“I am. Always have been. I have no desire to live in a city. In fact, I hope one day to have a log home and a shop on at least ten acres.”
“I can see that,” she said, her grin putting me at ease.
I hoped she was finished with the questions.
“So…when did you move out of your mom’s house?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I was seventeen, just out of high school, when she married for the third time. The guy didn’t like me and I couldn’t stand him, so it was for the best that I left. The marriage didn’t last long after.” I shrugged as though I didn’t care, but it had been a nightmare. “Now she’s with Gerald, a guy she met online. She moved to San Antonio…and she seems happy. After working hard for so many years, she’s finally able to stay home and take care of her husband, which is something she’s always yearned for.”
“That has to be a relief for you.” She brushed a wayward curl behind her ear. “That she’s happy, I mean.”
“It is. She deserves to be happy after such a long time.” I cleared my throat. “And what about you? Where do you see yourself in the future?”
It was her turn to look uncomfortable. “I thought I’d already be married and maybe even have a baby by now…but that didn’t work out so well.”
“I’m sorry.”
Taking the steps that separated us, she set the camera on the dresser. “I asked you. It’s only fair you’re able to ask me the same thing.”
I wanted to kiss her so badly. To tell her she was the most amazing woman I knew. “He was a fool to let you go.”
She pressed her lips together, the sides of her mouth lifting just slightly. There was no denying the pain in her eyes. “Thank you. I appreciate that, Brax. As for the future, I want to be happy. Whatever that means. I still want to be married, have children, and live in a house with a white picket fence.”
I could give you all those things. I wanted to say the words. Instead, I kept my mouth shut.
“A job I love would be nice, too,” she said, making it sound like doing what you loved was unattainable.
“You don’t like human resources?”
Shrugging, she dropped her gaze to the ground between us. “It’s a paycheck. That’s it. I don’t know if I was ever really good at it anyway. People say I was too lenient and too nice. I hated firing people. That part of the job tested me in more ways than one.”
“If you could do anything, what would that be?”
She glanced at the camera and hesitated. “Something creative, I suppose.”
Once again I was seeing the more sensitive woman she had become versus the headstrong girl who had left Maple Creek all those years ago. “You should do photography then,” I said matter-of-factly. “Go after what you want.”
She shook her head. “You’re so optimistic.”
“I suppose I am. My mom always said I have rose-colored glasses syndrome. I’m just a firm believer in going after what I want.”
My tone had changed. And if I wasn’t mistaken, she had noticed it since her cheeks had turned pink.
I cleared my throat. “You have your family, you have your friends, and we’re here to help you.”
“It’s nice to be back.”
“I know your brother is elated.”
“Has he told you as much?” she asked, humor clear in her voice.
“Of course. Do you know that he cried when you left Maple Creek for Arizona? Actually, I’m pretty sure we both did. After all, I never had any siblings. You were the closest thing to it.”
She frowned. “So you think of me like a sister?”
I laughed. “You know the answer to that.”
“So you’re happy I’m home.”
With raging emotions, I took the final step that separated us, bent down, and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I had meant for it to be a kiss to comfort, or at least that’s what I told myself. But it wasn’t what it ended up being.
I don’t know which of us turned our face, but our lips met and that was it. I pulled away slightly, looking down at her, waiting for her to push me away.