Page 76 of Heartstrings & Horizons
That’s weird.I didn’t know Miles and Mags even knew each other.
Cade: Pretty good, I think.
Mags has been added to the group chat.
Mags: What the fuck, Cade?? Why am I just now hearing about this?
Miles: Well, considering you’re like a thousand miles away he probably assumed you’d be useless.
Cade: Bro… chill. Mags, can you fly in on Friday? We can have someone meet you in Nashville.
Mags: I’ll see what I can do.
Ivy has been added to the group chat.
Ivy: WEDDING?! Hell yeah! Tell me what you need. I have a nominee for the cutest flower girl ever.
I knew I could count on our friends to rally. This town may be full of nosy gossip mongers, but when push comes to shove, they’re always ready to lend a helping hand. Despite today’s disaster encounter with my mother, I’m more certain than ever that she’s the one I want to be with forever.
Paige
The next morning, a loud alarm startles me awake. I reach over to tell Cade to turn it off but I find the bed empty, so I snatch the phone off his nightstand to silence it. I can hear the shower going, letting me know that he’s already in the bathroom getting ready for the day while I’m still recovering from the events of the day before.
I take a second to admire his lock screen; it’s a photo of the two of us in Toronto for my birthday, taken at the park where he proposed. I realize I don’t have that particular picture so I swipe to unlock his phone, enter his passcode (my birthday) and peruse his photo albums so I can send it to myself when suddenly my eyes snag on something else that piques my interest.
Inside his photos app, there’s an album labeled with a sunshine emoji and the cover photo is a gorgeous shot of the sunrise over the lake. Unable to contain my curiosity, I tap on the album. An audible gasp comes out of my mouth when I see its contents.
There are hundreds ofphotos dating all the way back to our first conversation. The first photo in the album is a screenshot of my profile, with the number 10 highlighted on the ratings bar. I scroll down where I see the selfie of me and Maggie covered in pumpkin guts, followed by the one I sent during the first snow of the season. There’s even a screenshot of a video chat with the sunrise over the lake in the top right corner and my wide eyed expression filling the screen.
Every moment of our relationship is here, carefully curated and documented. From text message screenshots, all the way back to a photo of my sleeping face on a FaceTime call. He saved everything. Like a digital scrapbook, cataloging every moment we spent denying what was right in front of our eyes all along.
But he knew.
The bed dips near my legs, Cade’s freshly washed scent enveloping me like a warm hug. He’s wearing a tight gray t-shirt that hugs his dense shoulders, and a pair of black boxer briefs that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination, from the semi-hard erection to his thick thighs that I’m certain could crush watermelons. His hair has grown longer these days, an errant strand falling over his forehead as his eyes meet mine, full of something I can’t name. I reach out to push the strand back, my fingers unable to resist the urge to touch him.
“That is every single sunrise I watched without you,” he says, pointing to a cluster of scenic photos. The lake in the foreground, cascading shades of pinks and oranges glistening on the surface. There’s even one taken from our hotel window in Toronto, a sunrise I didn’t even realize he had been awake to witness. “I’ve loved you for a long time, Paige. Longer than I ever wanted to admit to myself. And I’ll love you until my very last breath, if you’ll let me”
I can feel the tears pooling in my eyes as I tear them away from the photos, meeting the gaze of the man who has stolen my heart. “I love you so much, Cade.”
He takes both of my hands in his; our gazes locked, hearts entwined. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Paige. I want to create a home with you here in Oak Ridge on the lake, and fill it with a family of our own. I want to wake up beside you every morning and fall asleep wrapped around you every night. I no longer see a future without you in it.”
I throw my arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight embrace. My voice is barely above a whisper in his ear, “I want that future with you. I want to make plans, go on adventures, and build a family and a home with you. You could have given up on us the moment things got difficult. You could have walked away and I wouldn’t have blamed you for it. But that’s not who you are, Cade Brooks. You are steady, and kind, and everything I didn’t know I needed. Youseeme. Nobody has ever seen me before; not really.” My voice is filled with so much emotion, and I don’t miss the tear that rolls down his cheek as he cups my face and brings his lips to meet mine.
“I will always see you.”
He places one last lingering kiss on my forehead, then tugs me out of bed towards the large windows. He parts the curtains and the view steals the breath from my lungs. Another tear rolls down my cheek as the pieces come together.
“You set the alarm so we could watch the sunrise, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Say it again, Cade.”
“I love you.”
Cade
I’ve kept my phone on silent the past few days, only checking my notifications when I’m positive Paige isn’t paying attention. She seems to be in better spirits since the encounter with my mom, but I’ve still been keeping an eye on her and doing my best to reassure her that nothing has changed. She spends her days exploring Oak Ridge with her camera in tow. It’s beautiful to watch her fall in love with the place I’ve called home all my life. The cherry on top of the cake came when we finally admitted just how much we love each other, and we’ve said the words every day since, as often as possible.
