“Stop it. Do you understand me? You don’t get to trample over me and talk to me as if you know what I’m thinking, or how I’m feeling, or what I want in life.”
“Okay.”
“In fact, I think it would be best if you just didn’t say anything for a few minutes.”
He nodded his head when she glared at him.
“I love you, Jace Rice. Do you hear me? I love you. And I don’t care if you live in Montana, or Crested Butte, or Monument, or if you don’t live in any of those places. I don’t care if you’re on the road all the time. I don’t care as long as I’m with you.
“If you’re in Montana, I will be too. If you’re shoveling shit, so will I. If you’re unloading bulls from the back of a trailer at two in the morning, I will be too. You aren’t shutting me out. You aren’t leaving me behind, or
making decisions for me, or telling me what I can and can’t do. Or what I want or don’t want. You don’t get to decide for me, Jace.”
He nodded his head again. Bree could swear he was fighting the urge to smile.
“If you want to know how I feel, or what I think, ask me. Don’t decide for me. Okay?”
He nodded his head again.
“You can talk now.” She folded her arms in front of her and waited for him to say something.
“Well? I said you can talk now. Aren’t you going to say anything?”
He stood instead, walked over, and grabbed her folded arms. He pulled them apart and brought her close to him. He leaned down and covered her mouth with his, snaking his tongue inside. The kiss felt like a continuation of their conversation. Instead of answering her with words, his tongue battled with hers. She kissed him back harder than he kissed her.
He ran his hands down her sides and lifted her so her legs went around his waist. He walked, with her that way, over to the side of the barn, and held her up against it.
“You love me?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you, Jace.”
“What about the rest of it? You shoveling horse droppings. You sure about that?”
“I’ve never been more sure.”
“It isn’t easy.”
“What is?”
“There are times you won’t know what day it is, or one town from the next. You’ll get damn tired of riding in the cab of a big rig.”
“I don’t care.”
“You say that now—”
She kissed him again, to shut him up. Her cell phone rang, but she ignored it. The only person she needed to talk to now was right in front of her.
Epilogue
“What do you think is up there?”
“I don’t know, but Vi assured me I wouldn’t find any dead bodies.”
Jace broke through the drywall in the ceiling and saw that it opened into the attic. “Old Man Beiman sure didn’t make this easy.”