Page 49 of Ember's Heart
The comfortable silence that followed was different from the tense one moments ago. I waited, and then, after another long moment, I asked, “You never stayed anywhere long. Why?”
He sighed, the sound a mix of exhaustion and affection. “Because you weren’t there,” he said simply. “No place felt like home without you.”
He had been thinking about me, even when he couldn’t bring himself to come back. I was still his home.
We didn’t say anything else. There was nothing else to say. We just laid there, wrapped in each other’s arms, until we both drifted back to sleep.
When I woke again, the sun was peeking through the loft’s windows, and Colton was gone. I went downstairs looking for him and found him coming in from outside, his phone in his hand, his brow furrowed with concern.
“What were you doing?” I asked, my voice still thick with sleep.
He looked up, a soft smile touching his lips when he saw me. “Just tried calling Cade again. Still nothing.” He shook his head, pocketing his phone. There was a look of frustration on his face. “I just don’t get it. He’s always been so good about calling me back.”
“I’m sure he’ll call when he can. He hasn’t been phoning our parents as much lately. So it’s not you.” I walked into his arms, wrapping my arms around his waist. He held me tight, burying his face in my hair. “Thank you,” he murmured. “For last night. For being there for me.”
I just tightened my hold. “Anytime. I love you.”
He kissed my head and then pulled me into the kitchen, where he had a delicious breakfast waiting. There was scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast waiting for us on the table. It was simple, but delicious.
As we sat there, just talking and eating, the warmth of the room and the sight of him across the table from me was a perfect picture of a life I was finally getting to live. And I couldn’t wait for this to be our forever.
After we ate and packed up our bags, getting ready to say goodbye to this small piece of paradise we found.
He was loading our things into the back of the truck when I walked up behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“I’m going to miss this place,” I whispered into his back.
He turned, keeping his arms around me. “We’ll come back,” he said softly. “Anytime. We’ll make it our spot.”
I smiled, my heart full. “It was perfect,” I whispered looking into his eyes. “Everything was perfect.”
He leaned down and kissed me, a soft, lingering kiss that was a promise of a future I was finally ready to believe in.
As we got into the truck and pulled away from the cabin, I watched it disappear in the side mirror. It was more than just a cabin by a lake. It was where our new beginning started. It was our first real step forward. It was proof that even after years of being apart, after broken hearts and promises, some promises could still be kept.
I had waited what felt like a lifetime for him to come back to me, and finally, my life with him was just beginning. It was the first time I felt like everything was going to be okay.
Chapter 36
Ember
October has always been my favorite month. I love the season change, the slightly warm days and cool nights. AndI especially love all the baking my mom starts to do. Our house smells incredible this time of year. It smells like apple pie and warm cider.
It’s been almost a month since Colton and I were at the cabin and I’m still desperate to escape there again with him. When you and your… boyfriend?? Boyfriend seems so minor to what he is to me, but he’s not my fiance- yet. Anyways, with both of us living with our parents, privacy is hard to come by.
That weekend was the best thing for us. It brought us closer together and it proved to him I’m not going anywhere. It showed him I can handle his PTSD and he knows he can lean on me without worrying it’s going to push me away.
Today was saturday and our farm was bustling with customers this morning looking to buy apples and pears. Almost all the pumpkins we put out were almost gone and people were excited for the upcoming Fall Festival my family always put together.
Owen, as usual, was home from college for the weekend to help where he could and so we could get some more videos filmed. I was so proud of my baby brother. For being twenty-one and in college, he never complained about coming home. It was actually his idea.
We were currently in the kitchen filming Mom making her delicious turkey and stuffing, and then she was going to show how to make pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin, not a can. Owen was walking around trying to get the best angle and I was seated on a stool at the island chopping the bread and herbs she needed.
“And remember,” Mom chirped, “the key to a moist bird is to cook it upside down and to bast, bast, bast!”
“And that’s a wrap!” Owen called out.
“Was that okay?” Mom asked.
