happiness and hope. The painful memories felt like they happened a lifetime ago. And they had. Not just for her, but for him, too. They’d grown up in their time apart. They’d spent the last week talking and healing, allowing their love to bloom again, and all of that allowed her to see the good memories without experiencing the pain of the past. In the pictures, she saw two kids who were madly in love and believed the world was theirs for the taking. She felt that way now, too, only like a grown, competent and confident woman. She was a businesswoman, and, she realized, he was a businessman. Even if his business wasn’t conventional, he had a job to do, and just as her job relied on science, customers, and marketing, his relied on weather, research, and a good bit of luck. Sure, they’d have to piece their time together for a while like a long-loved quilt spun of desires, hopes, and dreams. But it was their future to build, theirs to discover, and theirs to make last forever. Only they could mess it up, and she knew he was as determined not to as she was.
Maybe she didn’t need a solid plan after all.
She just needed to believe in them.
Which she did, with every iota of her being. He wasn’t going to take off and disappear this time, and she wasn’t going to leave without a trace, either.
Feeling more grounded, she selected several of her favorite pictures of Zev and several more of the two of them. She hung a few on the message board behind her, and she tacked up a few others around the room—securing two with magnets to the side of the file cabinet, and she wedged another in the corner of the picture of the mountains hanging across from her desk. She placed the framed pictures of them with their passports in their mouths and of them holding the Goonies-style map on her desk, and felt a lot better.
She’d take the rest of the pictures home and hang them up there. Her stomach knotted at the thought of going home. She hadn’t slept there all week, but it felt more like months. But even as she thought about hanging pictures up in her house, she knew it wouldn’t be enough. With her heart in her throat, she scrambled for her phone and called Zev.
“Hey there, sexy girl. I just ate a few of the chocolates from the treasure chest you made me.” His tone turned seductive, and he said, “I have a few ideas about what we could do with the remaining chocolate.”
“Zevy,” she said urgently. “I’ve made a horrible mistake.”
ZEV SHOT TO his feet at the inn’s dining room table where he was working, his protective urges surging at the desperation in Carly’s voice. “What’s wrong? Where are you?”
“I thought I needed Zev-free zones, but I don’t. I need your scent on my sheets and to feel you in my house. I need to remember what you looked like in every room and what it feels like to have you there with me. You were right—you were always with me and part of me. But having you just in my heart and on my mind is no longer enough. I’m sorry I waited so long to come to my senses, but if you leave tomorrow and I go back to a Zev-free house, I’ll be a mess. Can you bring Bandit and stay at my house tonight? Please? We can get up at the crack of dawn to take care of the chickens.”
“Babe…” Zev bowed his head, relieved she wasn’t in danger. “Do you have any idea how much that means to me? How much I love you?”
“Hopefully enough to say yes.”
“Yes, of course. I know how big a deal this decision was for you, and I appreciate the trust you’ve put in me. I’ll sleep anywhere you want, and we don’t have to get up early. The chickens will be okay until we get there.”
She exhaled loudly, her relief palpable.
“Are you okay, babe? Do you want me to come to the shop? I was just lining up shipping to get the concretions back to the island and doing laundry.”
“No, I’m fine. I’m glad you’ll come over tonight, though.” She gave him her home address and said, “I was putting up pictures of us in my office when it hit me that you haven’t even been to my house yet, and it knocked