Page 159 of The Apple Tree

“Josh, Sarah and I will help you carry your race track to your room before we go,” Gabby said, picking up the pieces he’d taken out of the box.

They headed up the stairs, and Eve dropped her gaze to the floor and stood, adjusting her sweater. Without a word, she turned, taking steps toward the door.

“Eve, wait. Give me a minute.”

She stopped, but she didn’t turn. “I can’t wait. I have nothing to wait for. And I can’t give you a minute because I’ve already given you everything. Months. Days. And so many minutes. I’ve given you every part of me, even the ugly parts. And I’ve given you my heart. Yet you don’t want it. But someone will.”

“Eve,” I said with a thick voice, the pain in my chest intensifying as if she had a fishing hook lodged into it, and the tension compounded as she walked away.

Stretching.

Tearing.

I couldn’t breathe.

The door clicked shut behind her. She left without her sisters.

I pinched the bridge of my nose as my eyes burned, heart racing. I felt like I was dying. My world was unraveling. And I was pretty sure I was having a heart attack. I hurried to the door and shoved my feet into my boots before jogging after her. The cold air filled my lungs as I ran down the stairs.

Eve’s hair flowed behind her as she trudged through the snow toward the hill.

“You can’t go to Nashville,” I yelled, catching up to her. My fingers slipped beneath her jacket and slid into the waist of her jeans.

She stopped, and I let go of her, but she didn’t face me.

“You can’t go to Nashville,” I repeated softer.

She sniffled. “Why not?”

“Because it’s not on the way to Colorado. Andwe’regoing to Colorado. If I have to pick you up in Nashville, it will throw off our whole trip. Josh will get unruly, asking when we’re going to be there. I’ll have to buy twice the amount of snacks. It’s just not going to work. I’m sorry.”

She didn’t speak or move. And as much as I wanted her to look at me, I knew I needed to earn everything.

“It doesn’t make sense for my heart to live in Nashville and yours to live in Colorado. They should just … live together.” I stepped in front of her.

She made no attempt to wipe her eyes or hide her tears.

“I’m scared that this won’t work, but I’m terrified that it will work and I’m too damn stupid to take a chance on us. But I think”—I framed her face in my hands, and she blinked more tears—“if I’m doing the math correctly, and I let my heart love you as much as it’sdyingto love you, then you’ll never want for more than me, my messy son, and that needy dog.”

Her hands covered mine and she closed her eyes. I leaned down to kiss her, stopping a breath from her lips. She opened her eyes, and I smiled.

But before I could kiss her, she said, “I’ll think about it.”

If I wasn’t already frozen from the wind and flurries, her comment did it. Just as my heart began to sink into the bottom of my stomach, her lips twitched, and she rolled them between her teeth.

Was she hiding a grin?

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you?—”

“Just kiss me like you do, so I can go home and pout before packing my things for Colorado.”

“Evil,” I whispered before kissing her.

I heard the door close in the distance, and I knew her sisters were watching us. It didn’t matter. I still kissed her hard because I never wanted to hide my feelings for her again.

When I released her, I managed a straight face. “Go pack your bags and be pissed off that you fell in love with a nerd who had to do the math before he discovered that you in his life added up to infinity.”

A triumphant smile hijacked her face. “You’re so square, Mr. Collins.”

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