how much it had hurt to be left behind. She’d never forget, the same way she was sure he’d never forget how it had felt when she’d taken off in Mexico. But they had both forgiven, and they weren’t those scared kids anymore. They were smarter, more careful with themselves and with each other’s hearts.
Bandit made a whimpering noise in his sleep. Carly wondered if he was feeling off-kilter, too. He was curled up behind Zev’s knees. He’d never climbed on the bed at Beau’s. Carly had been awake when Bandit had snuck onto the bed like a ninja, but she hadn’t had the heart to move him. She had a feeling Bandit sensed something was about to change, and he needed to be close to Zev, too.
Her gaze drifted to the pictures they’d hung on the wall of her and Zev, cliff diving back home in Maryland and bundled up in the snow holding snowboards on a trip they’d taken their first year in college. A picture of them with Tory and Beau dressed up for a middle school dance sat on the dresser across from her bed. Zev and Beau were decked out in button-down shirts, ties, and slacks. Beau wore dress shoes, his hair neatly brushed. Zev wore hiking boots. His tie was crooked, and his hair hung in his eyes. Carly still got tingles in her belly at the sight of her younger boyfriend just as she had back then. She looked at Tory, her childhood best friend, pink cheeked and glowing in a peach dress with a matching corsage and heels. Carly remembered them getting ready for that dance together. She and Tory had been all giggles and giddiness as they’d dressed. Carly had paired a royal-blue dress with flats, because Zev hadn’t yet hit his growth spurt and he’d been only an inch or two taller than she was. He had made her a corsage using fishing line to string together all her favorite cereals. He’d looped and tied, creating funky flowers and bulky stems. Her friends had thought it was weird, but she’d thought it was the most magnificent thing she’d ever been given. She’d thought he was the most magnificent boy to ever walk the earth.
He pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, his warm lips drawing her from her memories as he whispered, “Morning, gorgeous.”
She swore she felt her heart smile. That old adage about time healing wounds wasn’t as true as she’d once believed. She’d had years to heal from her heartbreak, and she’d thought she had. But now she knew that she’d still had wounds that had needed tending and could only be healed by her and Zev working through pain and tears together, talking, loving, accusing, and accepting. Now, on the other side of all that, she saw parts of her future so clearly. She and Zev might not be perfect by other people’s standards, but they were honest, and their love was truer and deeper than any she’d ever known.
As she turned in his arms, knowing all of his faults and weaknesses as well as she knew her own, his sleepy eyes met hers, and she still thought he was the most magnificent creature to ever walk this earth.
“I have a surprise for you,” he said softly, holding her close. “I arranged for two horses at the ranch this morning so you wouldn’t miss your Sunday horseback ride. I know you have a huge day of festival prep planned and need to be at the shop early, so they’ll have the horses ready by six.”
Her Sunday-morning horseback ride was the last thing on her mind. How could it be in the forefront of his? “Were you always this thoughtful?”
“I don’t know, but I promised to add to your life here, not take away from it, and I meant it.”
She loved him so much. How was she supposed to go back to her life without him by her side and maintain her sanity when she didn’t know how long they’d be apart? The void his presence and his love would leave behind felt like a villain waiting in the wings.
“It means the world to me that you thought ahead and arranged all of that, but would you mind if we skipped riding?” she asked. “I really want to just be alone with you until you have to leave. I don’t care if we go to the inn to feed the chickens, stay in bed, or take