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He chuckled, “I did, but I’ll send your thanks as well.”
Kenna looked around the cottage and checked the view from each window before asking. “So, what now?”
He chuckled again. “What do you want to do?”
“Honestly? Do you mind if we just sit out on the porch for a bit?”
“I don’t mind at all.”
He opened the door for her and smiled when she selected the glider for two and sat down, patting the place beside her.
He sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Her head tilted and rested on his shoulder. He moved the glider back and forth. Slow and steady. The weather was perfect under the roof of the porch. The songs of the birds and the movement of the ducks on the pond lent itself to peace and tranquility.
They rocked for a long time. His eyes grew heavy and his head bobbed a couple of times. It was so peaceful here. He tried remembering the last time he’d felt so comfortable with another person. Sitting and saying nothing felt—right. The only other person in his life he’d ever sat with and not talked to was his mom. She seemed to sense when he needed calm, and she was always there as he grew up to give him that. Now Kenna.
“This is nice,” she whispered.
“MmmHmm.”
He continued moving them evenly. Kenna inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she lifted her head and sat up straight.
“You know, I’ve got some big decisions to make right now.”
He shifted on the loveseat. “I’m aware.”
“How do you feel about that?”
He chuckled. “I don’t see that they’re my decisions to make, honey.”
She nodded, her eyes on the ducks. “But they affect you.”
“Yes. I’m painfully aware of that fact.”
She turned and looked into his eyes then. She slightly bunched her brows and pronounced the worry line between them. “What do you want?”
“Nope. I’m not deciding for you, Kenna.” He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.
She shifted so her body faced his. Their rocking movement stopped. “Spencer. I love you. I honest-to-goodness love you. No one in my life has ever made me feel like you do. These past weeks have been scary, and sweet, and amazing, and sad. So many things, but the one constant is you.”
He leaned back and placed his elbow on the back of the seat. His fingers slipped into the dark, silky hair that fell over her shoulder. He watched the satiny strands flow through his fingers like water and fall back onto her shoulder.
“Honey. I love you like I’ve never loved anyone else before. That said, I don’t want to lose you. I want us to have a real chance to see how we fit for the long term. But I know you don’t feel safe here, for obvious reasons. And, as much as I’ll do anything in my power to make sure you’re always safe, there will be one day when I’m not around. There is also the chance we could move somewhere else. Indiana is where my job is. We could go there.”
“Right.” She licked her lips.
He continued. “I can’t make your decisions for you because you need to sort them for yourself. In the end, you need to know the decisions you make are yours and only yours. I’d never want you to regret staying or going because I suggested it.”
40
He was something special for sure.
“I understand.” She did, but it left her shoulders with all the weight on them for now. She was a big girl though, and she’d make the decisions she knew she could live with. She smiled as she thought, that’s exactly what he meant for her to do.
She watched the ducks waddle out of the pond and up on the grass. They shook their bodies, ruffled their feathers to dry, and picked at the ground, looking for food. Spencer’s stomach growled, and she turned to him. “Let’s go inside and eat.”
His grin was beautiful. “I thought you’d never ask.”
He stood and held his hand out to her. She laid her hand in his and enjoyed the connection, just that created.
