Frank’s expression darkens.
“They can all go to hell,” he growls. “I don’t care about any of that anymore, sweetheart, because you’re pregnant with my baby and that changes everything.”
I think about it for a few moments, a thick silence descending heavily on the room. My heart desperately wants to leave with Frank. I want him to spirit me out of this small, dank space, but to what end? I have too much invested already, and I can’t just throw it in the trash because he says so. I shake my head slowly.
“I can’t go with you. I need to stay here in Tepee,” is my slow statement.
“Why?” he asks, his voice filled with confusion and desperation.
I take a deep breath before turning to look into those deep blue eyes.
“Because this is where I belong,” I say with finality. “I’m not going to live at Renfrew Acres just because I’m pregnant, Frank. I’d feel like a burden, or like a guest in your home, and that’s not how I want things to be.” Then I offer a small smile. “Look, you can visit whenever you’d like, and you’re more than welcome to be a part of our baby’s life. But I can’t move back, Frank. I’ve made a new life for myself here in Minnesota and sure, things are a little challenging right now, but they won’t always be. Soon enough, I’ll have enough money to get a place of my own, and the area around here is beautiful. Don’t worry because I will always acknowledge you as the father of our child, and the baby will love you all the same.”
Frank stares at me with shock.
“What the fuck?” he growls, totally nonplussed.
But I’m on a roll and nod.
“I’m sure the court will grant visitation, and really, you’re welcome to come as often as you like. But again, I can’t stay in a place that’s not a home for me, and your home just isn’t that.”
He stares at me, jaw agape.
“Hadley, my home isn’t a home without you!” he exclaims with anguish. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, so what is this about ‘visitation rights’ and ‘feeling like a guest’ at Renfrew Acres? Renfrew Acres is your home because I love you, and you’re the furthest thing from a guest in the world. I need you to be there because the farm hasn’t been a home without you.”
My heart begins pounding so hard that I feel like it’s going to explode from my chest.
“What?” I whisper. “Do you really mean that?”
Frank looks down, his expression one of agony.
“You don’t know what you do to me, Hadley. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, and how much I’ve dreamed and obsessed about you since you left. Yes, obsessed, it was that bad. I miss coming home to see you at the stove, honey, your big hips covered by an apron. I miss eating your delicious food, and watching you sew in that sunny nook by the corner. I miss making love to you at night, and then waking up in the morning for another heady bout with your curves. I need you, Hadley. I love you, and I’m begging you to come back with me.”
With that, the dam breaks and suddenly, tears are falling from my eyes.
“You love me?” I stammer.
Frank’s expression is utterly anguished now.
“Yes, you silly girl,” he murmurs, tucking a curl behind my ear with one big hand. “I love you more than life itself. I want the three of us to be together because I can’t be without you, honey. I want us to raise a family together, and to be together in Parson.”
Suddenly, I can’t take it anymore.
“Oh, Frank,” I cry, lunging forward to throw my arms around his neck. I bury my face into his neck, collapsing in a heap against his wide chest while fighting back sobs. “I love you too, and it’s been terrible since I left. I was so scared and I’ve been so sad too, and just scared…”
Frank hushes me, pressing a kiss to my cheek.
“You don’t ever have to be scared again, honey,” he says in a low, fervent tone. “I’m here now and I love you, baby girl. We belong together because the six months of taboo are over and we have our entire lives before us now.”
With that, our lips seal in a feverish kiss, and to my surprise, I see that Frank’s crying too. Yet this is how things were meant to be. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with my step-uncle when I first moved to Missouri, but with our declarations of love, I know now that it’s going to work out. After all, Frank’s come to take me home, and my heart is wherever this man is.
EPILOGUE
Hadley
Two months later.
I gaze out the window dreamily, taking in the soft sunshine and amber waves of corn in the distance. It’s funny to be back in Parson because everything’s returned to so-called “normal,” and yet at the same time, it’s so completely different in innumerable ways too. After all, my man goes out to work in the fields during the day while I stay at home, nesting. I tried to do housework, but Frank frowns on that because he doesn’t want me to exert myself when I’m pregnant. As a result, these days, I just do some cooking and we’ve hired help to keep the place clean as I putter about sewing, crocheting, or decorating our new nursery