“I’m so sorry I made you doubt my feelings. I’m sorry I doubted them at all.” Her gaze moved over my face with a sadness that made my heart clench.
“I couldn’t believe my feelings at first either. They felt so big, too big to be possible. But there is no doubt for me, Claire.”
“There’s no question for me either.”
“It’s a miracle that you found my listing and came into my life.”
She nodded, stepping on her toes. Our mouths met and kissed until we were both panting.
I laid her out on the carpet in front of the fire and devoured her. I brought her to her peak and luxuriated in her taste. When I slid into her again, we were both unmoored and out of our minds. She held my face as I moved in her. This time, she never closed her eyes as we whispered our love for each other. We took our time, bared our souls, and lost ourselves.
A few hours later, stomachs and bodies satisfied, we lay on the floor half-naked in front of the fire. I meant to take her to the bedroom, but we didn’t make it.
Her head was on my stomach as she watched the flames. My fingers gently brushed through her hair. Outside, the snow fell, and Ripley snored softly from under her pile of blankets. I lazily played with the strands of her hair, thinking about how beautiful she was. How much I loved her. How thankful I was that she was here. I told her so.
“I love you too. I love it here. It feels so right,” she said.
“I’m glad you feel that way. You feel like home to me.”
She rolled her head to kiss my chest, and I pulled her up to be shoulder to shoulder with me.
“No place has felt like home before I found you.”
I kissed her gently but pulled away before my body wanted to start round three. Four?
We fell into silence for a while before she said, “I heard from my editor.”
“Oh?”
“It sounds like the paper is close to folding. She said she might go elsewhere and will try to get me in. Maybe Denver.”
“Yeah? Is that what you want?” A wave of panic threatened to ruin the moment, but I had to trust that no matter what happened, we would find our way through it.
“I don’t know. I don’t feel like I used to. I want to help people, but I am tired of throwing pebbles at barricades. I like telling individual stories. I feel like maybe that’s the direction for me. There was this mom I met when I was writing that article. I thought that I needed to help her by getting justice for the money she lost to that evil man, but I think I could focus on theseincredible ceramic beads she makes instead and her awe-inspiring life story. All that she has done for her kids.”
“I think that sounds great.”
“Are you happy about the shop?” she asked me.
“I am. I wasn’t sure I wanted the store, but after I talked with people in town, I realized that it wasn’t them I was afraid of. It was always my issues. I like being in town. I mean, not all the time. I’ll still only be open a few hours a day during peak seasons. But it’s a start.”
“I love it. I can’t wait to see it.”
“I can’t wait to show you.” I sighed. “I think Mom would like that it’s not about just her art either. I think, if anything, she’d want it to be an opportunity for others too.”
“Amazing, Levi. I’m so happy for you.”
“I reserve the right to change my mind about being in town that often.”
She laughed softly. “I will help you too if you want.”
“We’ll figure it out together.” I grabbed her knuckles and kissed them. “After all, it’s a rule.”
Chapter 35
A few weeks later
Claire
