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Warm. Steady. Certain.

He guided her to the middle of the empty floor and pulled her against him as the music filled the space.

For a few precious minutes there was only the scent of candles and lingering saw dust, the quiet creak of old floorboards, and Ronan’s arms around her.

Home.

The realization hit her so suddenly it stole her breath.

Not the town. Not the house. Not even Nebraska.

Him.

Tears prickled at her eyes.

She was throwing away so much.

Then she purposefully brought up Jack’s laughing face. The happiness in Rae’s voice as she confessed that she and Beau were making a go of their marriage.

She dropped her head to Ronan’s shoulder, his hand moving over her back in slow, steady strokes.

It should have comforted her.

Instead, it reminded her of everything she was about to throw away.

And the song … oh, the song.

Stapleton sang about a love more precious than gold. About finding something rare. Something worth holding onto.

Ronan’s heart beat strongly beneath her palm as he guided her around the room. Floorboards creaked beneath their feet while candlelight flickered across the mural. Neither of them spoke, the lyrics filling the silence between them.

When the music shifted into “Your Man,” he drew her a little closer.

Not possessively. Not demanding.

Simply as though being near her was the most natural thing in the world.

A lump rose in her throat.

She slid her arms around his neck and pressed even closer, memorizing the feel of him, the smell of him, the quiet certainty of his love.

Too soon the song came to an end.

For a long moment neither of them moved.

Then Ronan brushed a kiss across her forehead and swept her into his arms. She laughed softly, the sound catching somewhere between happiness and heartbreak as he carried her up the staircase.

Past the spot where it first hit her how important he had become to her.

Past the bathroom they’d sweated over together.

Down the hallway lined with blank walls and empty spaces. Walls waiting for photographs. For artwork. For memories.

For a future.

Their future.

A future so close she just had to reach out and grab hold of it.