Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
JASPER
My shoulders were tight, muscles coiled with lingering tension from our family meeting. The gravel driveway crunched under my boots as I shifted my weight, unable to stay still.
Damn, why am I so anxious?
Maybe because I had watched Nat walk into the barn with Elliot, and I didn't want to go two-and-oh on my brothers messing with my girl.
Then again, this was Elliot we were talking about.
And Natalie.
She loves me. She's home. She's staying.
I closed my eyes, leaned back against the truck, and silently repeated the mantra. The barn door creaked, and my eyes snapped open. Elliot emerged, veering off toward the house. Natalie was right behind him. When she spotted me, a smile broke over her face and she hurried over. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes unnaturally bright .
I straightened up, pulling my hands from my pockets.
"Jas," she panted, coming to a stop a few feet away. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. "I-I love you."
My heart pounded against my ribcage, threatening to burst free. The world around us dissolved, leaving only her standing before me, vulnerable and raw.
Say something, you idiot.
I closed the distance between us. My hand reached out, seemingly of its own accord, and cupped her cheek. Her skin was soft beneath my palm, and she leaned into my touch, reaching up and cradling my hand to her face.
The familiar orchard aroma of apples and earth was eclipsed by coconut and vanilla.
"I'm sorry for running again," she said, her voice soft but steady. "I feel like I never got around to saying it properly before. I'm not going to make excuses for myself. It was a knee-jerk reaction, and I regret it more than you know."
I wanted to pull her to me, but I held off. She wasn't done, I could see it in the set of her jaw, the determined spark in her eyes.
"I'm done running, Jasper. I've realized it doesn't matter how far I go."
I tilted my head, a question forming on my lips, but she beat me to it.
"No matter where I am, my heart will always be in Sable Point... with you."
The words slammed into my chest like a sledgehammer. My shoulders slumped, the tension seeping out of me as her confession sank in .
She extended her hand, offering me something.
My fingers grazed her soft skin as I took the object from her. It was a piece of wood, smooth to the touch, but unexpectedly weighty in my palm.
My eyes burned as I ran my thumb over the carved initials: J + N.
Fuck, I remember carving this like it was yesterday.
I blinked rapidly, but it was no use. A tear escaped, sliding down my cheek.
"Jas?" Natalie's voice was soft, concerned.
I couldn't look at her. Not yet. I kept my eyes fixed on the wood, tracing the lines of our initials over and over.
I finally lifted my gaze to meet Natalie's, my vision blurry. How could I possibly express what this meant to me?
I stretched out my hand, reaching for hers. Our fingers laced together, and we stood under the tree, cradling this precious fragment of our past. It felt like solid proof. Proof that, in spite of everything, our love survived, like a tiny flame that refused to be snuffed out.
If the roots are strong, the tree will survive.
Papa's old adage echoed through my mind, and I smiled to myself. Perhaps true love was a lot like a tree, a lot like this orchard. Sometimes life brought a storm and a few branches got knocked off, but if the roots were sound, we'd still be standing when everything blew over. There might have been a storm on the horizon then, but Ever Eden could tough it out. And so could we.
"Ask me again," Natalie whispered.
"What? "
"Ask me again," she repeated, more insistent this time.
For a second, I looked at her blankly. And then it clicked.
A question I had asked her seven years ago.
A question she had said no to.
A question I never believed I'd have the chance to ask her again.
"Natalie..."
"Please, Jas," she pleaded, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
"Fuck." I was overwhelmed by the moment, by her. "Natalie Marie Choi, will you... will you marry me?"
"Yes."
She answered without hesitation, and it was the sweetest sound I had ever heard.
My smile stretched my face to the point of pain, and Nat's matched it. We soaked it in, the moment we'd both been waiting seven years for. Because we were each other's home, and no amount of time or space could ever change that.