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"Really?" Janice's cheeks flushed a rosy pink.
Rusty nodded. Then he looked away, and took a swig of lemonade before passing it to Janice. Their lips touched the same spot on the rim. Something about that made Janice's heart race.
"Remember that time we went frog hunting down by the creek?" Rusty chuckled, his eyes lit up with amusement.
"You were so determined to catch the biggest one," Janice giggled, her own eyes sparkling with delight.
"I did catch a big one!"
"Rocks don't count!"
"Never saw a rock that looked that much like a frog. To this day, I maintain it was a frog. A very still, cold, rock-like frog."
"It sank when we put it in the water," Janice snorted, her laughter ringing through the air.
"Not all frogs can swim."
They laughed together until Janice's belly hurt, and then, without thinking, she said, "It's moments like those that I've missed the most." As soon as she said the words, she regretted them. They felt like she was admitting to too much. Rusty had left her, after all. She didn’t want him to know how much that hurt. She had to keep guarding her own heart.
And yet, the way that Rusty was looking at her now, his brown eyes blinking at her with such kindness, she couldn’t seem to help herself from opening up around him.
"I miss those moments too," Rusty said earnestly. "More than you could know, Janice. I never thought I'd get to share those moments with you again."
Janice gritted her teeth. “I guess we never will. Everything's so different now."
“It’s notcompletelydifferent,” said Rusty. “Some things feel just the same as they always did. Better, even.”
Janice tried to concentrate on the view of the sunset. Anything to avoid looking into Rusty’s eyes and feeling the feelings she still had for him. "Look at that view," she breathed. "Isn't it beautiful?"
"Almost as beautiful as you," Rusty murmured, his hazel eyes locked onto her.
"Rusty. . . ." Janice whispered, her cheeks flushing. “Don’t.”
"Janice," Rusty replied, hesitating for a moment, searching for the right words to say. Then, with a sudden burst of courage, he found them. "I've missed you so much."
Janice frowned at him. “Then why did you leave me? Not that I care or anything, I just . . . think I deserve an explanation.”
Rusty cleared his throat. “I want to tell you, Janice. I want to tell you everything. And believe me, if I could, then you’d know how difficult this whole situation has been for me.”
Janice sat up straight. “Difficult foryou? You walked away from me, Rusty. Setting up a new life on a paradise ranch doing the job of your dreams. If you’re asking me to feel sorry for you, then—”
“I’m not,” said Rusty. “I’m just asking you to believe that . . . that . . . that I care about you, Janice Jameson.”
Janice’s heart was pounding in her chest. "I never thought I'd see you again. You know? But now that we're here . . . together . . . it feels. . . .”
“Like destiny?” Rusty asked, reaching out for her hand.
Janice felt a crackle of electricity on her arm where Rusty’s fingers had touched her. “I should be avoiding you after you broke my heart—"
“Janice, what happened between us was—”
“It was soul-crushing, Rusty,” said Janice. “Leaving me like that without saying goodbye. You didn’t just break my heart, you trampled all over it. I never fully recovered.”
Rusty rubbed his temples. “I had my reasons, Janice. I had no choice in what happened with us. And I feel bad about it every single goddamn day.”
Janice frowned. “You mean . . . you didn’t want to break up with me?”
“No,” said Rusty. “I wanted to spend my life with you, Janice. But I couldn’t. I can’t.”
