A slow smile tilts up my lips as I see the old, familiar structure in the distance. I can’t believe it’s still standing after all these years. My heart stops when I see another car parked near the barn. When I look at the barn, I see someone standing by it. She’s here. I hoped she would be—this was always our place.
At the echo of my door closing, Faith turns around and her eyes widen in surprise. She takes her bottom lip between her teeth as she stares at me.
“Hey,” I smile, standing in front of her now.
“Hi.” She offers a sheepish grin, all tight-lipped and tense.
“I see this place is still standing.” I slap it once and the wood creaks.
“Careful,” she warns.
“Barely standing…” I trail off as I look at it.
“Yeah. It’s endured some harsh winters.” Her lips are set in a straight line.
“I bet.” I run a hand through my hair. Are we seriously talking about the weather and this barn? After not seeing each other for thirteen years, I expected our conversation to go a little differently.
“How are you?” I stick my hands in my pockets, needing more warmth than the gloves can provide.
“I’m good. How about you? Moving back, huh?” Faith wipes away strands of hair that whip in the wind, the tip of her nose red.
I smile at the memory of teasing her when we were young, calling her Rudolph since her nose would always turn red when the temperature dropped.
She looks beautiful. Her tousled hair adds to her beauty as she stands before me—a woman instead of a girl—with the same shiny blue eyes.
“Yeah,” I nod. “The time was right. I had heard about a position for a lawyer that opened in town hall and next thing I knew, the ranch was for sale.”
“I didn’t hear about any properties going up for sale,” Faith states with bunched eyebrows.
“Do you work in real estate?” I lift my eyebrows.
“No,” she shakes her head. “I don’t know why I said that. I guess I thought the Prewitts were happy living there.”
“Their kids went off to college, Mr. Prewitt is ready to retire, and they had no future for the ranch. I think they bought a vacation home in Florida and a small apartment here,” I explain, shivering as the wind kicks up.
“I forgot how cold it got here,” I comment, staring out at the white mountains. Actually, everything is covered in snow. Not one inch of the surrounding area is clear of the white powder.
“Yeah…” Faith’s teeth clatter, but she doesn’t move.
“This is still here…” I find the carving, smiling widely.
“Yup, it’s withstood it all, like the barn.” Faith’s voice is clipped.
I look at her again, my fingers still tracing our names. “Well…” I stare into her eyes. “It was meant to. It’s why I put it there.” I take a step closer to her, wishing I could hold her. I’m having deja vu of the day I met her here to tell her we were moving. The sadness swimming in her eyes that day is almost identical to what I see now staring back at me.
“We were just kids, Easton,” Faith says defensively.
“Yeah, just kids…” I look at the carving again, flattening my palm over it. “Do you ever wonder what would’ve happened if I had never moved?” The million-dollar question. Actually, it's the trillion-dollar question. I’d give everything I owned for a glass ball that would show me an alternate world, one where Faith and I stayed together, went to college, did everything we talked about. I’d love to see how we would’ve turned out.
She shrugs but remains silent.
“You look good, Faith.” I nod, taking her in. I could look at her for hours and not believe she was standing in front of me.
“Thanks.” She relaxes a bit. I wonder what’s going through her mind.
“Aren’t you going to say I look good, too?” I raise my eyebrows and cross my arms.
“You actually look terrible,” she deadpans, the ghost of a smile attempting to make itself seen.
“Ouch.” My hands fall to my chest. “Just like that, huh?”
Faith giggles, and it’s the best noise in the world. “It’s good to see you, Easton.”
Right here, in this very moment, I stand before my first love, the first woman I gave every piece of myself to, wondering how I could make her my last.
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Standalones
Perfectly Imperfect
Red Lights, Black Hearts
Twisted in You
Memories of Us
All My Truths & One Lie
Promise You
Love in Everton Series
Write You a Love Song
Roping Your Heart
Pretend You’re Mine
Make You Mine
You Make It Easy
Then I Met You
My Way to You
Rebel Desire Series
Lovin’ on You
Love You Through It
All of You
Restoring Series
Restoring Us (Complete Series)
Resisting You (Aiden and Stacy Novella)
Sweet on You Series
Sweet on Wilde
Whiskey Nights
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I’m so thankful for the amazing people that I’ve teamed up with to bring this book to life and in your hands. They work nonstop, helping me with each book baby I put out. A huge thanks to Amy from Q Designs for the perfect cover and capturing Gavin in all his glory, Brittany from The Blurb Whisperer for always making my blurbs that much better, Bex from Editing Ninja for all your hard work, and Cary for the beautiful formatting. To Wendy and Claire from Bare Naked Words for helping me put this book out there in the world. Thank you ladies for all being a part of this book. Your patience, feedback, and support mean the world to me.
Ally, you pushed and pushed until you got your single daddy *cringe* LOL Thank you from the bottom of my heart for always cheering me on, supporting me, and working alongside me. I appreciate your patience when I’m all over the place, hot-mess style.
Christy and Rachel, you ladies are there no matter what.
