Page 27

She swats at me. “Oh, as if, you big oaf.”

I’ve heard her mom call her dad a big oaf. My grin stretches.

I hold her tighter, just for a moment. And for a moment, she settles into me as though it’s the only place in the whole of this world that she wants to be. For a moment, I let myself pretend that there’s nothing and no one between us. That there’s never been anyone between us.

The moment only lasts so long before reality slithers back in.

I clear the frog from my throat. “You think you can make it to my truck if I let you go?”

She sniffs in offense.

I chuckle.

She huffs. “I’m pretty sure I can manage.”

I release her reluctantly.

We make it to my truck without any more near misses. I open the passenger door for her to climb in as the snow really starts to fall and a cold wind picks up to howl at the growing dark. We’re fifteen minutes out of town, but it’s likely to take us double that to get back home. It’s a white out.

Settling behind the wheel, I get the heat blowing as she pulls her mitts from her hands to shove them in front of the heat vent. Her fingers are red and obviously cold, but it’s the shimmer of the diamond that catches my eye. My diamond. On her ring finger.

She said yes.

I knew she would. It’s all part of the plan, after all. But still, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than when I asked her to be mine and slid my ring onto her finger as she smiled softly down at me.

She’s my fiancée, the woman I intend to spend the rest of my life with, and I’ve never even tasted her lips.

Some would call me crazy. They probably wouldn’t be wrong.

“This is wild.” She peers out the windshield at the swirling blanket of snow. “Are you sure it’s safe to drive in this?” She snorts a laugh. “Maybe we should find that cave after all.”

If I thought she’d let me keep her warm all night with the heat of my body, I’d be out hunting for the cave right now. But Faye isn’t ready for that. She hardly lets me touch her without getting jumpy.

In time, I hope.

I can wait for her. For however long it takes, I can wait.

“We’ll make it home,” I promise, shifting into drive and taking it slow. I’ve driven this road what feels like a million times, and I know the bends and dips, or we’d be in trouble.

She settles back into her seat, but I can feel she’s tense. “If you say so.”

We settle into silence as I try to focus on the road through the snow. My headlights do very little to cut through the blowing white. The road is there and then it’s not. Over and over again. Somehow, I manage to keep my truck on the road. It’s likely due to the fact we’re driving at the pace of a crawl.

It’s going to take forever to get home.

“Thanks for today.” Faye’s voice cuts into the silence.

I want to look at her, but I can’t risk it. Visibility is shit and I can’t risk her.

“Anytime, sweetheart.”

“It was good to get out. To feel—like a person again.”

She’s been hiding. She does nothing but work and come home. She drowns herself in TV and books. Andy and Shy text her all the time, but she won’t let them come see her and she doesn’t like to go out.

I’ve been worried about her.

“I’m glad.”