“Where are you taking me?” Sammy asks as we pull up at my place.

When I picked her up she was in shorts and a tank top. I love that she didn’t get dressed up. I open her door and help her down then walk her around the back of my house to where the dock is.

“Out on the water. Thought it would be harder for you to get away,” I say, winking at her.

“Good thing I wore my bathing suit.”

When we get to the dock I help her onto the boat, and she immediately unties the front anchor line and pulls in the bumpers. She was raised out here, and it’s one of the things I love about her. Not only is she good with the outdoors, but she loves it. I remember her saying one time that’s why she doesn’t have a fancy place with a lot of stuff. She’d rather have a nice kitchen to cook in and a big boat to ride on. And I just so happen to have both.

When I pilot away from the dock, I steer the boat through the canal and out to the inlet. She sits on the front of the boat for a bit, looking out into the sunset. Just having her here with me and seeing her golden skin bathed in oranges and pinks is damn beautiful. She looks back at me as if she can read my thoughts and comes over to the Captain’s chair.

“Mind if I drive?” she asks, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

“She’s all yours.”

I take my hands off the wheel and then take her by the hips. I pull her down onto my lap as her hands steer us. She laughs, and I wrap my arms around her. God, she feels so damn good against me. Why have the two of us been fighting this for so long? Are we both so stubborn neither of us have been able to take the first step? Probably. But there’s also timing, and it took a while to get ours right.

I press my lips against her bare shoulder and leave them there. I close my eyes and inhale her scent as she leans back into my touch.

I point her in the direction I want to go, and she steers that way. She doesn’t ask what we’re doing or how long it’s going to take. Instead she just relaxes in my arms as we glide across the water. The silence between us is comfortable. Like we’ve been in a battle for a long time and now it’s come to an end. I think the two of us are tired of going against what feels so damn good.

“Pull in over there.” I point to a sandy beach, and she slows down the boat. I hop up and toss out the anchor as she turns off the engine.

“I hope you’re hungry. I brought dinner,” I say, grabbing the cooler out from under the seat and taking her hand.

I hop off the boat and then hold my hands out and she jumps down to me. I let her body slide down mine as I lower her, and I can see the flush of her cheeks. I let her go and grab the other bag I packed and we walk on the shore a little bit where I can lay down a blanket.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to this part of the island,” she says, looking around.

“It’s not well known. I like to think it’s my own secret spot. But there are a few deer here that would disagree with me.” I take out plates and serve her up the buttered pasta and grilled chicken I made. “I’m not much in the kitchen, so I hope you like it.”

“This is really sweet of you. I didn’t know you had it in you,” she says as she takes a bite.

“I’d like to think there’s a lot you don’t know about me, but that’s probably not true.”

“Why do you say that?” She’s got a puzzled look on her face, but she’s smiling.

“Because I know almost everything about you.” I shrug. “I just assumed you’ve been in love with me as long as I’ve been in love with you.”

She’s quiet for so long I think she’s going to ignore me, but eventually my patience pays off. “And exactly how long has that been?”

“Let’s start with an easier question,” I say, and she goes to say something, but I hold up my hand. “Like, how come you never sent me a care package? You said you were going to.”

She has the decency to look ashamed as she ducks her head and tucks her dark hair behind her ear. “Short answer? Spite.”

“I thought as much. Still hurt every time Derick opened a box.”

“That’s what I was after,” she admits. “Can’t say I’m proud of acting like a brat, but I was only sixteen at the time.”

“You don’t have to remind me.” I grab her a beer out of the cooler and hand it to her.

“Are you going to tell me why you got so mad at me? You know…” She lets it hang, and I think back to that day in her bedroom.

“What was I supposed to do?”

“You’re avoiding the question.” She looks out onto the water, and I can tell she’s right back in that room with me.

“You were too young for me to be thinking about you like that. I was nineteen and fresh out of boot camp. I was there for one week and I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.”

“So, you didn’t want to kiss me because you were leaving.” She sounds bitter when she says it.

“No.” My denial is so strong she has no choice but to look at me. “I knew I loved you and I couldn’t have you. I was afraid, Sammy.”

“Don’t you come out here and romance me and tell me you were in love with me since I was sixteen. You had every chance in the world to send me a letter and explain to me why you were so cold. Or better yet, when your ass got out and took the job here. There have been hundreds of moments for you to give me the truth, but instead you’ve played this game where everyone in town knew you wanted me but you never made a move. What am I supposed to say to that, Cyrus? Am I supposed to fall head over heels for a guy who never had the courage to love me?”

She looks away as she spits out the last words. The pain in her voice comes from years of feeling like she wasn’t good enough for me, when that was never the case. Old wounds don’t heal right, and I don’t know if I can fix this. But I’m here to try.

I take her plate of food and set it down beside mine. When I take her chin and make her look at me, I see tears in her eyes.

“Goddamn, you are so beautiful,” I whisper. “But you are so damn hardheaded.”

She laughs and closes her eyes, forcing more tears down her cheeks.

“It was never because you weren’t good enough. You were always too good for me. You’re right that I didn’t have the courage, because I knew you deserve the best. Not some no-name nothing that came from dirt. After I met you, I went back after my leave to make something of myself. I volunteered for every job, took every tour, and worked my way up fast. I wanted to have a nest egg for when I got out so that when I came to make you mine I’d be worthy of your hand. I got the job here because I wanted to make this our home. The place where we raise our kids. But the day I got here, you looked at me like I’d failed you in every way and it broke me. All I ever wanted to do was to take care of you. When I saw that I’d put that anger in your heart I didn’t know how to make it right. So, I let you paint my fence bright pink, and I let you toilet paper the tree in my front yard. I thought by letting you get that anger out of you, you’d have space for me when it was all gone.”

“Cyrus,” she whispers as her hands come up to my chest. “I-I was so hurt.”

“I know, sunshine,” I say, pulling her into my arms and onto my lap. “We were both just kids.”

“What happens now?” she asks as she looks up to me with her beautiful dark eyes.

“We eat this strawberry cake I packed and you tell me all that I missed while I was gone.”

“Strawberry cake? That’s weird. I made one for Mrs. Miller this morning.”

“I know. I bought it from her,” I say and give her a wink.

She pushes my chest playfully, and I fall back on the blanket. I take her down with me so she’s on top. “I couldn’t just bring any old dessert with me. I had to have the best.”

Her laughter stops as I hold her face with both my hands and kiss her softly.

“There’s never been anyone but you,” I say and kiss her again.