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“In your dreams, Ranger Carmichael,” Kat said, knowing that he wasn’t a ranger but a federal agent, and knowing that it irritated him.
“You’re always in my dreams.” He winked.
“Uh! Like I said, full of himself.”
Nolan’s gaze went over Kat’s head to meet Milly’s. “Congrats on the job and welcome aboard.”
Milly rolled her eyes. “Is there anyone Brynn didn’t tell?” Even as she said it, she froze. Her mom. Her dad.
Jax.
God, she didn’t want them to hear about this through the grapevine. “I haven’t accepted yet,” she clarified. “I said I would think about it. So could you all please add that to the story when you pass it along?”
“Gotcha,” Nolan said and lifted his ball cap in a gentlemanly gesture. “Ladies.” He turned to Kat and said, “Trouble,” then he left.
“Back to the secret at hand,” Gemma said. “Are you really considering it?”
“Why don’t you sound happy?” Milly asked confused. “You two have been harassing me to stay in Sierra Vista since I graduated college. If I take the job, I’d be staying.” Milly had a sister, so she knew what Gemma and Kat’s shared looks meant. They were silently talking about her behind her back, while she was standing right there. “This is what you wanted.”
“But what do you want?” Gemma asked.
To be happy.
And, just like that, her mind was made up. Milly couldn’t think of any place she’d like to settle down more than Sierra Vista. She’d pushed through the grief and felt closer to her sister’s memory than ever. In fact, she felt as if she’d never really lost her sister. Her sister was in her heart. Memories were forever and memories were meant to be made.
And she wanted to make them here, in a town that offered so many adventures she had yet to tackle. And she wasn’t just talking about fun, she was talking about having a full and exciting life that included more than just a career and family. One that included happiness and fulfillment and love.
She was in a town she loved. A house she cherished. With friends around her and parents whose love was so large they wouldn’t give her a moment’s peace. Yet, until recently, she’d never felt so alone. She’d thought about nothing other than going back in time, before cancer and death and the consuming grief. She’d felt like she was going under. Except when she was with Jax. He made her feel connected to something larger, more powerful than loss.
Milly’s chest constricted and her head went a bit dizzy.
Love?
Oh god. Love—question mark unnecessary.
Milly closed her eyes. Somewhere between their one-night stand and camping under the “stars,” this faux-mance had become real. So real she felt like laughing and crying all at the same time.
Milly had fallen in love. Fully, hopelessly, and stupidly in love with a man who wasn’t even hers. But could he be hers? Milly had overcome so many obstacles these past few months—many of them with Jax by her side. Yet, come next week he wouldn’t be by her side. He wouldn’t even be in the same country. He’d be in Germany and then it was Switzerland and then, well, she didn’t know where, except it wouldn’t be here.
Any desire she had to ask him to stay, to make Sierra Vista his homebase, would be flat-out selfish.
She’d tried the long-distance thing with Dillon, and it had blown up in her face. How was she supposed to make it work with a globe-trotter when she couldn’t make it work with a guy who was just a commuter plane ride away?
You’ve overcome harder obstacles, she reminded herself. She’d uprooted her life for Zoe, relocating, figuring out work and life and everything that comes with a cross-country move.
She was a logistics coordinator for goodness’ sake. Her job was to figure out how to get something from point A to point B—and sometimes that meant going through the entire alphabet until point B came up again. It also meant knowing when to zag when others expected you to zig.
She was ready for a little zagging in her life.
“What do I want? To say yes.”
“And why do you want to say yes?” Gemma asked.
Milly glared halfheartedly. “Not because of why you think.” When they didn’t look convinced, she added, “Or because of who you think.”
“Ah huh,” Kat said.
Clearly, she wasn’t winning over this jury.
