I swallowed back the lump that had suddenly appeared in my throat. He was right. I wasn’t ready. But I wanted to rewrite the end of my story, and Colin was offering to help me find the courage to try. I moved closer to the bed, feeling as if unseen hands were pushing me. “It could take a long time for me to believe you, you know.”
“I expect it will.”
“What if I get sick?”
“What if you don’t? What if I do? We don’t know what our future holds. The only thing I do know is that I would never leave your side. Nor would your family. Or mine. We would endure together. And whether we have a short time or a long time, I wouldn’t waste a single minute.”
He stood, pulled me against him. His chest was bare, and when I placed my hands on his skin, I felt the gooseflesh ripple under my fingers.
“Maddie?”
I looked up at him in the pale blue light. “Yes?”
“It’s snowing.”
I followed his gaze out the window. Fat white flakes tumbled past the glass, almost too thick to see the dark sky beyond. I sighed. “Snow in Walton. I guess miracles do happen.”
Colin turned my face to his. “Yes, Maddie. I suppose they do.” He kissed me, his lips warm and serious, as if sealing a promise. I kissed him back, propelling us toward the bed, managing to undo drawstring ties and unburden ourselves of clothing.
I tugged my sweatshirt over my head so that we were skin to skin as we fell together on the rumpled sheets, still warm from his body. His fingers rested on the gold heart charm that I hadn’t removed since the day of my high school graduation.
He held it between his fingers. “What’s this?”
“Suzanne gave it to me. It says, ‘A life without rain is like the sun without shade.’”
He was silent for a moment, watching my face. “So very true,” he said softly, and I wondered if he was thinking about his brother and all that had passed since, every good and bad thing that made up a life.
“It’s taken me a while, but I think I’m beginning to understand what it really means. Precious taught me that.”
He leaned down and kissed the spot between my breasts where the charm had lain, as if sealing yet another promise between us.
I looked up at him in the dim room, wishing he could see my eyes and all the silent truths they held. But it didn’t matter. I’d have time to tell him. To show him. I put my arms around his neck, pulled him closer. “I love you, you know.”
“I know.”
I bit my lower lip. “But I really hate snow.”
“Well, then, let’s create new, happy memories so you’ll learn to love it.” And he lowered his lips to mine and we proceeded to do just that.
—
We must have fallen asleep at some point; the brightening light from the window woke me at dawn. Colin’s body was melded against mine, our heads sharing a single pillow. I lay absolutely still, listening to his breathing, wishing I could jar this moment and preserve it forever. Yet I was fairly certain that Colin would ensure that there would be enough jars to fill an entire basement.
A sound of movement somewhere in the house brought me bolt upright, Colin sitting up along with me. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his eyes as bleary as mine felt.
“My aunt and uncle can’t find me in here.” I looked outside the window at the tall pine tree, which I didn’t remember being so tall when I’d last stayed in this room. Fat dollops of snow covered the branches, as if someone had emptied cans of whipping cream on them. I scrambled from the bed. “Suzy and Sam Junior will be up early and wanting to play in the snow. I’ve got to go—or at least walk around to the front of the house and use the front door.”
I ran around, gathering clothes, attempting to put them on right side out.
Colin sat on the bed, looking at me with a satisfied grin on his face.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, hopping on one foot as I attempted to put my sweatpants back on.
“From what I know of your aunt Cassie, she knows you’re here and has already set a place for you at the table and started making your breakfast.”
“It’s not her I’m worried about—it’s my uncle Sam.”
He sobered quickly. “Does he own a shotgun?”
“Is a frog’s butt watertight?”
He blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“Sorry. I meant, of course he does, and so does my daddy,” I said, hopping on the other foot. “They’re from Georgia.”
He slid out of the bed and joined me in a wild scramble for clothes, pausing long enough to kiss me. “They wouldn’t really use a gun in a situation like this, would they? You are of age. And they both seemed rather civilized.”
“Of course they wouldn’t, but that’s not the point. My mama raised me better, and we all choose to respect that.”
“Understandable,” he said, slipping on a pair of pants.
As I was buttoning my coat, I eyed the window.
“No, Maddie,” Colin said, taking my hand and bringing me to the bedroom door. “You’re not climbing out of an upstairs window and down a snowy trellis. I’m not ready to go completely gray yet.”
“Fine. But put your feet exactly where I put mine so you don’t make the stairs creak.”
“You sound like an expert at sneaking out of houses.”
“That’s because I am.” I smiled to myself, remembering all the pranks and stunts I’d pulled as a teenager while
