“Baby, stop. You’re breaking my heart.” Seth cupped her face in his hands and stared into her eyes. “I never want to be the reason you shed a tear, Ryan. I love you. I’ve been miserable without you.”
“I’ve been the same.”
He stopped her by kissing her lips, then he slowly lifted his lips. “Stay.”
She stared into his eyes, and he knew she wanted him to be sure.
“Stay with me. Please.”
“I would have stayed the last time. You are so hardheaded.”
“I am. You’ll have to get used to that.”
“I will.”
“I have missed you so much, sweetheart.”
“But you didn’t even call me or text.”
“I did text you.”
“You call that a text? It sounded like a business deal.”
Seth sighed. “I had to do that because I didn’t want to ignore you, but I didn’t want you to know how much I missed you.”
“Do you know how much I missed you?” Ryan asked and he shook his head.
Seth watched her set her purse on the end table, open it and remove what looked like a picture frame. She stared at it, ran the tip of her finger over it, then turned it toward him.
He took it from her and looked at the photo, and his heart hit his stomach.
It was of him standing in the field with rows of small plants surrounding him. His head was tilted down to watch where he was stepping. He turned to face her.
“What is this?”
“It’s you.”
“I see that. Why do you have it?” When she shrugged, he stepped closer to her. “Why, Ryan?”
“I promised myself I would get a photo of you. I kept my camera aimed at you since you weren’t looking at me. When the wind picked up, and you placed your hand on your hat, I snapped it. I loved it when you wear that black T-shirt. And I knew that day, I would take a photo of you just for me.” She placed a trembling hand over his heart. Her eyes shone, tears glinting. “I love you, and I did tell you that the day I left.”
“I didn’t want to believe it. I…couldn’tbelieve it.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you about something like that.”
“I should have asked you to stay.” Seth shook his head. “I was too afraid you’d leave me, Ryan, but if you want to live here, we will or we can live in California.”
“In California?” she asked in a shocked tone.
“Yes. If that’s what you want. I’m sure I can still train cutting horses, but Cull said he’d take over growing the feed. I can’t let Ash down.”
“Cull would take over?”
“Yes. He wasn’t thrilled about it, but I trust him completely.”
“When did you ask him that?”
“The day you came here before you left for Kalispell.”
