Page 179 of Liberating Lily

He nodded, and she decided to be brave, sliding her hand into his. Okay, so for most people holding someone else’s hand wouldn’t take much bravery, but she was terrified of being rejected.

However, he didn’t hesitate. He simply took hold of her hand and let her lead him further along the driveway, around Rump Roast, who was still chewing happily on driveway grass.

“Are you home alone?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“Clem’s gone into town to pick up some stuff, and Jaret is somewhere on the ranch.”

He frowned. “And you’re left to look after all the animals?”

“Well, I don’t really have to do much. I just let the pigs out. I wonder where they’ve gone. Pork Chop! Come here, Pork Chop. Crackling!”

“Their names are Pork Chop and Crackling?” he asked.

“Yeah, like I said, Clem has some really unusual names for her animals. Oh, here they come. Hey, Pork Chop. Good mama. This is Pork Chop and her babies, Bacon, Ham Hock, Crackling, and Emma.”

She picked up Crackling as she spoke, and the little pig snuggled into her.

“Emma?” he asked.

“I thought it was weird too, but when you think about it, it’s probably the least weird name out of the lot. This is Crackling. He’s my favorite. Do you think we could take him home with us?”

He blinked down at the pig. “I think that if you really want to, sure. We have a big backyard. I guess we’re allowed to have animals in it. There might be some bylaws about farm animals, though. I’ll have to check it out.”

“We could if we lived at the cabin,” she suggested.

“You want to live at the cabin?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I know it’s probably not possible, but I really want Crackling to come live with us and your house . . . it’s, well, it’s kind of cold. We could redecorate, like you said. But maybe we could live somewhere where Crackling could roam.”

Lily glanced away, wondering if she was being selfish. “I’m sorry. That sounded really ungrateful. Forget I said anything.”

“I will not forget you said it,” he told her. “You were honest with me, and that’s what I want from you. I don’t want a Lily who tries to hide what she’s really thinking in order not to offend or upset me. I want the Lily who tells it to me straight. You don’t want to live in that house? We won’t live in that house. I don’t know about living in the cabin, at least not full time. I don’t want to spend too much time commuting. But perhaps we can find something else that suits both of us.”

“Really?” she asked. “Somewhere that we can have Crackling? And maybe some chickens? No roosters or steers, though. However, the sheep are pretty cute.”

He continued to stare at her in shock. “How long have you been staying here for?”

“Five nights now,” she said.

A look of shock filled his face before he frowned. Was something wrong?

“Five nights, huh? You’re like a completely different person.” He reached up and rubbed his thumb over her cheek.

“Oh, what was it? Did I have mud on me?”

“Just a little bit.”

“Is it bad that I’m different now?” she asked.

“No, not bad at all. In fact, your confidence seems to have grown. I can see it in your face. Maybe the way that you came here wasn’t the right way to do it, but it seems that coming here might have been the right thing to do.”

She nodded. “I think that making up with Clem healed something inside me. It doesn’t change what happened, and I know I’m still going to have bad days and nightmares. I’m not instantly healed or anything, but just being here, helping with the animals and being with my sister, I think it has helped. But the way I did it, you’re right, it wasn’t the right thing to do. No matter that I wasn’t really thinking well at the time, it was still wrong.”

“Enough apologizing about it, baby. We’re going to get past this.”

She hugged him tight until she realized that something was wiggling between them and she stepped back. “Oh my gosh. Sorry, Crackling. I didn’t squish you, did I, buddy?”

She gave him another snuggle before setting him down.