Page 64 of After All

“I would come out here when things got particularly crazy or confusing at home,” she said. “This view reminded me that there were bigger things than what was going on in my house.”

Scott swallowed. “That doesn’t mean that what was going on wasn’t important.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I know. I mean, it was. But I needed there to be more. Something bigger. I couldn’t let that…bubble…turn into everything I thought about. I needed to remember that the sun would rise and set the next day, that somewhere in that same town people were laughing, and kissing, and being thankful, and saying I love you. And in that same town, other people were arguing or were getting bad news or were making mistakes. It was just so good to look out there and think that I wasn’t…”

“Alone,” he said into the gigantic pause.

She looked over. “Yeah. It’s easy to think that what’s happening to you is the worst thing to ever happen, or to think that you got the short end of the stick, or to think that it will never get better.”

“And looking out over Sapphire Falls made you realize that everyone has shit going on in their lives.”

She shrugged. “Yeah. And…”

“And what?” he said, trying to make it sound encouraging and not thetell me now, I have to knowthat he felt swirling through his chest.

“The first time I came up here was during the festival,” she said. “And I was looking down on the town with all the lights and all the people and all the…happiness. I just was thinking that yeah, everyone has shit in their lives. People have arguments and people get sick and people hurt each other’s feelings and pets die and…a million bad things. But they still celebrate.” She looked over at him again. “You know what I mean? People still have birthday parties and weddings and summer camping trips and book clubs and soup and pie suppers and Christmas pageants andfestivals. I mean, our ability to keep celebrating is amazing. We crave it. When you have a bad day, you want to hang with your friends and have a beer. When someone dies, we all hang around afterward and talk and tell stories and spend time with other people. You could get fired the day before Christmas, but if you go to the town square and get a peppermint hot chocolate and listen to the little kids sing carols in the gazebo, you can’tnotsmile. I just… People always celebrate. We don’t all just hole up in our houses and wallow in our sadness and forget about the Fourth of July and Halloween and,” her mouth curled up at the corners, “St. Patrick’s Day.”

St. Patty’s Day. His new favorite holiday ever.

Scott was watching her with such a combination of emotions pounding through his brain and body that he didn’t know where to start.

“We invented all of these holidays and turned them into the crazy parties that they are now. Halloween was some religious holiday, but we added candy and costumes and decorations and turned it into this bigthing. And then you come to Sapphire Falls and it’s even crazier.” Her lips stretched into a full-blown smile. “I mean, we can’t just trick-or-treat here. We have to have zombie paintball tournaments.”

They sure did. Sapphire Falls did have a tendency to take every holiday and blow it up into something huge and fun.

And suddenly, Scott got it. Sapphire Falls was the Peyton Wells of small towns.

He grinned at her and she blinked. “What?”

“No wonder you stick around here. This is your place, Trouble.”

She smiled but her eyebrows still pulled together as if she was confused. “You think so?”

“You appreciate celebrating life. Nobody does that better than Sapphire Falls.”

She sat looking at him for a long moment. Then she crawled out from behind the wheel. The glass bottles between them clinked together when the seat dipped as she climbed over them and into his lap.

She straddled his thighs, and his hands settled on her hips naturally. She pushed his hat back, cupped his face between her hands, and kissed him. Just like that.

Her mouth was soft on his for nearly a minute. Then she slicked her tongue along his lower lip, and Scott’s fingers curled into her hips. She gave a little moan and wiggle, and he couldn’t help but press her more firmly against his fly. Her moan was louder that time and when her lips parted, he took advantage, sweeping his tongue into her mouth. He splayed one hand in the middle of her back, bringing her closer and tangling his other hand in her hair, holding her head still so he could slowly, firmly, fully stroke her tongue. The way he wanted to stroke the rest of her.

After nearly five minutes of just deep, hot kissing, she pulled back. Her breaths came fast, and she was looking at him as if her mind was spinning with ideas.

“Where is your favorite place in Sapphire Falls?” she asked.

It took him a second to process that she wasn’t saying “take your pants off.”

“Uh…”

“I told you this was my favorite place,” she said. “Where’s yours?”

“Probably—”

“And donotsay ‘wherever you are’ or something,” she said.

He laughed. “Okay. Probably the square.” He lifted a shoulder. “I know a lot of people would say that and maybe it seems cliché, but the square is at the heart of it all.”

She nodded. “I love the square too.” They sat for a second. Then she added, “Now you kiss me again.”

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