“This is what you do. You decide which truth I can handle.”
“You’re right.”
“You protect me until I feel like a child.”
“You’re right.”
“You tell yourself silence is kindness.”
“You’re right.”
“Stop agreeing!”
Callaway’s voice rose for the first time.
“What do you want me to say?”
Maeve froze.
He took a breath.
“I spent years alone. Every problem was mine. Every decision was mine. If something went wrong, I fixed it or lived with it.”
His voice roughened.
“Then you came here, and suddenly every bad choice could hurt someone I—”
He stopped.
Maeve stared.
“Someone you what?”
Callaway looked away.
She stepped closer.
“Finish it.”
He did not.
Maeve’s anger softened into something more painful.
“Do you love me?”
Callaway closed his eyes.
When he opened them, there was nowhere left to hide.
“Yes.”
Maeve forgot the argument for one heartbeat.
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is a lie.”
“Probably since you yelled at me about the clean plate.”
Despite herself, Maeve laughed.
Callaway smiled weakly.
Then she became serious again.
“Love does not make decisions for me.”
“I know.”
“Love tells me the truth even when you’re afraid of what I’ll do with it.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He nodded.
Maeve looked at the old contract in her hand.
“The railroad comes next month.”
“Yes.”
“Then we decide together.”
“Yes.”
“If you hide one more document from me, I will make you sleep in the barn.”
Callaway almost smiled.
“Fair.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
Maeve looked at him.
“And Callaway?”
“Yes?”
“I love you too.”
He went absolutely still.
Maeve smiled faintly.
“That does not mean I am finished being angry.”
“Understood.”
“Good.”
Then she kissed him.
Callaway did not touch her for the first second.
Maeve felt his restraint.
She pulled back barely enough to speak.
“I kissed you.”
“Yes.”
“You may participate.”
That broke him.
His hands settled around her waist.
Strong.
Careful.
Maeve kissed him again.
Months of distance collapsed without becoming hurried.
Callaway’s mouth moved against hers with a tenderness that surprised her.
Maeve gripped the front of his shirt.
He drew her closer.
Then stopped.
“Still all right?”
Maeve smiled against his mouth.
“Yes.”
He kissed her again.
“Still?”
She laughed.
“Yes, cowboy.”
His forehead rested against hers.
“You’re going to regret teaching me to ask.”
“No.”
Maeve brushed her fingers through the hair at his temple.