AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This was harder than he’d thought. Elijah had figured he’d simply march up to her, hand over the documents, then tell her he loved her and he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d thought it would be romantic and she’d throw her arms around him and tell him it was about time.
But the more he thought about it, the more he realized they weren’t living in a fairytale, and he had to accept the consequences of what he’d done. He worked his jaw, glancing down at the paperwork once more. “I have something to tell you, and I need you to listen.”
“Okay.”
Swallowing hard, he lifted his focus to her. “I need you to know I’m sorry for what I did—for what I agreed to do. There are no excuses for my behavior. And it should have never happened in the first place.” With that, he strode forward and held out the contract. “This is my only copy. That should be all you need to take over your family’s farm. I should have given it to you weeks ago, but—”
“Elijah,” she murmured softly, “I’m not even sure I want the farm.”
His brows drew together. “But—”
She pressed her lips together, and then a small smile touched her lips. “Right now, I’m trying to fix my relationship with my dad. There’s a lot more to it than that, but I know it’s better to prioritize that over the property.” Scarlett handed the documents out to him. “Besides, I barely know anything about running the place. I know how to work it, but a lot of the rest goes over my head. It’s probably why my dad thought it was better to leave it to someone else.”
He stared at the papers, unable or unwilling to accept them. “But you love that farm.”
“I do. And if what my dad says is true, then in a decade, he’ll be gone and I won’t have anything to tie me to this place.”
You’ll have me.
The words clung to his tongue, refusing to be uttered. His heart jumped with fear—the kind of aching terror that came with the possibility of losing her. He couldn’t let her go.
Not again.
“Scarlett,” he whispered, “About what I said at the airport…”
“Yeah?”
“I meant it. Every last bit of it. I’m in love with you. I don’t care if I have to give up the farm or how long I have to wait. I’m willing to—”
Her hand shot out and reached for his, effectively cutting off his ability to speak. He rubbed his thumb over her knuckle, unsure of where she was going with this, then lifted his gaze to meet hers. All he wanted in the whole world was for her to tell him that she loved him too. He wanted her to assure him they could work this out. He wanted their happily ever after.
She edged closer. “I love you, too.”
He couldn’t trust that he’d heard her correctly.
Scarlett glanced away. She worried her lower lip and shifted but kept her hand within his. “There’s so much going through my head lately. First, there’s my dad. We’re not even sure he was diagnosed correctly. He’s still waiting on a second opinion.” She shook her head. “Can you believe he didn’t even go meet with other doctors?”
Elijah couldn’t tear his gaze from her. Was she finally trying to open up to him again? He leaned in closer.
“Then there’s the farm. I don’t know what I would do without you there. I thought I might be able to handle it… but I just… can’t.” She glanced up at him, a blush crossing her cheeks. “I’m realizing I was being a little silly about it all.”
“You weren’t being silly. It’s your home. It makes sense that you want to be able to continue running it.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, but it would make more sense if someone who knew what they were doing were to take charge. You are actually a really good fit.” She swallowed and then cleared her throat. “And then there’s you.”
He stilled.
“I wanted to hate you for what you did. Even when I knew it made sense, I just wanted to be angry. But… I couldn’t. I realized you needed it more than me.”
“I don’t need it—”
“Elijah, I can see it. You’re happier when you’re working on the farm. You are the kind of guy who feels complete when he has a purpose. You’ve never been very happy at being a follower. Having your own place just makes sense.” She gave him a small smile. “If my father had to give it to anyone… I’m glad it was you. I want you to be happy.”
That sounded an awful lot like she wanted to stay far away from him. Elijah’s hand tightened on hers and closed the distance between them. “I won’t be happy unless you’re in my life, Scarlett. That’s what I wanted to tell you. I don’t know why I accepted the proposal your father made. But I knew he wouldn’t accept my help if I said no to it, so I guess I just went along with it. I thought we could figure that out as time went on. I love you more than the farm—more than life itself. I don’t know that I could live without you.”
He let his words sink in. She needed to know just how far he’d fallen for her.
“If you aren’t interested, tell me now and I’ll walk away. But if there’s even a tiny possibility that you think we could make it work… I want another chance.” Elijah brought his hand to her cheek and whispered. “Please tell me we have a shot.”
