43. Isabelle
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
isabelle
W e pulled into Reid’s driveway back in Silver Creek later that night, well after the sun went down. I was leaving to go back to Texas the next day, and my heart dropped at the thought of leaving. I’d loved being here for the past month and a half, but I needed to get back home. If not for my job, then for my sister.
“I’m really proud of you, you know?” I leaned into Reid, resting my head on his shoulder as we sat in the driveway.
He turned to kiss my temple. “I know. It took a lot, but I’m glad I did it. It needed to happen.” He opened the driver’s side door, taking the keys out of the ignition to stop the engine.
“So, girlfriend, huh?” I teased as I reached for my door handle, remembering he called me his girlfriend without ever actually discussing it with me first.
“I figure it was about time we admitted we’ve always had something more than a friendship. If that’s what you want,” he added quickly as he walked around the front of the truck to meet me and hold my door open .
I smiled as I stepped out and faced him.
I’ve wanted that for a long time.
“I mean, you’re okay with a long-distance relationship?” I asked, thinking about what it would entail.
“As long as I’ve got you, I’m happy with whatever you want to give me. Besides, I’m still going to be traveling most of the year, and I wouldn’t expect you to give up your life to come on the road with me.” His voice softened.
I slowly inhaled. “I’m happy as long as I have you too. Right now, I need to go back to Texas. I need to make sure my sister is okay, but I want to make this work.”
“That makes perfect sense. Even though I won’t be there with you, you know I’ll always be there to support you.” He took my hand, gently squeezing it.
“I know. And that’s why I love—” I stopped myself mid-sentence as a look of shock flashed across Reid’s face. “I-I wasn’t going to say it yet because I know it’s so early and we just got together, but with everything that’s happened these past few days, weeks even, I just need you to know. I love you, Reid Lawson, and I don’t expect you to say it back but?—”
“I love you too, Isa Bennett.” He smiled. “Honeybee, I loved you a year ago, and I love you now, and I’m going to keep loving you for as long as you’ll let me. We’re going to be just fine, you and me.”
I believed every word he said.
He pulled me into a hug and when we finally broke apart, I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him.
Love is messy. It’s imperfect and complex, but with the right person by your side, love could get you through anything.
I thought back to the past year and a half and everything Reid and I had worked through. He was my safe place.
I’d always believed in true love—that everyone deserves their own happy endings. For a long time, I questioned whether I would get my own. But here in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Montana, with the boy I’d loved for the past year, my worries melted away, and I just knew.
This was the real thing. This love was true.