She knew the answer. So did I.
I dashed a hand at my cheek to stem an errant tear and looked away.
Imagining a life without Levi made my heart crack.
That was the splinter, the knife down the middle, the inconceivable thing that made my brain reject the very notion.
I sucked in a watery breath. "Oh my gosh, I'm in love with that stubborn ass, aren't I?"
My mom smiled and set my hand down. "I reckon so."
"So now what?" I sighed.
"Honey"—she laughed—"now you get to figure out what comes next. Maybe this job offer is hitting the jackpot for him, but you just had a whole different part of the world open up to you too, you know? What comes next is whatever you want, and that's the biggest, scariest, most beautiful part of living."
Chapter 26 Levi
Another text came through as I left Piggly Wiggly.
Mom: Can you stop at Daisy's and get a dozen of those maple Long Johns your dad likes?
"Seriously?" I whispered. Throwing the truck in reverse, I turned away toward Daisy's Nut House. I pulled into the first open spot and tapped out a reply. This was the fourth errand I'd run for her today, each one more random than the last.
Me: I thought you said Dad needed to stop eating so many sweets.
Mom: I know you're not sassing me about something I asked you to do. It's for the office tomorrow, NOT that I need to explain myself to you.
Sighing, I heaved my body out of the truck and jogged into the diner. It was busy, which it always was at this time of day, and by the time I got back into the truck with a box of fresh Long Johns, I was beyond ready to get home and flop face forward into bed.
Funny how last week, I thought a week of silence from Joss felt like forever. Now, two days seemed like two months.
Brian was fine with me taking a couple of days, reassuring me that he knew what a big move this was, and that I needed to make sure it was the right fit for me too.
That I knew.
I'd known it from the moment I walked through the doors and into the practice facility on the outskirts of Seattle. The fit was more than perfect. But signing the dotted line and pressing my foot down on the gas pedal without more clarity from the person who held my heart in her incredibly stubborn hands was a bit more complicated.
"You just need to keep busy is all," my mom had said earlier that morning when I finished working out, unleashing my frustrations on the heavy bag bolted to the ceiling in the corner. "I've got an errand you can run. It'll keep you from moping."
One errand turned to two, then three, then four. If I got another text from her, I'd toss my phone into a lake. Mainly because she'd been dead wrong. Staying busy didn't help. Nothing helped. I was ready to crawl out of my skin.
I wanted to shake her. Kiss her. Make love to her. Fold her in my arms and promise her that we could do this. That it would be as amazing for her as it would be for me. But it was easy for me to say, the one with the job offer and a sure thing waiting at the end of a very long trip.
My truck rumbled slowly through town, my hands turning the wheel by rote.
I'd driven these streets my entire life and recognized almost every person I passed. People who I went to high school with now walked down the sidewalk with their spouses, maybe a kid or two.
My phone rang as I took a right toward my parents' house and I groaned.
But when I picked up, it was Connor.
"Hey," I said with a smile. "How was the honeymoon?"
He sighed contentedly. "So good that I won't tell you shit about it."
I laughed. "Did you even leave the room?"
"Oh, once or twice," he drawled. His voice turned serious. "Hey, we were gonna stop by and say hi to Mom and Dad now that we're back. You around?"
"I'll be back in about five minutes. I'm out running some errands for Mom."
"All right. See you later."
He hung up, and I tossed my phone onto the bench next to me.
But when I pulled in, I didn't see his car or Sylvia's.
What I did see had my heart racing.
In the middle of the driveway, with her arms crossed and two bags on the ground next to her, was Jocelyn.
It wasn't the stubborn set of her mouth that had me pausing before I got out of the truck. It wasn't even the bags next to her. It was the look in her eyes—my favorite coffee mug blue, the one I used every day because its color came closer to hers than anything I'd ever been able to find—was brimming with a challenge. On fire with it.
Try to get rid of me. I dare you.
I was smiling as I opened the door, and it had her lips curling back at me.
"Beautiful afternoon," I said, leaning up against the ticking, clicking hood of the truck as I faced her.
"It is."
I found myself staring at her lips, which widened even farther at my pointed study.
"What are you doing here, Joss?" I asked, lifting my eyes to hers.
"I'm picking you up."
One eyebrow lifted slowly. "That so? Where are we going?"
Casually, she lowered her hands into her lap. "We're going to the airport."
That had me straightening and walking toward her. "We're, what now?"
"Lord save us from a master's grad." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Airport. Planes. Flying."
I gave her a long look.
Now her nerves showed just a touch in the quick swallow. The slight flush to her high cheekbones. The rapid blink of her long lashes. "We're going to look at apartments in Washington. After you sign your contract."
"Joss," I
