Chapter 10
Ten
TILLY
“Leland?” Tilly cried, scrambling around under the branches. She couldn’t see anything. “Leland, are you alright?”
More tears sluiced down her face, the rain immediately washing them away. But they didn’t wash hard enough or fast enough because more tears just kept coming.
Horses whinnied to her left, so at least she could make out that the horses were fine. But what about Leland? And why wasn’t he saying anything? Could he not hear her?
“Leland!” she screamed, covered by foliage. “Where are you? Are you hurt?”
A low groan seemed to answer her.
“Leland?” she called again. Another groan. She followed the sound, swatting away leaves, crawling over branches.
Finally her hand landed on something warm. Something slightly calloused. It was his palm. She gripped it hard.
“Leland, oh my God.” She pushed a heavy branch off of his chest. “Speak to me, Leland.”
He grumbled something that she couldn’t understand.
“Are you hurt?”
Rain poured down around them as she cleared the space and could hover over him.
“Tilly,” he whispered, and she drew nearer. “Could you please stop having such bad luck, darling?”
She choked out a laugh and threw herself across his torso.
“Ooomph!” His hands slowly wrapped around her, holding her tightly against him.
“Are you alright?” he asked hoarsely.
“I’m fine. What about you?”
“Ironically, I just had the wind knocked out of me. I couldn’t breathe for a second there, never mind talk.”
“I’m just so relieved that you’re not…hurt.”
“You know, Bumble, I could have been hurt. But—”
“Bumble?”
“Yes, as I was saying—”
“Wait. Why are you calling me Bumble?”
“It seems fitting, doesn’t it?”
“Bumble? Like a busy bee?”
“Yes. That.” He scrunched his brows together. “And all these bumbling, unlucky situations you’ve dragged me into. For those reasons—both of them—Bumble seems fitting.”
She smiled at the explanation. “I never pictured you as the sweet nothings, terms of endearment kind of man.”
“It’s not sweet nothings, Bumble. They’re sweet everythings with you. And I’ve never created a term of endearment for anyone but you.”
Clumsily, she wrapped her arms around his prostrate body and hugged him. “You managed to push me out of the way, Leland. Y-you stepped into my place and took the falling branch for me.”
“I told you I would die for you, Tilly.”
“You’re just supposed to say those words, Leland. They’re not supposed to actually happen.”
“Tilly, please believe me. It’s only you. That letter means nothing. I wouldn’t have even opened it.”
“I do believe you. I have to believe you, Leland. If I want you in my life, I have to trust you. Which I always have.”
“I love you, Tilly.”
“I love you, too.”
“But can we please ride home now?”
Tilly’s laughter burst through the air, dodging raindrops. She had never felt happier than in this moment. After nearly being struck by lightning, knocked over by a falling tree, and pelted with rain, she could honestly say this was the best moment of her life.
The man she had always loved, truly loved her. It had only taken a brave request, some bad luck—a steady stream of it—a fake engagement, and a near death experience. But sometimes that’s what it took for love to open up, extend its arms, and find each other.
Leland was hers, and she was his. She had never known it more fully than now.
And wasn’t this just the grandest future?
That she had her true love, and her best friend had found hers.
The two pairs that had grown up together would grow old together.
She could see their future. Going through pregnancy together.
Raising children together. Learning to love deeper, love more.
Be more, and be better together. Building bonds that would last well into each other’s legacies.
This was all she had ever dreamed, and now it was hers.
“Yes, let’s ride home now, together.”
And they did just that, riding through the rain, together. All the way home. Forever.