Page 184 of Sunrise & Serenity

Climbing in, she squints at me. “You’re being suspicious.”

I round the hood, chuckling. Then I slide in myself.

It only takes a few minutes to reach my destination beside one of the lower meadows. The ranch house is still visible in the distance. We could have walked here, but I didn’t want to push her too hard.

She looks out the window, then at me. “Okay. Why are we here?”

“Trust me,” I tell her, the words lingering in the air.

Her eyes drift over my face, and my pulse kicks into high gear as she nods. “I do.”

Fighting the urge to close my eyes in relief, I open my door and climb out. Before I reach her side, she has hers open.

Stubborn woman.

The way she grins at me tells me she read my mind loud and clear.

I let her climb down on her own. But I get a little distracted by the way the breeze catches her hair, sunlight glinting off the faint gold strands threaded through the dark.

With a long exhale, I drag my eyes away. “Come on.”

I take her hand again, and with the grass brushing our boots, we make our way toward the rise overlooking the valley.

We stop not far from an old shed that’s been sitting here unused for as long as I can remember. She lifts a hand to shield her eyes from the glare, her attention settling on the valley below.

The creek winds through the pasture below, glinting in the afternoon sun. She’s perfectly still, taking it in, the way she always does when she finds something beautiful.

Like she’s memorizing the moment and tucking it away. Keeping it.

I don’t think she’ll ever know how much I love watching her do that.

“God, it’s beautiful,” she says, the sunlight shimmering in her eyes.

“Wait here for a second,” I tell her, then jog back to the truck and grab the folder out of the back seat.

When I get back to her, my heart is pounding against my ribs like a damn jackhammer.

She tilts her head, a smile of curiosity tipping her lips up.

I hand the folder over to her. “This is for you.”

She gives me a puzzled look before opening it. Her brow furrows as she looks over the first page. Then her lips part, and her eyes flash up to mine.

“A photography studio?”

I grip the back of my neck. “It’s just an idea. Nothing’s set in stone. It doesn’t have to be here. And you can change anything you want. I just…” I’ve never been this nervous before. Not even the first time I got on the back of a bull. “I needed to do something. Show you what’s possible.”

“Holden,” she whispers.

“The old shed’s not worth saving.” I look toward it instead of at her. “Sterling was already talking about tearing it down.”

Head lowered, she looks at the plans, and her fingers tighten on the paper.

A feeling more dangerous than nerves rises in my chest.

Hope.

Then she turns the page and freezes. “What’s this?”