Bennett — Age 19
Tate approached the tractor I was operating, waving his arms above his head. I settled the bale of hay into place, then turned off the motor and stuck my head out the window. “Do you need something?”
“I’ll take over. Mom needs you up at the house.”
I’d just been up there less than an hour ago. “Why?”
Tate shrugged. “She didn’t say.”
I climbed down, exchanging places with Tate, then headed across the field.
I had my gaze on the dirt path when I heard footsteps quickly approaching.
I glanced up just in time to see Maven bounding toward me.
She leaped into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist and kissing me in a way that made me hope my mom wasn’t watching. Not that I’d stop her for anything.
“What are you doing here?” I asked when she eventually broke our kiss. “I thought you were coming home on Saturday.”
“I finished my mid-terms early and wanted to surprise you.” She bit at her lip. “Were you surprised?”
“Clearly.” I wrapped my arms more tightly around her and pulled her to me so her lips were against mine again.
“I missed you,” she said between kisses.
At the reminder of how long we’d been apart, a strange surge of emotion lodged in my chest, making it difficult to speak. The last two months had been the longest of my life. I didn’t even realize I could miss someone so much.
She pulled back slightly and dropped her chin. “This is where you tell me how much you missed me.”
“You know I missed you.”
“But I want to hear you say it.”
I grinned. “I missed you, Maven. Every minute you were away from me, I missed you.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard.” Her smile widened, and she kissed me again before dropping down and taking my hand to pull me toward the house where not only my mom stood on the porch, watching us, but Maven’s mom as well.
“Were you surprised, Bennett?” Ms. Price asked when we approached.
I nodded. “Best surprise ever.”
Maven sent me a smile that was worth the admission.
“I can’t remember the last time I found it so hard to keep a secret,” Mom said.
“You knew?” I asked.
She lifted her shoulders, clearly satisfied with herself. “Maven called me last week to make sure we’d be here when she got to town.”
“What about Tate? Did he know?”
“He found out right before he came down to get you.”
Man, Tate was a vault. I didn’t suspect a thing. I wrapped my arms around Maven’s shoulders and she leaned back into me, placing her hands on my forearms. It felt so right to have her in my arms again. To feel her skin against mine. To breathe in her scent.
“I just wish you had the whole week off for fall break,” Ms. Price said, forcing me back to my reality. Maven had to leave Tuesday so she could be back at school by Wednesday morning. “Five days just isn’t long enough.”
“It’s two days longer than we were supposed to have.” Maven glanced up at me. “And I get the entire week at Thanksgiving, and then Christmas break is a few weeks later.”
Looking into her green eyes that pleaded with me to be okay with the time we would have together, I had no choice but to smile and pretend the thought of her leaving again wouldn’t break me. “I’ll take what I can get.”