Chapter 16
Sixteen
JASON
Jason had never known fear like this.
Not when he’d lost his mother.
Not even when he’d found his father.
This was something else. Something raw and consuming that gnawed at his insides and left him breathless. The moment Caitlin crumpled in his arms, pale and shaking, whispering those three words with a desperate, fevered urgency, something inside him shattered.
It was like watching a piece of himself slip through his fingers, powerless to hold on.
He had known for a long time that he loved her—so much so that it was woven into the fabric of his very being. But to hear it from her lips in that moment, when she was barely holding on, was unbearable. Those words weren’t just an admission. They were a goodbye. And he couldn’t take that.
He wouldn't.
Everything had blurred into chaos after that. The race to the hospital, the nurses swarming her, the demand that he step outside while they worked on her. He had argued and nearly shouted, but in the end, they had forced him out of the room. And now, he was trapped in the sterile, too-bright hallway, feeling like he was going to come undone at the seams.
His family had come running at a single text message.
A rattler got Caitlin – on my way to ER.
They had dropped everything, converging on him like a shield, their presence grounding him even as he spiraled.
Toni cupped his face, her own tear-streaked eyes frantic as she whispered fiercely, “You have to be strong. You hear me? She needs you to be strong.” But she was shaking just as hard as he was, barely holding it together for his sake.
Derek was beside him, speaking in that calm, measured way of his. “She’s in the best place she could be. They’re doing everything they can. You got her here in time, Jason.”
At the nurses’ desk, Luke and Matthew were working the system, firing off questions, demanding answers, trying to find out exactly what they were up against. Jason barely heard them over the roaring in his ears.
Two hours later, Becca showed up, a bag slung over her shoulder. “I figured you wouldn’t be leaving her,” she said, pressing a change of clothes into his hands.
And she was right.
He wasn’t leaving.
The thought of going home without Caitlin and walking into that house without her beside him was unthinkable.
He didn’t care about the logistics—her house, his house, none of it mattered. What mattered was that she was coming home with him. Tonight. Tomorrow. Forever. Because life was too fragile to wait for the perfect moment, the perfect proposal, the perfect anything.
He had been planning to ask her under the stars, maybe after a quiet dinner, something romantic and unforgettable. But fate had nearly stolen that chance from him.
Maybe life wasn’t about the careful plans or the grand gestures. Maybe it was about now . Right now. Holding on to the people you love before they’re gone.
He exhaled sharply, finally looking up at the faces surrounding him. His family—his lifeline. They were watching him with quiet understanding, their presence a silent promise that whatever happened, they were here.
His voice was thick when he finally spoke.
“I was gonna ask her to marry me tonight.”
Toni gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth as her eyes welled up again.
“You were?” Matthew grinned. “’Bout time.” He hugged Jason tight, clapping him on the back.
“Good.” Luke nodded. “She’s good for you.”
Jason let out a shaky laugh, overwhelmed by their reactions, by their unwavering support.
“Oh, I’m so happy,” Toni whispered, glancing at Derek, her joy spilling over even in the midst of fear.
Derek simply reached out, shaking Jason’s hand firmly. “Say the word, and we’ll make that wedding happen just like you did for us.”
Jason managed a chuckle, shaking his head. “My sister is a force of nature. That was all Toni.”
Toni sniffed, giving him a watery smile. “Don’t be modest.” She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tightly.
He swallowed, his throat burning. “I don’t want a big wedding… but I need to see what Caitlin wants.”
The room went silent.
All of them stared at him like he had completely lost his mind.
“What?” he asked, defensive.
Matthew rolled his eyes. “She wants you , ya’ big dummy.” His voice was exasperated, but there was warmth there, too. “She doesn’t care about the latest trends or what music’s playing. If you married her in an alleyway, she’d be happy. Say the word, and I’ll have a guy here so fast it’ll make your head spin.”
Jason’s heart clenched. “You really think so?”
Matthew gave him a look. “I know so.”
Jason rubbed a hand over his face, emotion threatening to break him all over again. “I just… I need to see her, hold her hand—” His voice cracked.
“She’s gonna be fine,” Matthew promised, pulling him into another hug. And Jason, for the second time that night, fell apart.
By the time he was finally allowed into Caitlin’s room, nearly four hours had passed. It felt like a lifetime.
His steps were slow, hesitant as he crossed the threshold.
Her shoelaces had been cut because the swelling was so severe. Her jeans had been shredded from the thigh down, and he could still see the marks on her skin, the places where they had tracked the venom’s spread with a marker.
