Page 88 of One Wild Chance

I put down the glass. “You know we could just eat in the kitchen and I’d be fine with it.”

“What, you think I would cave and order takeout?” He straightens the last fork. “I don’t go back on a promise, Wildflower.”

“Oh, come on. I want the honest answer.”

“That is the honest answer.” He turns toward me, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I wanted to make things up to you.”

I frown. “You don’t have to do anything for me…”

He holds up a hand. “Yes, I do. I found out tonight that your mom’s at Golden Haven.”

My stomach drops. It’s something I’d planned to tell him eventually. But no one wants to admit that they couldn’t take care of their own mother.

“Why didn’t you mention it?” he asks quietly.

“I was…embarrassed, I guess.” I settle on the porch swing. “I had hoped things would get better. But she hasn’t recognized me for months.”

His brow knits, but he doesn’t say anything. Just sits down next to me and wraps his arms around me in a hug. I breathe in his clean scent, letting him hold me like that for a while. His touch feels good, right even, and I want more of it.

“Who told you about my mom?” I ask, shifting slightly so that I’m leaning into his chest while he holds me.

“Wanda Roy,” he admits.

“Unsurprising,” I mutter.

“If it matters at all, she wasn’t gossiping. She thought I knew.”

I study his hand as it softly trails up and down my arm. “And your mom? She never mentioned it to you?”

He rests his chin on my head. “I think she must have understood you didn’t want her to, even though she talked about you all the time.”

“She talked about me that much?”

“My parents thought a lot of you, Summer,” he says matter-of-factly.

I knew that. But hearing him say it out loud is different than knowing it yourself.

“I still don’t understand why they didn’t tell you that Lucky Chance was in trouble. It doesn’t make sense. You’re the oldest son.”

He exhales. “I don’t think she wanted us to worry.”

That sounds like Miriam. Always thinking of others before herself. “So she just carried it alone,” I murmur.

His hand stills on my arm. “No, Summer. She wasn’t alone.” He straightens a little, looking down at me, his expression soft. “She had you.”

I take in his words as the porch swing sways gently. “Miriam was the closest thing I had to family. When you came back, I thought you were going to take all of that away. The land, the farm, my place here. It’s why I wasn’t exactly…welcoming.”

The corner of his mouth quirks. “You came out with guns blazing over your stolen flowers. Guess I should’ve known that some wildflowers have thorns.”

“Hey!” I say with a soft laugh. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“You are,” he says, looking at me differently now.

“You’ve grown on me, Jaxon Chance.”

“That’s good. Because I’d never ask you to leave, Summer. Lucky Chance is your home too. That won’t change as long as I’m here.”

He stares at me for a beat, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. His gaze drops to my lips, and something in my chest unfurls that’s been tightly wound since the day he returned. I lean toward him, feeling that old glimmer between us as his warm breath brushes over my lips.