Page 133

For a moment, the chaos of the stadium faded as Lane stepped forward and pulled me into his arms. The cheers disappeared. The noise faded until all I could feel was him. His hands cradled my face as if I was something precious.

“I love you,” he whispered against my forehead.

“I love you more.”

He pressed his forehead against mine, and I closed my eyes, finally understanding that the love I’d believed I’d lost had been waiting for me all along. When he did kiss me, it left both of us completely breathless. The crowd roared in cheers around us and I knew, with a certainty that sank deep in my bones, that coming home had been the best thing I’d ever done.

Wrapped in the warmth of the moment, I glanced across the field toward the people who had made this possible.

That was when I noticed Landry.

The smile she usually carried vanished from her face so quickly my stomach dropped. One moment she was watching Lane and me with tears in her eyes, and the next, she stood completely still, staring across the field like she had forgotten there was anyone else around her.

I followed her gaze.

A man stood alone near the visitors’ fence, untouched by the celebration happening around him. He wasn’t watching the players or the crowd. He wasn’t paying attention to the signs or the cheers echoing through the stadium.

He was only watching Landry.

Whatever she saw stole the color from her face as her hand rose slowly to cover her mouth.

“No . . .” she mouthed. She stepped backward, then again, as if distance was the only thing keeping her upright. Before anyone could ask what was wrong, she turned and disappeared beneath the bleachers.

The man didn’t move. He didn’t follow her or call after her. He only watched where she had gone, like he was still trying to convince himself she had really been there. My eyes dropped to the Carhartt jacket stretched across his shoulders. The embroidered logo over his chest was familiar.

Soren’s ranch.

The confusion only deepened.

I had no idea who he was or what had just happened between them.

But I knew one thing.

Landry knew him.

Epilogue

Lane

Four Years Later

The principal took his place at the microphone as a sea of navy blue gowns stretched across the football field. The same field where I’d spent countless Friday nights coaching, encouraging, and watching kids discover they were capable of more than they ever believed.

“Next, we’d like to recognize . . . Jace Massey.” I never thought hearing my last name over a loudspeaker could bring me to tears. Yet here I was. The name echoed through the stadium.

Beside me, Cali reached for my hand as I blinked away tears.

“There he is,” she whispered.

My throat narrowed as I nodded. “There he is.”

Jace crossed the stage with the confidence he’d fought hard to find over the last four years. It was hard to believe this was the same kid who had once stood in my pantry, afraid to ask if he still had a place. Now he strode across that field knowing exactly where he belonged.

In front of me was the young man he’d become. Tall. Steady. Kind. The kind of young man who held doors open without thinking, rushed to his little sister’s side when she scraped her knee, and never left the house without telling his mom he loved her.

The kind of young man any father would be proud to call his son.

My son.