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“You’re just throwing that word around willy-nilly now. This is remarkable. I think you might mean it.”

“We are spending the holidays together. That’s a pretty big deal.”

“Not as big a deal as the Jingle Jamboree.”

“It’s super close. I don’t know how I’ll break the tie.”

“You better stop,” she said and kissed me again. Truth be told, I’d miss the next eight Jingle Jamborees for Kyle. I’d walk through fire. My feelings had run away from me and grew exponentially each day. She didn’t need to know that…yet.

“I like the life we’re cobbling together.”

She pressed her face against my cheek a moment and then pulled back, meeting my gaze. “Confession time.”

“Oh, no.”

“I never imagined myself as a small-town kind of person. I like concrete. I like people everywhere on separate missions. It’s one of the reasons I lived close to downtown in Charleston.”

“Is there abutin there?”

“But since I’ve been here, I’ve never been happier.” She paused. “I’m surprised by the differences I’m able to make at work. I like running into my patients in line for coffee. The pace has been good for me. Is there another shoe about to drop?”

I gripped the counter behind me. “I don’t know.” I felt the exact same way, but admitting it felt like inviting trouble. Lately, I’d kept my eyes forward, and it served me well. “I don’t know what’s ahead for us, but maybe we’re not always here. Maybe you want to go back to the city. Maybe I’d like that, too. Doesn’t mean the Bay can’t be a somewhere we sneak off to.”

Her eyes brightened. “Maybe this time, it’sourhouse on the beach.”

I threaded our fingers. “I could certainly get behind that.”

“You’re going to try to rent it out when we’re not using it, aren’t you?”

I laughed. “Well, I am a pro now. Speaking of which, I need to write a welcome card before my new tenants arrive. And leave Jamboree hints and tips.”

“You’re a busy woman.”

“It’s not like I’m a doctor or anything.”

A pause. “Hey, are you serious? About maybe moving to the city someday, or even splitting our time?”

“I would move to the city with you, Kyle.”

“And I’d stay in Dreamer’s Bay with you, just so we’re clear.”

The sentiment landed square in the middle of my chest and spread out, my whole body going warm. “That means a lot.”

“Well, so do you. The more time I spend with you, the more I dare to want.”

Dare to want.

There were words hovering just beneath our exchange that neither one of us was saying. The big ones. The most important words of all. We’d get there, I told myself, not quite able to vocalize what I alreadyknew to be true. I loved Kyle. I loved her quiet thoughtfulness. I loved the way she walked into a room and affected every person in it. I more than loved her intelligence and the way she saw the world. I loved the way she spoke to me. I loved our quiet talks. I loved our playful side. I loved her presence, her heart, her confidence, her everything.I love you. I love you. I love you, I thought with everything in me.

Yet I didn’t pronounce the words. I wanted to and couldn’t. Investing so fully felt like climbing a mountain in the fog. I wanted desperately to make it to the peak, but the path was obscured and dangerous. I’d lost too many people in my life to trust I wouldn’t go tumbling off the side.

“Let’s keep daring each other,” I said instead. “In fact, I dare you to choose what we’re having for dinner, because I’m out of brain cells.” I was a coward and knew it.

Kyle opened the door to the fridge, keeping things light. She passed me a sly smile. “Look at me go.”

Chapter Twenty-two

Leaving the Nest