CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Asher
Traffic.
Who would have thought I’d encounter traffic on the way home? But sure enough, I did. I’m going twice the speed limit down the road leading to my house. Luckily no one is on it because it’s ten minutes till eight, and the last thing I want to do is screw this up and be late.
When I turn the corner and The Fields comes into view, it takes me a second to believe it’s mine. The lights illuminating the trees. The spotlights on the barn. The dark silhouette of the hill behind it.
It’s mine.
Pride like I’ve never felt before fills me.
I’ll find a way to make this work. It’s the only option.
But when I go to turn down the driveway, there’s asphalt. And not just a road patch onto the gravel driveway, but the entire driveway is paved.
How did George get this done?
I know we’d talked about it, but that was when I thought I was getting the loan.
Shit. I can’t afford this. Not the driveway or the whole section to the left that’s a mini-parking lot with a lone car parked in it. Oh my God.
Oh.
My.
God.
How am I going to pay for this?
I pull up to the house and screech to a stop. I have to find George. I have to ask him why he did this, I have to . . . can they just un-pave it and take it all back?
I hustle down the pathway toward the barn and pasture. There are paving stones here too. Slabs of rock cemented down on the path.
It’s exactly like I wanted on the quotes I showed George, but I never told him to pull the trigger. Never.
Tears of sheer panic threaten as I move through the darkening night. I need to shove this away. I need to calm down. I can’t come off like a crazy lunatic when I meet this possible repeat client.
Just when I hit the clearing, I start to hear music. And not just music, but what sounds like stringed instruments. It’s soothing, and I know the tune but not the name.
It’s not until I turn the corner of the barn and come face-to-face with Ledger does everything hit me.
He’s standing beneath the big oak tree, a soft smile on his lips, the lights above highlighting his hair.
“Ledger?” I look around to see where Hillary is but only jump when I see the barn completely furnished with tables and chairs and— “Where’s Hillary?”
“There is no Hillary,” he says as he moves toward me.
“But I’m supposed to—”
“You’re supposed to meet me. Here. In the setting you created. In the place we originally fell in love, then and now.”
“What did you do, Ledger?” I start to take a step back, my head shaking. “I can’t accept all of this.”
“Yes, you can.” He reaches out and holds my hands in his.
“You told me you wanted this place because it was the only place I’d never touched.
It was the only place where you could forget about me.
I don’t want you to forget about me. I don’t want you to live another day without me.
So I’ve touched it now, Asher. I’ve made it so that we’re partners in this venture .
. . and hopefully in life. I touched it because I don’t want to spend another day where either of us doesn’t feel one another’s presence. ”
“Ledger.” His name is a whisper of disbelief.
“And I figured if I was going to cash my father’s check, it might as well go toward something we make together. To a new beginning for us.”
I want to look everywhere and nowhere but him all at the same time. Time hasn’t changed that. “I’m at a loss for words.”
“We’ll figure us out. Maybe you come with me to New York for part of the year while George and Angel run The Fields.
Then we come and spend summers here like I used to.
You always said George was family to your pop and gran, so you’d still be keeping it in the family.
If that doesn’t work, we’ll split our time more evenly.
You can go to school in New York if you want.
Fulfill your dream. Make your mark. Be whoever you want to be .
. . so long as you be with me while you do it. ”
I look all around me and am stunned.
I have never felt more loved than in this moment. Than by him. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes, Asher. Say you’ll do this with me.
That you’ll be with me. That you’ll depend on me.
” He kneels and when I look down, all I can see is the love swimming in his eyes.
It’s then that he opens a box with a ring in it.
It’s gorgeous and sparkly. I don’t even look at it long enough to know what it is because he’s all I want to look at.
He’s all I want.
Ledger. My moonlight boy.
I love him. I think I always have. I press a kiss to his lips.
“On one condition,” I murmur.
He leans back, his eyes dancing with amusement. “What’s that?”
“That you’ll love me forever.”