He would never forget the way her foot had looked in the ER—blue, swollen, and mottled with patches of death creeping up her leg. By the time they had arrived, she had been sweating, gasping for breath, her body locked in a fight for survival.
They had given her antivenom. Six vials. And they still had two more ready in case her symptoms worsened.
The doctor’s voice was a low hum in his ears, talking about how close it had been, how lucky she was. If they had been even a little later, she could have lost her foot. Or worse.
Jason had to sit down, his head in his hands, his stomach churning.
He had almost lost her.
Not in some distant, theoretical way. Not in a vague, someday kind of fear.
She had almost died. Tonight. In his arms.
He took a shuddering breath and lifted his head.
Caitlin was asleep, her face pale against the pillow, her body impossibly small beneath the hospital blankets. But she was breathing.
Alive.
He moved to her side, sinking into the chair beside her bed. His hand found hers, lacing their fingers together as he pressed a kiss against her knuckles.
And at that moment, he knew.
There was no waiting. No second-guessing. No perfect timing.
He wasn’t letting her go. Not now. Not ever.
* * *
The hospital was silent, save for the steady beeping of the monitor beside Caitlin’s bed and the muffled sounds of the night shift outside the door. Jason sat in the stiff plastic chair, his boots planted firmly on the sterile tile floor, unwilling to move, unwilling to leave her side. It was close to two in the morning, but exhaustion had no hold on him. His mind was too full, his heart too raw.
His roughened fingers wrapped around hers, his other hand turning his mother’s ring over and over between his thumb and forefinger, the metal warm from his touch. He stared at it, lost in the memories it carried.
Caitlin Barnes.
The girl who used to race Matthew down the farm road, her laughter ringing in the summer air. The fearless little thing who’d once stood knee-deep in the creek, proudly holding up a crawdad for all to see. He could still see her giggling as she let baby chicks peck at her open palm, the way she’d wrinkle her nose at a cow pie before pinching it shut and scampering away.
He let out a breathy chuckle, those images bleeding into others—ones that had gripped his heart in a way he hadn’t been ready to face before now.
Caitlin at the funeral in uniform, standing tall despite the pain. Caitlin spinning in his arms as they danced, her eyes locked on his like he was the only man in the world. The smell of pancakes in the morning as they cooked together, the warmth of her beside him as they kneaded out bread, both of them covered in flour.
The way she looked at him. The way she kissed him.
Jason swallowed hard, pressing the ring against his palm as he let his mind drift forward, daring to picture something he’d spent too long denying himself.
One year from now.
Two years.
A decade.
The thought wrapped around him like the coziest blanket he’d ever felt. He imagined tiny feet pounding against the farmhouse floors, a child's delighted shrieks echoing as a flock of baby chicks scattered. He saw himself teaching them to walk, cradling them in his arms, watching Caitlin beam up at him—her smile a balm, a promise.
And maybe he finally understood why he’d held back.
Because he knew how she felt. And deep down, he’d known what it meant. That loving her—really, truly loving her—meant letting go of the excuses, the farm, the obligations that had chained him to the past. His father had been drowning when his mother died, swallowed whole by responsibilities too heavy to bear alone. But Jason wasn’t his father. He wasn’t alone.
And he sure as heck didn’t want to be.
A soft voice broke the stillness, pulling him back.
“Jason?”
His head snapped up, eyes locking onto Caitlin’s. Even tired and bruised, her gaze was warm, sweet—welcoming.
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“I don’t want you to worry,” she murmured, squeezing his hand before lifting it to her lips and pressing a kiss to his rough skin.
His chest tightened, and he let out a husky chuckle, shaking his head. This woman. This incredible, maddening, beautiful woman. She had a way of burrowing into his heart, disarming him completely.
“I’m not,” he promised, his voice steady. “Not anymore.”
She raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.
“You just get better, so we can look forward to all the tomorrows.”
A soft smile curled her lips. “I’ve been looking forward to them for a while now.”
Jason exhaled sharply, his throat tight. “I know,” he admitted hoarsely. “I know you have. And they start now.”
Before he could second-guess himself, before fear or doubt could steal the moment, he slid the ring onto her finger, his calloused hands steady despite the pounding of his heart.
Caitlin sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes wide as she stared down at the ring, her fingers trembling slightly.
“No more waiting,” Jason said firmly. “No more dancing around it, no more trying to figure it out in my head. I want our life, our chaos, and our chance to exist in the same circles.”
