Page 59 of Over the Verdant Hills
“Maybe that’s because it was your first one,” he said, and she could almost see the thoughts whirling through his head as he softened toward her, and his free hand came up and landed on her shoulder. She thought maybe he knew where she was going with this.
“I don’t know. I do know that you were the first boy I’d ever kissed, and… I was hoping that you would also be the last.”
It wasn’t exactly a marriage proposal, but it was letting him know how she felt. Kind of. In an almost-brave kind of way.
He swallowed, almost like his throat was dry and he needed to force his throat to work.
“Yeah. I like that idea.” He smiled a little and then said, “Almost as much as I like the idea that you were my first kiss, and I’d like for you to be my last.”
She smiled. That was what she was hoping he would say.
“I…know you don’t need any practice. You were really good the first time. But I thought maybe I needed some. Do you mind?” she asked, taking a brave step forward and putting her hand around his neck, pressing against him and tugging down at the same time.
“I don’t mind at all. In fact, I feel like you’re wrong. I do need a little practice. Maybe a lot of practice. Maybe a lifetime’s worth of practice.”
“Yeah. That’s what I thought too.”
She wasn’t sure whether he lowered his head, or she forced him to, or maybe she just stretched really high on her tiptoes, but somehow they were kissing, and it was perfect, just like the last time. The first time.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Two weeks later
“You did an amazing job on the kitchen. I love it. And I have a feeling that Grandma would have loved it too.”
“I have a feeling that Grandma knew that she wasn’t going to be around to enjoy it, and she wanted to make sure that you were taken care of.”
Claire smiled, put her arm around Josiah, and kissed his cheek. She wanted to ask him to marry her, and she wanted to do it soon. He had already told her that his parents were moving to New Mexico, and he was going to buy their house. She wanted to tell him that there was no need for him to do that. That they could just move into the farmhouse together. But they would need to get married, of course. She wasn’t quite sure that he loved her that much yet.
Or maybe that he wanted to take that big of a chance on her. Regardless, she’d enjoyed the last two weeks together with him. And there was a part of her that was kind of happy that her kids were in Boston.
The summer stretched out, exciting and anticipatory, with Josiah by her side. She’d thanked him over and over for the steadfast presence thathe’d been during Grandma’s illness and death and her children leaving, and he’d just shaken his head like he didn’t understand what the big deal was.
They’d gone through her grandma’s will, with no surprises. The house, along with a set amount of money to finish fixing it up, had been left to her. Everything else that her grandma owned had been divided up with the rest of the family.
Grandma had made one stipulation. She wanted the farm to be called Verdant Hills Farm.
That hadn’t been a problem, and the next day, Josiah had made her a sign for the end of her driveway with “Verdant Hills Farm” written on it.
It hung there now.
“I think the kids will have a lot of fun baking bread in this kitchen this winter.” She turned to Josiah. “And I hope you will be here to enjoy eating it.”
“I don’t know why you think I’m going somewhere,” he said, dropping a kiss on her forehead and letting his lips linger there.
She closed her eyes, just enjoying the feel of him close, knowing that he had zero plans of leaving her. And Josiah was not the kind of man who left easily.
His parents were packed up and getting ready to move to New Mexico that week. He had told her that he might need to go with them to get them settled, but so far, they hadn’t asked him to.
Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing. She felt a new urgency every time it rang, now that her children were a thousand miles away, and she hadn’t quite gotten over the idea that they might need her.
“It’s Ted,” she said, looking at Josiah. She bit her lip. Ted didn’t typically call her, especially not on a Tuesday afternoon. This was definitely out of the ordinary.
“Hello?” she said, putting the phone on speaker so Josiah could hear too. He had great hearing, and even if she had been holding it to her ear, he probably would have been able to hear anyway. He had surprised her greatly at the campfire two weeks ago when he’d heard the insult that her ex had lobbed at her and had said what he had.
She hadn’t wanted him to hear. Because she felt like it wasn’t true. It didn’t matter what she did—her ex wasn’t satisfied with her. It was like he needed variety or something, but everything was always her fault. Josiah had seen through that immediately.
“Claire. The kids are driving me crazy. I stayed home from work today, because yesterday they made a huge mess in the condo, and the landlord and my neighbors are complaining. It’s like you’ve been letting them run wild or something.”
