Chapter 35 Leith
Leith
I sat on the iron bench in the front of Clarke’s house. I knew where her spare key was now, and over the last couple of weeks, I’d let myself in more times that I could count, but not tonight.
Tonight I wanted to wait for her.
Cam, Lainey, and I had grabbed a celebratory bag of saltwater taffy from the taffy shop, and then I drove Cam to Boone’s property, where his niece, Emmy, was waiting for her to make the drive back to Meadowlark.
I wasn’t aware of this tangled web that Sweetwater Peak and Meadowlark had until now, but I was grateful for it.
Once Ron gave Cam all the farm records, she would start drafting a custodian agreement for the farm—someone to take care of it and make decisions on Lainey’s behalf until she was an adult slash ready for the responsibility.
I had failed in my mission. I still lost the farm. I just lost it to someone I could bear to lose it to. I wasn’t sad, though—not even a little bit.
This felt like the very best outcome. I loved farming. I loved teaching. And now I get to teach one of the lights of my life how to care for the land we loved. And Lainey would be good at the numbers shit. She was smarter than me, anyway.
And of course, she agreed to keep me employed at the farm until my last day—unless, of course, I annoyed her or threw away her dino nuggets.
Today was a good day.
I had my head tilted up toward the stars when Clarke’s truck pulled into the driveway. I waited until her headlights turned off and her driver’s-side door slammed before looking in her direction.
“Well,” she said as she approached me. “This is a familiar sight.” And she was right, this is how we had started.
“No porch lurking this time,” I said. “Pinkie swear.”
“What a shame,” Clarke said, sitting down next to me. “I’m quite fond of what came from the last one.”
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“It is,” she said. “I’m sorry I took off.
I just…After you were talking about your dad this morning, I remembered that I can ask or tell my mom anything I want all the time.
Lately, though, we’ve been fighting a little bit.
Well, not fighting—mostly avoiding and ignoring, but that’s not normal for us.
And I just don’t want any regrets when it comes to my family. ”
“That’s a good call,” I said. I thought about what I would say to my dad if I had the opportunity, and the reality was that I had no clue.
Maybe I’d just tell him that my mom missed him.
“I’m ready now,” she said.
“Ready for what?”
Clarke smiled at me and pulled her engagement ring off her finger. She motioned for me to hold my hand out, and I did. She dropped the ruby ring into my palm. “Are you…are you breaking up with me?”
“No,” she said. “But I am breaking off our engagement. For now.”
“For now?”
“I love you, Leith,” she said, and my heart felt like a shooting star in my chest. “I’m in love with you, and I want to be with you. I just want to do it on our terms—not anyone else’s. Not any external circumstances. Just you and me.”
“I love you, too, Clarke,” I said, cupping her face with one hand. “I’ve been at least half in love with you for at least half my life, and now I’m all the way in.”
We kissed then, and I thanked my lucky stars that Clarke and I found our way to each other in this little, weird town.
“So, I need you to hold on to the ring for me. Can you do that?”
“I can,” I said.
“And you’ll give it back to me when we’re ready?” she asked.
“I promise,” I said.