Her lips parted, emotion shining in her gaze. “Oh, Jason…”
“I love you, Caitlin Barnes,” he continued, his voice turning rough, filled with the weight of everything he’d been too scared to say before. “But your last name really should be Baird by now.”
He watched her eyes shimmer in the dim light, the glow above the sink casting a faint halo around her.
“Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Her breath hitched. “Are you saying this because I nearly died or…?”
Jason let out a short laugh, shaking his head. “I’ve known since I found my mom’s ring that I wanted you to have it. And I think—” He swallowed, searching for the right words. “I think I’ve always known. Even when I was scared.”
She studied him for a long moment, her expression soft. “I understand,” she said gently.
He chuckled, shaking his head. “I know.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t understand sometimes how you can be so confident, so sure. But I know you were already there, just waiting for me to catch up.”
“I would wait for you forever.”
Jason sucked in a sharp breath, his hand tightening around hers. “Same,” he rasped. “And I think I realized that too—because in the ambulance, I kept panicking, thinking the worst. And I knew then that I didn’t want to live in a world without you. Without us.” He let out a watery laugh. “Without laughing together over crumb shots.”
Caitlin’s answering laugh was just as teary, her smile radiant despite the tears slipping down her cheeks.
“I love you, Catnip,” he whispered. “And it feels so darn good to say it aloud finally.”
Her fingers curled around his. “I love you too.”
“You’re coming home with me.”
“I know,” she whispered, a slow, content smile spreading across her lips. “And I’m glad.”
Jason smirked. “You don’t mind? I might be a little pushy and overprotective.”
She rolled her eyes playfully. “You’ve always been. And I adore that about you.”
His jaw clenched, the fear from earlier still lingering in his bones. “Don’t scare me like that again today.”
“I will do my darndest to never get bitten again,” she promised, her voice teasing but sincere.
Jason chuckled, relief washing over him as he stood, leaning over to press a lingering kiss to her lips, memorizing the feel of her, the warmth of her.
“Get some rest.”
She arched a brow. “Are you going to sit there and stare into nothing for another twenty minutes?”
“Maybe,” he admitted with a smirk.
“How about you come here, hold me, and never let me go?”
Jason choked out a laugh, emotion tightening his throat. “Are you inviting me into your bed? Dang, woman… such sexy talk.”
But she was already scooting over, weak but determined, making space for him in the hospital bed. He didn’t hesitate, climbing in beside her, pulling her close, wrapping her in the kind of embrace that promised everything—forever.
Jason held her close, his arms wrapped securely around her as though he could anchor her to him, keep her from ever slipping away. The weight of the moment settled in his chest—thick, undeniable, inescapable.
This was it. This was everything.
The way she fit against him, the steady rhythm of her breathing, the warmth of her body pressed against his own—it was a kind of magic, something he never quite believed in until her. His lips brushed against her temple, lingering there for a breath as if trying to brand the feeling into his soul.
“I love you,” he murmured, his voice hoarse, unguarded.
Caitlin let out the softest sigh, her body melting even further into his. “I love you too,” she whispered back, her words slipping into the quiet like a secret meant only for him.
Jason closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against hers. He felt it in his bones, in the marrow of his being—this wasn’t just love. This was fate. Destiny.
For so long, he had tried to keep the farm from consuming him, from becoming his entire identity, but with her, it wasn’t a weight. It wasn’t a chain around his neck dragging him under. With her, it was home. It was family.
He could see it all so clearly—kids racing through the fields, their laughter mixing with the wind as they chased fireflies at dusk. Cousins running wild, the kind of childhood he had, the kind of life that had shaped him. He could picture the farm alive with more than just duty and responsibility but with joy and love and Caitlin at his side, rolling her eyes at him when he got too serious, too stubborn, too much. The life he had always been too afraid to want, too scared to believe he could have, was right here in his arms.
He wasn’t losing himself by holding onto her.
He was finding himself.
The heart of the farm and what it meant to be a Baird.
Jason let out a breath, shifting slightly so he could look at her, but she was already slipping into sleep, the faintest smile on her lips. She was exhausted—he could see it in the way her body had gone slack, the way her breathing had deepened—but still, she clung to him, as if she needed him just as much as he needed her.
His lips curved into a smirk as he kissed her temple once more, a whisper of amusement sneaking into his voice. “I love you, Catnip.”
A soft, sleepy murmur was her only response, but it was enough.
Jason settled in, holding her close, letting the steady rise and fall of her breathing lull him into the kind of peace he hadn’t felt in years. If she was a dream, then he never wanted to wake up.
Because for the first time in his life, he was home.
In her arms.