Hayden.
Standing at the edge like he’s been carved into the moment, hands tucked in his pockets and watching me with an intensity that makes my heart trip over itself. He looks more gorgeous and polished than anyone has the right to look at a ground-breaking ceremony. His pale eyes find mine, steady and searching, and the rest of the world blurs like someone turned down the volume on everything but him.
I almost can’t stomach tearing my gaze from his face but something in his hand catches my eye.
He’s holding a single white lily.
Simple and serene, a Hayden Harlow classic. But then, just as I start to walk toward him, he removes the hand he’s had hiding behind his back, revealing something that makes my heart flutter.
A sunflower.
A bright, cheerful, bold sunflower that at one point the man holding it had called an abomination, if I remember correctly.
I freeze, unable to help the smile that spreads across my face.
He reaches me in three long strides and pulls me into a hug. Full-bodied and grounding like he’s been holding the shape of me in his memory.
“I’m so proud of you,” he murmurs, his voice soft with sincerity. “Take this in. All of it. Let the town see you and all you’ve accomplished. And when you’re ready…come find me at the greenhouse.”
I pull back, looking into his eyes. “But you ca…” I start, but he doesn’t let me finish.
“This is your day, Levi,” he whispers, brushing a tender kiss on my cheek, and I could just about combust on the spot. “This is your moment. You’ve worked incredibly hard to get to today and Iam so amazed by you. Embrace every second of it. Hold it in your heart, and when you’re done, I’ll be waiting.”
Something inside me, something I didn’t realize was shaking, finally steadies.
A sweet smile tugs at his lips as he steps back, leaving me with the sunflower, the lily, and a feeling in my chest I can’t quite name. I watch him leave, a very big part of me wanting to run after him, but I know he’s right. Ihaveworked so hard for this.
I force my focus back to the event and to why we’re here today. The interviews Naomi helped line up are coming next. The press needs sound bites. The volunteers are still buzzing around.
But Hayden lingers like sunlight on skin. Warm and impossible to ignore, even after he stepped away. The fact that he came, that he’s prioritizing this personal accomplishment without making it about him or us, even when everything between us hasn’t been ironed out…it’ssohim. He showed up. Celebrated me. And slipped away so I could shine. It’s exactly what I’d always imagined partnership feeling like. Like being held, even from across a room. Or field, in this instance.
As the event winds down and endless hugs are concluded, I finally slip away from the crowd and head toward a small corner of the event area where Elijah, Dominic, and Naomi are gathered, watching the final moments of all their hard work unfold.
“Hey,” I say, my voice a little rough from all the talking. I take a seat next to Dominic and rest my head on his shoulder. “I just…” My throat catches and my eyes sting unsurprisingly. “You three…you didn’t have to show for me the way you did. But you did anyway. And now…” I gesture helplessly at everything around us. “All this happened because I have you in my life, and I don’t know how to thank you enough.”
I feel the tears come as the words get lost somewhere in my chest. It’s hard to express how much this all means to me, but Idon’t get the chance to finish before Dominic nudges me with his elbow.
“We know, Levi. You love us. We’re amazing. Blah, blah, appreciation, blah.” He tips his head toward the street leading back to the greenhouse. “But seriously, go. Funeral Guy’s been patient enough.”
I kiss them both on the cheek before turning to Naomi. She looks back at me with that knowing smile of hers and I reach out and hug her tight.
“I wouldn’t be here without you,” I whisper.
She pats my back, pulling away. “You made this happen, Levi. But you’re welcome for the constant micromanaging. Now, stop lingering and go get him already.”
I don’t need another push.
I turn on my heel, heart pounding as I leave the garden behind.
With each step closer to the greenhouse, my nerves sharpen, thoughts tumbling over each other. There is so much left unsaid between Hayden and me. So many pieces we need to pick up, rearrange, and figure out how to fit back together. But beneath the uncertainty, there’s also hope. A persistent tug in my chest that propels me toward him.
When I reach the greenhouse, I pause, steadying myself, hands slightly shaking as I grasp the handle. I take a breath, pull open the creaking door, and every nerve in my body thrums to life.
Hayden stands quietly among the flowers, his back turned. My heart does a somersault, and I linger in the doorway, breathing him in. The way the golden hour softens every sharp edge of him, like even sunlight knows he belongs right here, with me. His dark hair is a little tousled, his shoulders relaxed, but what really catches my attention is the way his shadows swirl around him. They’re faint, a whisper of how I’ve seen them in the past, but stillthere, wrapping around him as if they too are waiting for something.
I take another step forward, and the soft sound of my boots on the gravel makes him turn.
He looks at me with that familiar intensity, the same look that’s burned a hole in my brain and heart since the day we met. I feel it now…everything we’ve been through, all the things left unspoken, the lost time.
