Whoosh. The air went right out of my lungs. How could one person be this lucky? I looked up at Nate, my vision getting a little blurry, as I whispered. “That’s really good because I know I love you, Nate Roberts. I don’t know when it happened, but looking at the bulletin board you made for me, I knew it for sure.”
Nate looked at me as we stood there in his kitchen. I felt comfortable and completely at home.
“So we love each other,” he said.
“Yep.”
“And we’ll live apart.”
“Well, for a while,” I conceded. “But you can stay at my place, and I could stay here. I want to write here for sure.”
His smile grew. “You want to write.”
I dropped my voice, still in awe. “I wrote today.”
His arms enveloped me in a tight squeeze that felt—I’m not sure how to describe it—safe? Secure?
“You wrote today?”
I nodded. “Three thousand words.”
He moved and his lips captured mine in a kiss that took my breath away. Pulling back, he leaned down so that his face was inches from mine. “I’m not sure what would work best for you in terms of support here. If you want me to read as you write and cheer you on, I’m here for it. If you want me to read at the end, I can do that. If you need me not to read it, well, that might kill me, but I can try.”
I looked at him and debated the merits of each option. Then I whispered, “I think it might be nice for you to read as I go. I can go grab my laptop.”
Nate squeezed to hold me in place. “You can grab the laptop in just a second. Two things.”
I waited.
“One, what the hell is that smell? My stomach is going to begin growling any second.”
“Chicken Divan.”
“Okay, no idea what that means, but I can’t wait to find out. Two, we’re going shopping tomorrow for houseplants. I want you to have whatever you need to make the office yours.”
“No chicken coops?” I teased.
He raised his eyebrows at me. “Clearly you haven’t checked your email.”
I looked at him, then ducked out of his arms and took off to the office to grab my laptop. Bringing it back, I set it on the island and opened up my email. Sure enough, the top of my inbox had an email from Nate. Opening it, I saw a note that said “This work for you?” and a link that took me to the most ridiculously over-the-top chicken coop ever.
“Nate, what the hell is this?”
He rested his chin on my shoulder as he looked at my laptop screen. “Well, I figured we can plan for the chickens over the winter. Then we’re ready to hit the ground running as soon as we’re done with winter, and maybe by that time, you’ll be moved in for good.”
I closed my eyes just to soak it all in.
Turning my head to the right, his mouth was there. I pressed a kiss to his mouth before pulling back. “Sounds great.” Looking back to my computer, I pulled up my story and slid the laptop to the side for him while I went to check on dinner.
Nate pulled out a stool and sat down to read as I grabbed a beer from the fridge and passed it to him. As I moved around the kitchen, finishing up dinner, I realized that in only five days my life had become everything I dreamed of and more. I was living my greatest fantasy.
Epilogue
Four Months Later
Nate
“Elle,” I called, walking in the front door to our house as I wondered where she could be. I’d gotten a text from her twenty minutes ago that simply said she needed to talk when I got home. I’d racked my brain, wondering she had to tell me. Maybe one of the chickens had gotten out of the enclosure again? That had been an issue at first, but I thought we’d fixed it.
