His teasing makes me smile. I’ll never be sick of you. It’s hard to even imagine such a thing in our current situation. She said when Sawyer gets back, I can open my storefront.
You don’t have to wait for that do you?
Chewing my lip, I study my phone. I don’t want to bug him about his plans, but I hadn’t considered we might be separated like this over and over for years and years. Can I say goodbye to him indefinitely? The alternative makes it easy to say yes but so hard to imagine. Is it possible to get used to this life?
I’d need help with an orchard, a store, and school.
I watch the gray dots as he taps out a reply. Are you unhappy with being online?
“Taron…” I sigh his name out loud. Tapping the camera icon, I wait as it rings. I need to see him for this.
A moment later his gorgeous face appears, and I want to cry. “Hey, princess. You okay?”
My eyes scan his surroundings. “Are you in a closet?”
“Half bath. I thought we might need privacy.” His eyes crinkle with a grin.
I didn’t call for the reason he’s thinking, and now that I see his face, I’m having second thoughts about my own. Maybe we should wait to discuss the future. I’m acting like he asked me to marry him or something, which he didn’t. “I needed to hear your voice.”
He leans to the side, and his face gets a little closer. “It’s not getting easier.”
Heat filters into my eyes. “No.”
The smile melts from his cheeks, and his expression turns serious. “Are you having second thoughts?”
“No!” Akela jumps on the bed at the sudden rise in my voice. I put my hand on her head and she licks my nose. “I’m still waiting. I only thought… I was wondering… how many times you might do this.”
He exhales a laugh. “Patton’s already making plans for when we get out.”
I’m not sure what that means, but I know Patton lives in Nashville. “Are you having second thoughts?” My chest is so tight, I can hardly breathe.
“No.” The warmth in his voice puts more tears in my eyes. “I’m still glad I did this, but maybe I’d have made a different choice if I’d met you first.”
“You wouldn’t have met me if you hadn’t done this.”
His head tilts side to side. “Catch-22.” Blinking down, I quickly swipe the tear off my cheek. I don’t want to cry every time we talk. “We’re almost there, princess. Can you stay with me a little longer?”
“Yes.” My voice breaks on a whisper, but I mean it wi
th all my heart.
“I love you, Noel.”
Nodding, I close my eyes. “I love you.”
Digger meets me at the door of the Denny’s when I get out of the truck the next morning. “Noel? What are you doing here?”
It’s still dark outside, and I’m wearing faded jeans and a long-sleeved gray tee with a blue baseball cap pulled over my head. My boots and a barn coat complete the look. “It’s time I showed up at these meetings.”
“But it’s so early.”
My brow furrows, as I study him. “You’re here.”
“Yeah, but you don’t need to be. You should get your beauty rest.”
“I’ve rested enough.” Once upon a time, Digger didn’t bother me so much. Now every word out of his mouth sets my teeth on edge. “Sawyer’s going to be gone a while—if he doesn’t re-enlist.”
“He won’t do that.” Digger chuckles as if I’m a child. “He told my dad he’d be back by the time you finished college.”