17. Giana

NOW

L eo has never seen the cabin in the fall. Not in person, anyway. Over the years, I’ve sent him a picture a time or two. Now there is social media, like Facebook, and he can see all kinds of photos from my life. I can see his too.

For years I tried to visualize what his ranch in Texas looked like. If for nothing else, Facebook has been good for that. The Jones Family Ranch is huge, with acre after acre of green pastures and cattle roaming. He and Marco did a fine job. Their parents would be proud, God rest their souls.

I can’t say I’ve been fond of Leo’s late wife. She’s not who I would’ve pictured him with. Though Nettie likes to remind me, I wouldn’t approve of any woman. She’s probably right. Rumor has it Leo disliked Michael as well.

But now, both Leo’s wife and Michael are gone. And Leo is heading back to Maple Ridge for the first time since 1969. To see the cabin, is what I’m telling myself.

“What if he wants to sell the cabin?” I ask Nettie, pressing my cell phone to my ear as I pace the porch.

“You really think he’s coming all the way here just to talk about selling?”

“Maybe.” I tighten my cardigan around me, the cool fall air whipping through the threads.

“I love you, Gigi, but you can really be dense sometimes. Leo is coming to see you. His wife passed away months ago. Michael is gone. After all these years, you two can finally be together.”

“Nettie?” I pause, worry coursing through me. “What if he doesn’t like me anymore? I’ve changed. I’m old,” I state the obvious. Even though it’s not like he hasn’t aged as well.

“Are you kidding me?” Nettie shrieks. “You’re just as beautiful and spunky as you were forty years ago. And in case you’ve forgotten, Leo didn’t just like you. He was in love with you. And that kind of love, it doesn’t just go away.”

I shut my eyes and allow Nettie’s words to sink in and settle over my shoulders. I cup the compass I’ve taken to wearing around my neck again. Crunching gravel under tires rumbles in my ears. I suck in a breath and open my eyes as the shiny rental car comes to a stop in front of the cabin.

Slowly, I lower my phone from my ear and end the call. My heart rate picks up speed, and I shuffle across the porch. Lead fills my steps, and I stop, waiting for him to get out of the car.

For years I imagined this moment. When Leo would come back to me. When he’d finally come home.

All the emotions building over the years come bubbling to the surface, and I can’t hold back the tears. He steps out of the car and my chest heaves at the sight. His pictures on social media don’t do justice to the real thing .

He is still Leo. Tall, lanky, a sexy smile.

Leo takes his cowboy hat off and holds it in his hand. He doesn’t even bother with closing the car door; he rounds the front of the car and jogs up the steps, not once taking his eyes off me. In an instant, he is in front of me. Without hesitation, without time to gaze and study one another, he scoops me up in his arms and embraces me, squeezing me close.

I melt into him, fisting my hands into the back of his flannel shirt, and sob into his neck. Inhaling his scent is like taking a step back in time. It’s everything I remember. It’s everything I find comforting. It’s home.

He’s home.

It’s not the cabin, it’s not Maple Ridge or Colorado. It’s Leo.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I cry.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to come home, Sugar.”

And now I’m crying harder because hearing that nickname from his lips is like the sound of heaven. It’s a gift I never thought I’d receive again.

He releases me slightly, pulling back to gaze into my eyes. I feel self-conscious at first, worried all he sees is how I’ve aged. The deep wrinkles around my eyes and mouth. The graying at my temples that no matter how much hair dye I use, I can’t seem to cover up.

But his lips pull into a smile, and he cups my face. “Pretty girl, you are as gorgeous as I remember. Jus’ perfect.”

“And you’re still a smooth talker,” I tease.

My heart swells, and I tip my chin up. He lowers his mouth to mine and when our lips touch, it’s like fireworks on the Fourth of July. His mouth moves vigorously over mine, and when our tongues find one another, it’s as if they remember too.

Memory after memory flashes in my mind as we continue to embrace and kiss one another deeper. The electricity that was once there between us is still buzzing with life. And if anything, its current is even stronger.

Our lips part reluctantly. “I knew. When everyone told me to give up. When they had a funeral for you…I knew,” I say breathlessly.

His thumb grazes my cheek, and my eyes drift closed at the familiar gesture. “And that’s what kept me going, Sugar. Knowing you were here, not quitting on me.”

Fresh tears spring to my eyes, and anguish claws at my throat. “But I did quit. If I had just held onto hope a little bit longer…if…” My words get swallowed up by his mouth on mine once again. Swallowed by his kisses.

Forgiven and forgotten.

My body ignites, coming alive in his arms with our lips entwined. It’s an intense feeling I’ve pushed away for so long. Not allowing myself a chance to experience it again.

“This is how our story was meant to unfold. We can’t blame the narrator. We can only make the best of the time we do have.”

His words are supposed to comfort me. But my heart cracks a little. We don’t have much time. There’s so much I want to tell him. So much I want to do with him. Anxiety works its way into my veins, and I slip my hands inside the back of his flannel, kneading the warmth of his bare skin with my fingertips.

“All I’ve wanted to do since you told me about that first birthday gift was sit on that porch swing with you.”

A bit of disappointment slides through me. “That’s all?” I say, with a suggestive tip of the corner of my lips.

“Oh, that’s not all.” A recognizable hunger passes over his eyes when he looks down at me, and it makes my body hum. “That’s jus’ the start. Then we go inside and show that cabin what it’s been missing all these years. We’ll give the sturdiness of those walls a run for their money. ”

“As long as you keep the cowboy hat on, I’m all in,” I tease.

He returns the hat to his head and tugs it down in the front, making my belly flip. “Anything for you, Darlin’.”

I release my grip on him and take his hand, leading him to the porch swing. We sit next to one another, and he props his arm over my shoulder. I rest my head on his chest and the familiarity is a comfort I’ve been longing for.

As we look out at the land, our land, the view has never been more satisfying than it is right now.

Leo drops a kiss on the top of my head. “I could sit here with you for the rest of my life and be content.”

I smile and tip my face up to him. “Me too, Cowboy. Me too.”