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Scarlett’s smile widened and the sparkle in her eyes returned. “Of course we have a chance. Haven’t you been listening? I love you, too.”
“Will you guys just kiss already?” Annabel groaned from the doorway.
Elijah grinned at his sister’s voice, not breaking eye contact with Scarlett for even a second. He raised his eyebrows, scared to ask the next question but knowing he had to. “What do you say?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Scarlett framed his face with both of her hands and pulled him close, capturing his lips in a breath-stealing kiss. With one touch Scarlett could claim him as her own. He had no doubts about how she felt or where he stood.
He was hers.
And she was his.
And neither one of them was going anywhere.
EPILOGUE
Scarlett
Scarlett gathered the glasses she’d filled with iced tea and placed them on the tray table. It felt like she’d been wearing a perma-grin since that day when Elijah had practically cornered her in his living room.
Everything had changed between them from that moment forward. They’d become inseparable. From the work on her farm to when she visited him at his family’s ranch.
The few weeks of limbo had been nearly unbearable, but that was behind her—behindthem. Not only had she found her place in the world, she’d found herself.
She hefted the tray and headed for the back door. Pushing against it, she emerged to find her favorite people lounging on the porch. Annabel was sprawled out on a hammock, her father rocked in a wooden chair, and Elijah sat between them. Lazy Sunday afternoons like this one were her favorite. A day of rest. Just as the Lord had intended.
Her father grabbed his glass and she moved toward Annabel, who accepted hers. Then she put the tray down and took Elijah his drink. She sat next to him on the porch swing, their free hands clasped together. Once upon a time, she would have been worried what the other two people present would have thought, but not anymore.
This simply felt right.
Her father smiled at her, though beneath the surface she could get the barest hint that he was still worried. It might have been about the uncertainties with his health or perhaps the future of the farm, but either way, she planned on being there for all of it.
Annabel was laughing at something Elijah had said—something Scarlett had missed when she had been inside.
“I’m serious. You can’t tell me that you still think relationships aren’t for you. Just look at Scarlett. She finally found someone.”
Annabel snorted. “Yeah, she foundyou.”
“Hey,” Elijah shot back. “Be nice. At least she didn’t fall for Lucas.”
“I’ll drink iced tea to that.” She lifted a glass.
Scarlett chuckled. “Lucas isn’t so bad. He’s just not ready for commitment. Annabel, you’re pretty much the same. And if you’re unwilling to do anything about it, then why should he?”
“Oh no, you don’t.” Annabel shifted in the hammock, nearly causing it to twist and dump her out on the wooden porch. “Don’t you dare lump me in with him. He and I are very different.”
“Yeah,” Elijah murmured beside her ear. “Lucas wants to sample everyone he can get his hands on, and Annabel only wanted the one guy. When he broke her heart, she swore off guys just like you had.”
Carlos seemed to be amused to simply be witness to this conversation, but Scarlett couldn’t believe her ears. “Wait, you’re not talking about…” she started.
Elijah nodded. “Oh, I’m talking about him, alright. You remember Dalton, don’t you?”
“Elijah! Don’t.” Annabel’s voice was firm. The humor had fled from her gaze.
“That’swho it was.” Scarlett grinned at her friend. “You had itbadfor him, remember? Dalton was the one guy who you pined for even afteryoubroke up withhim. I never understood that, you know…” Except it made more sense now that she was aware of how Annabel had always tried to find ways to fit in with those she surrounded herself with.
“It just didn’t work out, and you know why.” Annabel gave Scarlett a pointed look as if that was all it would take to remind her about how hard it had been for Annabel to figure out where she stood in that relationship. “Sometimes things go bad. And sometimes love finds a way—just like it did with you two.” Annabel settled back into her hammock and avoided looking at them directly. “Besides, he went off and married that one girl we all hated and moved out of town. It’s not like I ever had a shot with him anyway. And we clearly weren’t all that close to begin with or he would have told me when he decided to move away with his mom during senior year.”
“He’s back in town, you know,” Elijah said.
