Chapter 10 Sage
TEN
SAGE
Two days.
I know Rhett has been following me. Not like I really go anywhere, but I feel his presence when I go to work and throughout the day. Always my guardian, my saviour, but nothing more. He can never be more.
Life is happening around me in a fog and I let it happen. Somehow, it feels worse than when I left Scott. When I’d finally packed everything and began the drive to Willow Ridge, I’d felt...free. It had been exhilarating. But leaving Rhett...
A permanent weight resides on my chest, one that seems too intense for what transpired a couple of days ago. I can’t possibly be in love with Rhett, can I? Is that what I’m feeling?
The guilt is worse, somehow. Everything he’d done for me, everything he’s risked, and I…I pushed him away.
But Scott’s parting gift, those awful words, keep replying in my head. And every time they do, I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me again, and I can’t catch my breath.
I close my eyes as I lock up the clinic and tuck my keys into my purse.
Mr Ashby is promising to sell me the business in a few months once the locals are more comfortable with me.
It feels like a blessing in disguise. This is what I want, isn’t it?
This is what Scott stole from me—and now I’m getting my life’s dream.
So, I can’t let Rhett steal that from me, either.
Except this is only part of my dream.
He is not the end of all your dreams, Rhett had said. And it’s those words that resonate with me more.
My feet ache the entire walk home, since my car finally crapped itself. Axel said he could fix it, but the only mechanic in town doesn’t have the parts we need on hand, so I’m stuck without.
Which is fine. It’s not the first time. I’d become pretty good at learning the bus routes in the city. Too bad Willow Ridge is too small for that.
But the walk means fresh air. Freedom. No Scott, no pressure, just me.
But Rhett is always there. I know he’s not far; it races up my spine, a tingle of anticipation and awareness. But he keeps his distance.
And some twisted part of me loves it.
But I walk, even as the sky darkens. I pause for a moment to look up at the sky, barely registering the rumble of a truck as it comes to idle beside me.
“Get in,” a gruff, no-nonsense voice tells me. I glance over at Rhett sharply and my brows furrow.
“It’s not snowing.”
The look on his face tells me not to argue, and after a long moment, he moves, like he’s going to get out and drag me into the truck himself.
I huff, stalking towards the passenger door and throw it open. Before I can settle in, Rhett leans over me and grabs the seatbelt. Our mouths are a breath apart; if he leans in even an inch, our lips will touch.
Holding my breath, I wait for it, but it doesn’t happen. Rhett pulls the seatbelt over my body without a word, his knuckles a light touch against my chest, before clicking me in.
“There,” he grumbles, settling back into his seat. The engine purrs as he pulls away from the pavement, just as the sky opens up and snow starts piling on the road. “You sure you wanted to walk in this?”
“It wasn’t snowing when I left.” Which I’d been dutifully checking...until this morning.
Rhett chuckles and shakes his head. He runs a hand over his beard, silent for a while until he asks, “Has he bothered you?”
I shudder, shaking my head. “I think punching him scared him off for good.”
“Good.” The word is clipped, and he doesn’t speak again until we turn down my street.
My hand twitches towards his, almost on its own, like it knows this might be the very last time.
But he’s still here, a weak voice reminds me. He didn’t abandon me. He didn’t leave. He’s still here, and despite me pushing him away, he keeps coming back.
I know why, deep down, but it doesn’t seem fair.
Rhett pulls up to the duplex and kills the engine. Despite the snow, I gasp at what’s waiting for me in the driveway. “What—”
The mountain man beside me sighs and sits back. “You need something more reliable.”
“You...” I glance at him, and the heartbreak is clear in his eyes. He bought me a car. Not just a car, a truck. Something to get me down the harsher roads here in Willow Ridge, something that’ll survive the winter storms. “Why?”
Rhett stares at me like it’s obvious. Like I should already know the answer to that question and shouldn’t even be asking it.
I pushed him away. Cut him off. Hid from him for days because I couldn’t face him after what Scott said—what he’d done.
And yet…
Rhett grabs something from the back of the truck and hands it to me. “What is this?” I ask, taking the long tub, heart pounding. “Rhett, I don’t—”
“Open it. They’re blueprints.”
I swallow hard, the lump in my throat heavy as I take the lid off and slide the print out. As I unroll the large piece of paper, I frown. “What exactly am I looking at?”
I’m not dumb. I’ve seen blueprints before. I know exactly what I’m staring at. But these…these are something else.
“Plans,” he says, voice hoarse. “A dream, really.”
I shake my head and look away from the paper. “This is a house.” It’s not a question.
“A house for you,” he replies. His hands tremble as he reaches between us and takes one side of the print, pulling it between us. “I drew it.”
“When—? How—?” My breath catches in my throat; I don’t know if I should be watching him or the plans, because if I look at what’s between us, my resolve might shatter, but if I watch him, I know I’ll only get my heart broken. “What does this mean, Rhett?”
“I knew the moment I saw you that you would be my future,” he says quietly, dark eyes finding mine.
“When I brought you home that night, I thought about everything you told me, everything I’d learned about you.
And I—” He swallows hard, throat bobbing, eyes shining with tears. “I put this together. A home. For you.”
He points to a small building that leads off of the laundry room.
“You said you wanted to get into gardening. So, I thought a greenhouse might be nice. And here—” He points to a room in the back.
“Is the primary bedroom that looks over the mountain. And there are two more rooms, as well as my office. With space to expand if you want that. Maybe even a room for fostering kittens, or other animals...”
I feel like I’ve been crying nonstop for days, but this…
This breaks me.
This man who married me to protect me, who knew nothing about me before becoming my saviour—my hope for more—keeps showing me that I can be more than just the broken girl with the broken dreams. He keeps giving me reasons to allow that dream to survive.
“What’s wrong, princess?” he asks, voice tight—uncertain.
I blow out a shaky breath and tear my eyes off the blueprints.
“You...you want to build a house...for me?” I ask, voice low.
I don’t know if I should feed into the hope building within me.
“And you bought me a truck…” My gaze flickers to the vehicle waiting in my driveway, slowly being covered in snow. “Why?”
The word comes out broken, and this time I don’t stop the tears from falling.
“I want to be the one to give you everything you have ever wanted, and I mean that with everything I have,” he murmurs, reaching between us to cup my cheek gently.
“I love you, Sage. And I don’t mean to say that to scare you.
I’m saying it because I need you to know that I’m all in.
I want to take care of you. I want you to live on the mountain with me, in this cabin I’ve designed.
I want you safe and happy and doing all of the things you love.
I want to show you how wrong you’ve been and give you the children you’ve always wanted. I want you.”
The cracks in my heart feel deeper somehow, though as his words settle in the air, as I search his dark eyes for any sign that what he’s telling me is a lie, I feel them start to mend. “What if I’m too broken for all of that?” I whisper. “What if I can’t give you what you need?”
“You aren’t,” he replies softly. “And even if you are, I am too. But you’ve already started piecing me back together, Sage.”
I lift a hand and rest it on his chest, over the thundering beat of his heart. God, he feels real. Right. For a moment, while the snow falls around us, we’re silent. He doesn’t rush my answer.
But it’s an answer I’ve known since he saved me from Scott.
“I love you,” I whisper. “Rhett Hayes, I love you more than I ever thought possible.”
A shaky, relieved breath falls from his lips as he brings his forehead to mine. “I love you more, Sage Hayes. My beautiful, strong wife.”