Chapter 33
Pace
Dark clouds gathered strength. It was the kind of sky that warned snow was coming to settle in the valley of the town for a long night. The first small flakes fluttered in the air around us. The sky and horizon blended into a mass of gray and white.
I was screwing this all up. Everything I said made Sophie’s shoulders curl in more protectively, made her features more hesitant. This was not how this was meant to go. I was meant to be showing her that I could be the brave one for once.
Sophie had missed me. She’d called us a we when referring to the list and said she protected people she loved. And she was here, naked—really needed to fact-check that—and being the brave one, once again.
Because I still hadn’t said anything to fix what I’d screwed up.
“The list. There are more items,” I said and pulled a piece of paper from my pocket. I hunched over to protect it from the lightly falling snow.
Sophie grabbed the list and brought it closer. Her eyes moved rapidly across the page as she read the items I’d added while I was in the gallery with Levi. Her mouth chattered as her brows furrowed with concentration.
“Pace, what is this?” She looked up at me.
“It’s your list. Things that you have to do still.” I felt the cold seeping into me now too. Or nerves. A trembling started in my shoulders, and the pain in my chest was greater than ever.
“See the Grand Canyon?”
I nodded, fighting off trembling. There were, to be fair, a lot of questionable items on that list, but that was one of the safer ones to bring up in public.
“Don’t worry. I’ve been to Arizona. I’m pretty much an expert. You’ll need me to guide you,” I explained.
An understanding slowly dawned on her features. She glanced back down at the list. “Meet the royal family?” She sucked in her lips to keep from smiling.
“They’re notoriously hard to get in touch with. But I could make it happen.”
She nodded slowly, a smile growing on her face. “You know, I’m looking at this, and I don’t really know how I will be able to do any of this on my own. I mean, logistics alone.”
“You won’t,” I said so quickly, she startled and then smiled wider.
“And the thing is, it’s not just me. You’ll need other people to help too.” I gestured to the list. “Levi and Claire, your grandma, at a bare minimum.”
“Is that so?” Her eyes gleamed, and her lip trembled.
“And there are places in town that you’ll need to see,” I said.
“You’ve not even stayed the night at the bed-and-breakfast,” Ruth called loudly over the hushed din of the crowd. I looked over my shoulder at her and smiled quickly, shakily, and felt so grateful that the tightening in my chest released some.
Turning back to Sophie, I asked, “You’ve not? Well, we’ve got to add that to the list too,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Okay,” Sophie said as her face grew pink, eyes glistening.
“And you’ve never even come to poker night at the station,” Cole Sutter called out.
“Or gone to the McCreedy Ranch,” another voice yelled from the crowd.
“You can take a Huber ride!” someone else offered.
“Or take a class at the art retreat!” called another.
All at once, dozens of townspeople, friends, and family I’d helped over the years, shouted out their reasons for Sophie to add their destination to the list. Chills broke over my body, and my heart felt like it might swell right out of my chest.
“Yes. Yes, Sophie. See? All these things that need to be on your to-do list. We should probably keep the list going. A living document. I’m imagining a stack of paper so tall that you can’t ever see the end of it. Reaching up into the clouds.”
“Well. That’s not a SMART goal. I can’t imagine we would ever get through that kind of list,” she said, voice sweet and innocent.
I sighed dramatically. “Dang. You’re right. But we should really try. You and me. We should probably stick together to complete the list. Probably forever.”
She swallowed, arms tight around her middle, and she nodded. “That long at least,” she whispered.
I stepped closer, until her robe brushed my knuckles.
Until I could see her face so clearly and feel my body lean into hers like I’d been missing desperately.
I lifted a hand to brush some hair from her cheek, and she leaned into the touch, eyes closing briefly.
Did she miss my touches as much as I missed giving them?
“I would like to spend forever adding and crossing off items with you, Sophie. If you’ll let me,” I said. “I love you so much, I can’t even handle it.”
“Oh, Pace.” She stood to wrap her arms around my neck. “I love you too. So much.”
The knot of pain in my chest released all at once. The terror I’d been living with for months, years maybe, relaxed out of me. I was so lucky to love her. It was unfathomable that she loved me too.
I held on to her, both of us trembling. Both of us in love.
We leaned into a modest kiss, just a press of our cold, smiling mouths.
The crowd around us roared with applause, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to get away from the adoring fans, as Sophie would say. She leaned back, and there was still a crease of worry between her brows.
“I have so much I need to tell you,” I whispered into her ear.
“I would love that. I have things to say too.” Her gaze flicked to the group around us, still watching.
I nuzzled into her hair, inhaling her intoxicating scent mixed with the smell of winter cold. “But not here. Not for anybody else but you,” I added. “I want to tell you everything about me.”
She shivered. “I would really like that.” She held her gloved hands to my cheeks.
“Want to get out of here?” I asked.
“Yes. Please.”
“Your place?” I asked, pulling back out of her arms as she nodded. “Okay.” I started running in place. “That’s what? Half-mile run tops? Thankfully, you were trained by me.”
Her nostrils flared. “You’re going to make me do this after all?” she asked, her features twisting to make the world’s most nonthreatening angry face.
“I have got to keep my end of the bargain.” I held up my hands to shrug in innocence, even as I continued to jog in place.
“Fine. But you asked for this.” Her hands went to the ties of her robe.
“Wait! I was only kidding—”
But she tossed off her robe and threw it into the crowd, where it landed on an outraged Vicky Lambert. By the time my brain caught up with my body, her beige personage was already several yards ahead in a full-on sprint.
The crowd gasped, and I ran after her. “Wait for me!”
God, I loved this woman.