Page 11 of Mixed Up with the Mountain Man
"With you. Always with you."
six
Leo
Threedayslater,I'mstanding in my driveway watching Emma load her car for the trip back to Vancouver, and every instinct I have is screaming at me to stop her.
She's wearing jeans and one of my flannel shirts, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looks like she belongs here, like she's always belonged here. The thought of her driving away makes my chest tight with something close to panic.
"It's only two weeks," she says, reading my expression as she closes the trunk.
"Two weeks too long." I pull her against me, breathing in her scent like I can store it up for the time apart.
"I'll call every day. Video chat every night."
"Not the same as having you here."
She pulls back to look at me, her hands framing my face. "Hey. This isn't goodbye forever. I'm coming back."
"Promise?"
"I promise." She kisses me softly. "I love you, Leo MacKenzie. Nothing and no one is going to change that."
I want to believe her. I do believe her. But the rational part of my mind keeps whispering about all the ways she could change her mind once she's back in her real life. Vancouver has restaurants and culture and career opportunities. I have trees and a small town where the biggest excitement is the annual timber festival.
"What are you thinking?" she asks, clearly reading my doubts.
"Nothing."
"Liar." She pokes my chest. "Tell me."
I sigh, knowing she won't let it go. "What if you get back there and realize this was just vacation madness? What if your friends convince you that throwing away your career for some mountain man is insane?"
"Then I guess you'll have to trust that I know my own mind." Her voice is firm, but not unkind. "Do you trust me, Leo?"
"With my life."
"Then trust me with this." She kisses me again, deeper this time. "I'm coming back to you. To us. Nothing else matters."
I walk her to the driver's side, opening the door for her. "Drive safe. Call when you get there."
"I will." She pauses, one foot in the car. "Leo? Start looking at ring designs."
The casual comment hits me like a lightning bolt. "Emma—"
"I'm serious." Her smile is radiant. "I want to marry you. So when I get back, you better be ready to propose properly."
She drives away before I can respond, leaving me standing in the driveway with my heart pounding and hope blooming in my chest.
Two weeks. I can survive two weeks.
The first night without her, I barely sleep. The cabin feels wrong—too quiet, too empty, too cold despite the fire crackling in the hearth. Her scent lingers on my pillow, and I find myself burying my face in it like some lovesick teenager.
She calls around ten, just as promised.
"Made it home safe," she says, and I can hear the exhaustion in her voice. "My apartment feels weird. Like it belongs to someone else."
"That's because you belong here," I tell her, settling back against the headboard. "With me."
