klondike clumsily trots beside us before settling in his crate with a toy, while I take Ella from room to room. The ranch-style house is small but cozy, strewn with new carpet and fresh paint. It’s simple yet tasteful, a blank canvas for her own belongings and personality.

The only room I took a chance on is the bedroom.

Grinning wide, Ella studies every furnishing, every decorative splash, every wood beam and high ceiling. When I guide her to the main bedroom, our hands laced together, my heart skips as I bring her through the threshold.

She stops short with a small gasp.

The walls are cantaloupe. Crisp white linens make up the king-sized bed, topped with a collection of bright-orange pillows. In the corner of the room sits a small desk, adorned with bookbinding tools and trinkets. Tall bookshelves are stuffed with her favorite novels and storybooks. On the nightstand, there’s a terra-cotta pot with a carrot sticking out from the dirt.

And taking up the entire far wall, directly across from the bed, is a hand-painted mural of a rising sun.

Ella’s eyes soak in the room, falling and holding on the sun painting. “Oh my God…” she breathes out, awestruck and mystified.

“Do you like it?” Nerves and insecurity race through me, swirling in the pit of my stomach. “Kai painted that. If it’s too much, we can paint over it. I know it’s bold, but it made me think of you and—”

Ella throws herself at me, landing in my open arms, just like she did in the middle of the gravel road before an old RV stole her away for almost three painful years.

Our mouths lock together before I can take my next breath.

It’s instinct.

I grip her beneath the thighs, her tongue sliding into my mouth, meeting mine. We both moan. Sweet familiarity douses me in warmth as lightning heat streaks through me, head to toe. I walk her backward and press her up againstthe sun wall as her hands cup my cheeks, our faces angling to taste deeper, my hips pressed between her spread legs wrapped tightly around my waist.

There is no hesitation.

No slow build or soft climb.

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