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She gasped and crouched down, but he was faster. He scooped up her letter and that was when she recognized the boots. As they both stood, her eyes darted to Simon’s face and her heart stopped.
“Simon?” Her voice cracked. “What are you doing here?”
He stared at the document in his hand, brows furrowed. Then his eyes flitted back to meet hers and he held it up. “What’s this?”
Her instincts told her to snatch it out of his hands and brush it off. She hadn’t figured out what she wanted to tell him regarding her decision to come home, and now it was back to being up in the air.
No, not in the air. She still planned on leaving. It was whether the company wanted to keep her or cut her loose that could change. She smiled apprehensively, opting to look at the paper instead of his scrutinizing eyes. “It’s a letter of resignation.”
“I know that. But why do you have it?”
“It’s mine.”
“You know what I’m trying to ask,” he whispered. His hand dropped to his side, and he raked his free one through his hair so haphazardly that it left him looking like he’d just climbed out of bed. “You know what? Never mind. I came here to tell you something and that’s what I’m going to do.” He straightened his shoulders and leaned forward so he could take one of her hands in his.
“Simon, you don’t have to?—”
“Let me just say my piece, okay? I’ve gone over it and over it in my head and I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t get it out.” He took a deep breath and then sighed. “The farm is just a place. What I have there? They’re just things, just possessions. I can’t take any of that with me into the next life, but Icantake my memories. Icantake my heart.”
Her own heart had burst into overdrive at his words, but he wasn’t prepared to give her a turn to speak.
“There’s only one thing that makes sense to me—one thing that is more important than anything else. And that’s family. All I know is that family is going to be the thing that gets me through. Family will be the one part of my life that will both heal my heart and make it happy. Katrina, my heart belongs to you.”
Mouth dry, lump in her throat, Katrina couldn’t bring herself to utter a single syllable. Heck, she probably couldn’t even mumble without sounding like a little mouse. He was saying everything she should have said when she was deciding whether to take this job. Hand it to Simon to be the brave one, the generous one, the one who had managed to change her heart without her realizing it.
Katrina threw her arms around his neck and peppered his face with kisses. When she pulled back, her nose and cheeks were flushed not only from the kiss but from the utter embarrassment over what she’d done. Yet again, she’d put what she’d thought she wanted at the forefront of her mind.
The funny thing was that her job here wasn’t important anymore. She reached down and took the paper from his hand. “Give me one second.”
Katrina hurried the few steps back to her boss’s office, marched right up to her desk and put the letter front and center.
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me, and if it works out, that’s great. But one way or another, my last day in the office will be two weeks from now.”
She didn’t even bother waiting for Kendall to give her a response before she took off.
Once she was out the door and into the hallway, she all but threw herself at Simon. “I can’t believe you came,” she murmured. “I don’t think you’ve ever been out of Rocky Ridge.”
“I haven’t,” he murmured.
“And you came all this way…”
“To tell you I love you and I’m not going to stand by and let you walk out of my life.”
She tilted her head and smiled. “And what would you have done if I told you that I’m not coming back?”
“I thought that was clear.” The lines in his brow deepened. “I would go anywhere to be with you, Katrina. You are my home.”
Her heart fluttered again. “Well, lucky for both of us, I’ve realized something, too.”
He waited, his boyish grin fueling her like nothing else could.
“I can’t stand the city anymore.” Before he could misunderstand her statement, she inched closer and lowered her voice. “It’s notreallythe city or the people. It’s a lot more than that.” She dug deep, hoping what she had to say would resonate with him the way his words had with her. “Honestly? I think if I knew you could be happy here, I’d stay—just so long as I had you.”
He blinked. “Well, that’s an option?—”
“No, it’s not. You’d be absolutely miserable if we stayed here. You would hate the traffic, the noises, and the crime. Heck, I would wager that you’d even hate the fact that people here wouldn’t know your name.” Katrina laughed, then her expression sobered and she placed a hand to his cheek before pushing it up into his hair and letting her fingers feather through the strands. “You have spent your whole life being there for me—the only one I could count on to always be by my side. You’ve only ever wanted my happiness.” Her emotions got the better of her, and her voice shook slightly. “It’s my turn to make sure you find your happiness.”
“I am happy?—”
