Page 138 of Sunkissed Colorado

“No worries. We’ll catch up soon.”

He turned around, heading back to his car.

Kneeling, I peered into the cat carrier. Chloe let out an indignant yowl. “Sorry, I know this sucks. But Z misses you. Come on. Let’s go see her.”

In the guestroom upstairs, Zandra was still asleep. After setting Chloe free and placing the duffel bagson the carpet, I padded over in my socked feet and lay down. Chloe jumped onto the bed. “Don’t wake her,” I whispered.

She prowled around near Zandra’s head, looking for the best spot.

Seeing our families together downstairs, and then Connor at the door, had me feeling all kinds of sentimental. The crew from Hearthstone had been texting all day too, anxious to check on how Zandra was doing. Winnie and Russ had made a brief appearance at the hospital.

We had a lot of people supporting us, and that felt really good.

Before this summer, I’d been satisfied with the life I had. Strong connections with the Lonely Harts club. Uncle time with Maisie and Ollie. A job I liked, volunteer work that mattered, roommates who had my back. Rarely a dull moment.

And yet, I’d been hiding. Refusing to acknowledge the hard truths about Grayden. Never letting any women get close enough to risk actual feelings.

Then Zandra had stepped back into Silver Ridge and into my life, shaking me to my foundations, and nothing had been the same. I liked to call her Sunflower, but she was my light too. Like the sun hadn’t truly come up for me until she reappeared.

Now, there was no way I would ever want to go back. Even if it meant some things had to change.

I gently kissed her on the forehead and whispered, “Never knew I could love someone this much, baby.” Maybe I hadn’t been a forever kind of guy before. But she’d brought that out in me.

I felt proud to be her baby too. Anything the world wanted to throw at us, fine. We could take it.

Zandra was safe now. She wasmine. And I was going to spend the rest of my life doing everything in my power to keep her that way.

THIRTY-SIX

Zandra

Waking up in my parents’house with Callum in bed beside me was not something I could’ve predicted at the start of the summer.

First of all, how did he manage to look so sexy after a night of sleep? My skin was always puffy and weird in the morning. Today, add in a headache and a raw throat that probably had me squishing my face up some kind of way.

But Callum looked like he was ready for a photo shoot. He was lying flat on his back, one arm thrown above his head, wearing nothing but tight boxer briefs. I rested my hand on the warm skin of his stomach, feeling it rise and fall.

He’d even placed the ceramic gnome dressed as a football player on the dresser. A little touch of home and a reminder of how far we’d come.

Before now, the only man I’d ever shared a bed with in this house wasIan. Ugh. I wanted to erase that man from my memory. Pretend I’d never fallen for his lies. But I knew all too well that erasing bad memories was impossible. The only thing you could do was try to heal. And make new memories to fill up the hollow spaces that the emotional wounds left behind.

Chloe meowed near my pillow. “Coco,” I rasped. I’d missedher. Felt good to have another friend back. After bumping her furry head against mine, she jumped down to explore the room, probably eager for some breakfast.

Blinking the last traces of sleep away, I had a sudden longing to tell Jessa everything that had happened. The awful parts, because best friends always listened when you needed to share things like that. But even more, the wonderful parts.

I’m in love with him, Jessa, and he loves me. Callum O’Neal.

Yes, that one.

Can you believe it? I was so wrong about him. He’s the most amazing guy in the world, and he loves me back, and I wish you’d had the chance to find someone like him too.

I still hadn’t really talked to Callum about the way I’d freaked out on him the other night. Getting upset when he’d taken himself out of the general manager competition. We didn’t even know what Grandpa had decided.

But Callum was right. A job title didn’t matter. I loved Hearthstone. That was why I’d stayed in that burning building to try to save it, no matter how foolish that was. I wanted to build Hearthstone back stronger than ever after this.

But not without Callum. Never without Callum. As much as my fears still had a voice in my head, I couldn’t let them stop me from loving him and accepting his love in return.

My perfect guy had been waiting for me in Silver Ridge all along.