Page 35 of Love Notes

Who cooks for you?Who cooks for you all?

I glanced across at Adam.He was smiling at the sound.

“Who cooks for you all?”he asked.

I slowed for the final bend to the cabin.

“I was twenty-two when my first book was published,” Adam said as we rattled slowly down the driveway.“I thought I’d made it big.A book tour, signings, TV appearances, literary awards.All of that.But nobody bought it, and it sank like a stone.My agent at the time dumped me, and I couldn’t get a new one.And there wasn’t a publisher out there that wanted to throw good money after bad.”

I pulled up in front of the cabin and turned the ignition off.

“So I don’t…” His brow furrowed.“I don’t have a lot of trust in things working out, you know?My Harmony Lake books are doing well, but at the back of my mind I’m always expecting it could all go wrong at any second.One bad review goes viral, and I’m convinced it’s the end for me.”

I nodded.

He reached out for my hand and squeezed it.“And right now there’s this crazy voice in the back of my head saying, ‘Move here.Buy a house.It’s not too soon if you’re both feeling it.’But I can’t bring myself to trust that voice.”

I nodded again, my heart pounding.“I—I can’t tell you what to do.I can’t promise it would work out if you moved here.Nobody can promise that.For the record though, we are both feeling it.If that changes anything.”

“Yeah.”He let out a shaky breath.“God, would I be a terrible person if I said I didn’t know if it does?”

I shook my head.“I don’t know either.”

He squeezed my hand.“This is a terrible conversation to have tonight.We can bookmark it, right?I still have a few weeks here, and it’s not like Ohio is on the other side of the world or anything.We don’t have to decide anything right now.”

I nodded.

“I just wanted to put it out there in the open,” he said.“That making this work long-term is something I’m thinking about.”

“Me too,” I said, my heart thumping wildly.“I like you, Adam.I’m falling for you.”

“Me too,” he echoed softly.“And that’s all we have to be sure for now.”He rubbed his thumb over my knuckle.“You carve those bowls, and then you put them in a box for a year to wait for the wood to be right.”

“Yeah,” I said.“But I also like working with wood because it makes more sense than people.I’m terrible with people.”

He laughed softly.“You’re not as terrible as you think.”

I drew a breath.“Okay.I get it, I promise.We both feel it, but we also don’t want to rush.We don’thaveto rush, because there’s no deadline on this.Just, this is new to me.I don’t want you to think I’m playing games.I like you a lot, and I want to see where this goes with you, Adam.”

“We’re on the same page,” he said.“And it’s been a while for me, too, since I met someone who mattered.Someone I can see a future with.”

My chest suddenly felt tight, and all I could do was nod.I’d never expected anyone to land in my life the way Adam had and turn it upside down with his smile and his laughter and his love notes.I’d been happy, maybe a bit envious of Rebecca and Chris, and then Sam and Ben, but still happy.But now I couldn’t imagine going back to a life without Adam in it because his presence made the world so much brighter.And this was no big dramatic story.This was just two guys who met and found they fit together and were falling in love.It happened all around the world every single day, but it was still the most miraculous thing I’d ever experienced, and there was no such thing as a little miracle.

“Come on,” he said.He leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the lips.It was short and sweet, and hardly a kiss at all.It warmed me from the inside though.“Let’s get inside.The cat must be starving.”

We climbed out of the truck and walked hand in hand to the cabin, where the cat was waiting for us.

Just the little, everyday miracle of falling in love, and I never wanted to let it go.

DESPITE TELLING RYANthat we didn’t have to decide anything now about the future of our relationship, I spent the weekend imagining ways of breaking it to my dad that I was moving to New Hampshire and checking out local real estate listings online.Meanwhile, using my need to research my upcoming truck-stuck-in-the-covered-bridge scenario, Ryan and I went to Stonebridge on Sunday, doing a walk around the picturesque little town before grabbing lunch at the Lakeside Inn.We had a table so small that our knees knocked together.It was cozy and charming, and my heart fluttered every time Ryan smiled at me.

On Monday morning, I had a Zoom meeting with Anita.Her background was a spooky gothic castle now, instead of a space battle.

“Suits you,” I said, and her glower honestly just proved my point.

“Meanwhile, you’re looking very relaxed,” she said.“I hope that’s because the words are flowing.”

“They are, actually,” I said.“I’m on track to have the first draft to you in three weeks.Which leaves plenty of time for ironing out any kinks and then polishing it up.”

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