Chapter 37
CHLOE
Excitement thrums through me. It’s been there ever since my plane took off in Seattle. My seatmate kept giving me sideways glances as my knee bounced from all the pent-up energy. The air might have been stale, but my need to get back to Coldwater and Kade wasn’t.
It’s been three days since I made the lonely drive from Coldwater to Bozeman. It felt like I was leaving my heart behind with Kade, but each night when he’d video-call me, I’d feel like I reclaimed a little of it.
Kade is waiting for me as I wheel my suitcase through the doors and out into the arrivals area. My suitcase is impossibly heavy, and I’m glad he wasn’t around to see me almost fall onto the conveyor and get taken around with the rest of the luggage.
I don’t bother to hide my grin as I close the distance between us.
I’d run and jump into his arms, like they do in the romance films, but there’s no way I’m gathering any sort of speed with my bag in tow.
It holds everything I cared about enough to bring, with the rest of my possessions either thrown out, left to be sold or in storage—at least until I get settled, and then I’ll need to figure out what to do with it all because I don’t really want to be paying for a storage unit for the next year.
And I might never make it back to Seattle.
Coming to a stop in front of Kade, I exhale a long, heavy breath laden with relief. His presence is a comfort I’ve come to crave in the short time we’ve had together, and these past few days without it has been agony.
“Hey, handsome,” I say, suddenly nervous.
Kade reaches out, pulling me into his arms as he murmurs into my hair, “Hey, buttercup.”
It’s like the world falls away around us. The steady thump of his heart has the ghost of a smile playing on my lips as my entire body relaxes.
This is home.
I thought when I left Coldwater, the shine of whatever is going on between us would dim and I’d have second thoughts about accepting Maddie’s job offer and moving my life to a town I barely know.
But the opposite happened. I couldn’t wait to return.
To set up my new life and live it the way I want to, not how I think my parents would want me to.
“Anybody would think you missed me,” I tease.
The rumble of his chest against my ear travels through my body when he replies, “That’s because I did.”
I lean back, my eyes searching his as I murmur, “I missed you too.”
Kade brings his hands up and places them on either side of my face. He bends and kisses me like we’re the only two people in the airport. When he pulls away, I know my cheeks are flushed from the heat creeping into them, and he must see the infatuation I know is shining in my eyes.
He doesn’t acknowledge either, and I couldn’t be more grateful. The middle of the airport is not where I imagined outing myself for just how far gone I am for this man.
Kade throws an arm around my shoulder, grabs my suitcase and steers me in the direction of the exit.
“Are you ready for tonight?” I ask, snuggling into his side with one hand over his heart.
He looks down at me as the automatic doors open in front of us, letting in a gust of warm air. “Yeah, I’m feeling good about it. Especially now that you’ll be there.” He drops a kiss into my hair, and I beam at the strangers passing by.
We’re not heading back to Coldwater right away.
There’s a rodeo show put on by Wild Ride Rodeo about an hour and a half away, and Kade is riding for the title, which will give him a boost in the January championships.
Or so he tells me. I just know that he’s going to win, and when he does, I’ll be sure to give him a prize worthy of a prize-winning bronc rider.
“I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
He looks down at me, his features softening with something that looks a lot like adoration. “Me too.”
Somehow, I get the impression that he’s not just talking about the show tonight.