Page 112 of Quiver

Fletcher could barely bring herself to look, but no one else had the same problem as they sprang to their feet in unison and nearly shook the cobwebs from the rafters, giving her the fortitude to turn toward the clock.

Two seconds.

Her knees nearly buckled. She’d done it. Kylie had done everything she could, and she’d done it with speed, style, and power.

Kylie took a lap, both to allow Winston to come down, and to collect the adulation she was due. Leaning down as she slowed, she shook the hands of her fellow competitors and then pulled her mount to a full stop right in front of Fletcher. She flashed her a brilliant smile and mouthed, “Thank you.”

She nodded solemnly, then stepped back as she declared, “Folks, I think it goes without saying who your champion is today.”

Kylie swung gracefully down and passed off the reins before taking a sweeping bow.

Her adoring public kept their enthusiastic ovation going, and Fletcher watched, awash in pride as she finally let herself take it all in without the tension that had restrained her until this point.

Kids jumped up and down, former students mixed with prospective ones, her friends stood by ready to help. Even Ryder gave her a subtle nod and a satisfied smile when their eyes met. Fletcher’s chest warmed at the affirmation, the support, the excitement throbbing around and between them all. Kylie’s voice echoed through her brain, You’re not done growing, either. You’re too magnificent not to change your corner of the world the same way you’ve captivated me.

She’d been inclined to argue at the time, but in this moment with these people, she felt closer than ever to reaching the goals that had driven her for so long. She’d never felt quite this way here before. Wasn’t that a huge part of what she’d been gunning for all these years? The recognition she’d wanted, not for herself but for the work she’d dedicated her whole life to?

Still, as Kylie turned to smile at her once more, she couldn’t deny that it hadn’t just been her own work to lead her here. She’d built the building and the business and the skill to serve as both teacher and ambassador, but this woman had made it something more. She’d made Fletcher something more. When she’d come back to town all those weeks ago, she’d sworn she needed Fletcher, but now the relationship seemed to work the other way around, too.

Kylie extended an arm to Fletcher. She tried to shake her off, but as usual, no was not an acceptable answer in Kylie’s world. She pulled Fletcher forward and right into a hug.

“You did it,” Fletcher whispered.

“We did it. You were the lynchpin holding all my dreams together.”

“And you breathed new life into mine.”

Fletcher eased back slightly and nodded toward the crowd as new questions twisted in her chest. Could she sustain any of this on her own? Or would it all be gone when Kylie left again?

What would happen if she had to choose between the success that sustained her drive and the woman who inspired it?

Standing there, in the midst of it all, with Kylie as close as her next breath, she wasn’t quite as sure as she had been an hour ago.

She shook her head. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t afforded any such choice. That was the deal they’d made. Kylie wasn’t asking her to wait, and Fletcher had promised not to ask her to stay.

She had to get back to work. She broke the contact between them and fished in her pocket to pull out a small medal on a ribbon. She unfurled it and let the crowd see before taking up the mic one last time.

“Ms. Manchester … Kye.” They smiled at each other. “Congrats on your most recent win.”

Kylie lowered her head and allowed Fletcher to fit the ribbon around her neck, then beamed proudly as she straightened up again. “How do I look in my new jewelry?”

“It suits you,” Fletcher said honestly. Then on a rash impulse, or maybe a surge of happiness, she leaned forward and kissed her quickly on the cheek.

Kylie froze for a second, her shoulders tightening and her eyes wide.

Fletcher’s heart kicked her ribs at the fear that she’d just crossed a line. Sweat pricked along her palms before Kylie caught her by the front of her shirt and hauled her in for a real kiss.

Somewhere in the distance, people laughed or clapped or catcalled them, but the white noise of her own pulse rushing through her ears reduced the world around them to a low din.

For a single, blissful moment, the two of them stood alone, together in front of the crowd until Kylie eased back and met her eyes. “I love you.”

Fletcher smiled and pressed her forehead to Kylie’s.

“I know.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Kylie beamed at Fletcher for a few seconds, her chest expanding nearly to the point of exploding. Then she snatched the microphone from those skilled hands and turned to encompass the crowd in the joy overwhelming her. She swung wide her arm in a sweeping gesture to her friends and family, former neighbors, and well-wishing strangers while her brain latched onto the individual faces of her parents, Ava and Bex, Mimi, even Sophia and Talia. Every one of those people had the right to feel abandoned, let down, or just plain annoyed with her, and yet here they were, cheering her success. Or rather their success, because she wouldn’t have any of this without Fletcher.