Page 68 of Country Road Romance

“Jared, stop stalling,” his dad interrupted his thoughts. “Because I know that’s what you’re doing.”

Jared grinned sheepishly.

“It’s just that…now that he’s here, I’m not sure what he’s going to say, y’know? We didn’t part on the best of terms before. What if he hasn’t forgiven me?”

“Jared,” his father said with exaggerated patience. “Do you really think that Charlie Garrett would drive all the way across the country just so that he could tell you he doesn’t want to be with you? Now, for the last time, stop stalling and get out there!”

Jared suddenly felt such a rush of feeling and love for his father that he ran over and gave him a hug, which the other man eagerly returned.

“I love you, dad,” he said, surprised at his own rush of feeling.

“I love you too, son. Now, for the last time: go!”

This time Jared actually did what his father said and went to the door, pushing it open. His eye was drawn inevitably to the top of the hill, where the sun was, unsurprisingly, bathing Charlie in its glow.

Jeez,Jared thought,does he have to be perfect now, too? I bet by the time that I get up there I’m going to be drenched with sweat and huffing and wheezing, and he’s going to be practically perfect Charlie Garrett.

The whole time he climbed he kept Charlie in his sights, still not quite believing that he was here, that he was waiting for him, Jared Russell.

“W…what are you doing here?” he managed to stammer out, once he got to the top. “I just saw you on the TV the other day ago, and you looked so happy.”

“I was,” Charlie replied. “Because I knew that I was going to be coming back here, to West Virginia. To home. To…to you.”

A hard knot inside of Jared that he hadn’t really known was there suddenly let loose, and the next thing he knew he was in Charlie’s arms, which reached out to welcome him.

“I was so afraid I’d lost you,” he said, nuzzling this man that he loved, savoring the mix of sweat and sun and cologne and all of those special things that made Charlie what he was. He wanted to stay like this forever, so that he would know how much he meant to Jared and how he was never going to let him go now that they were together again.

At last, though, they did have to pull apart, but that was only so Charlie could kiss him. This was a kiss that was somehow both tender and passionate, as if each of them were desperate to tell the other how they felt with their bodies rather than their words. Only the awareness that his parents were almost certainly watching from down at the house kept Jared from taking this even further.

Finally, he pulled away and asked the question that was burning on the edge of his tongue.

“Why did you come back?”

Charlie just raised an eyebrow.

“What?” he asked, raising his hands defensively. “I just want to know what brought you back here. I mean, I did act like kind of a jerk, you know.”

“Believe me, I know that better than anyone,” Charlie said, the faintest bit of bitterness in his voice. “But I guess the answer to your question is simple enough. I love you, Jared. I love you for your stubbornness and your creativity and all of the things that make you, you. I love you for how you make me feel and for how you make me want to be a better and more engaged person. I love you for being prickly and prone to offense.” He finally seemed to run out of breath and words, and so he just shrugged and said. “I just love you, okay?”

At first Jared couldn’t think of anything to say. This wasn’t the first time that someone had said they’d loved him, of course, and it wasn’t even the first time that he’d believed them. Itwasthe first time, though, that someone was willing to point out all of his flaws and talk about them like they were things to be loved in their own right rather than just fixed.

You don’t deserve him,that mean little voice in the back of his head said.You’re just going to hurt him again, and you’re going to prove that he was right to have left you in the first place.

Just a short time ago, this would have caused Jared to withdraw, but this time, buoyed up and given strength by Charlie’s incandescent smile, he punted those thoughts away. It was almost like he could see them disappear over the crest of the next hill, and he smiled.

He took a deep breath. “You know what? I love you, too. I love the way that you always make me feel like I’m a good and decent person, even when I have trouble seeing it. I love the way that you have a smile that can light up a room. I love the way that you love my family and my friends and the way you want to be a part of my life.” He paused, and then went on. “And, to be honest, I love that you’re from West Virginia, and that you stood up to Councilman Rhodes and all of the other homophobes in Huntington.”

“I’m starting to think I should make a movie calledTen Things I Love About You,” Charlie said, but there was a twinkle in his eye.

“Oh, just shut up and kiss me,” Jared said, because that’s the only thing he wanted in the world right then.

And Charlie did.

EPILOGUE

And they lived, if not happily ever after, at least happily enough.

Jared sighed as his fingers left the keys. It was an ending, that was for sure, even if it wasn’t quite what he’d wanted when he set out to write his memoir. A few agents had expressed some interest in it, and he was hoping that at least one of them would be willing to put in the time and effort to make it a better product.

---