“I’m going with you to Prague,” Maddie declares as soon as I set a foot in the door to the condo.

My girl has clearly lost her mind. She can’t possibly go with me. Her entire life is here—in Charlotte. And she loves it. I lean down to pet Ramos, who zoomed past her in his beeline to greet me. “Maddie. That’s ridiculous. You can’t—”

“I can,” she says firmly. “I love you and I don’t want to live without you. Nothing means more to me than you.” She moves closer, gently kneeing Ramos out of the way.

“I appreciate that, love.” I plant a quick kiss on her lips, inhaling the sweet scent of bubble gum. “But your career is here. Your family is here.”

“You’re right. But you mean more to me than my job. And, I’m a U.S. citizen.” She shrugs. “Technically, I can come back and visit my family anytime I want. I want to go with you.”

I know her by now. I know her body language and the tone of her voice. She’s completely serious and she’s got her mind made up.

“Sweetheart, I love you too. So much, it makes my heart hurt. But you cannot move to the Czech Republic with me. You cannot leave your entire life behind. You may not see the consequences right now, but I do. You may not care about them, but I do.”

“Erik.”

“Stop, please. I won’t let you to turn your back on everything you know and love because of me. You’ll lose your family and the career you worked hard for. You’ll miss your friends,” I say, inching past her to get to the living room. I’ve never let her see any weakness about my decision, and I’m not about to now. “I don’t know what the Czech Republic will be like. I have a place to live, but I don’t have any real plans. I have no clue what I’m doing. I can’t bring you into that unknown.”

“Erik.” Maddie reaches out and grabs my arm. I turn to face her again. “I told you before that I will do anything to help you. A couple years in another country isn’t going to break me. It’s an adventure. I want to go on this adventure with you. If you can’t stay here, I’m going with you.”

I won’t let her make a decision that will ruin everything she worked for in her life. It’s that easy. But since she’s stuck on another crazy idea, I have to pull out the big guns.

“What about my grandma, Maddie? I feel good about leaving because I trust that you will take good care of her.” It’s a bit of a low blow since Ginny is not Maddie’s responsibility in any way, but I had to hit below the belt to get her to realize it would be a mistake to leave her life here.

“There’s a line out the door of people who want to help take care of Ginny. Mama already started a signup sheet. Emily, Liz, Austin—even Austin’s mama. They all assured us that there won’t be one day where Ginny doesn’t have someone there.”

Surprised and slightly stunned by her thoughtfulness and the fact that so many people want to help, I stumble back, until my calves hit the couch, and fall onto it.

“And Emily said she’d take care of Ramos for the time we’re gone,” Maddie says, reading my mind before I have a chance to ask about him.

“You did all that for me?”

She sinks down next to me and takes my hand. “I did it for us. I’m not letting you do this alone, Erik. My family is your family and your family is mine. We’re in this together. And we have people we can count on to help us.”

“Are you sure, Maddie?” I whisper. Fuck the tears that are stinging my eyes. I refuse to let them spill.

“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”

My knee shakes, because the idea of Maddie coming with me is becoming more and more of a possibility in my mind. “What about your parents?” My concern is weak, because Maddie is an adult, but their opposition would be a major roadblock.

“My parents are fine with it.”

“I don’t believe that.” I shake my head stubbornly. I refuse to let her ruin her ties with her family. That would break her.

“You don’t have to believe me. As soon as you stop resisting, we can hop in that big old truck of yours and race to Mama and Daddy’s, and you can ask them yourself. Heck, Daddy’s the one who helped me get my visa paperwork started.”

“This is ridiculous.” I run both hands through my hair, squeezing the back of my head in frustration.

“We’re like two mules fighting over a turnip right now, I swear.” She huffs.

My head snaps up to get a translation of her Southern sayings. “Excuse me?”

“We’ve gotta come to an agreement, sugar. We both want the same thing, don’t we?” Maddie asks.

“Yes.”

“You love me, don’t you?”

“You know I do.”

“I’m not buckling in for a twelve-hour flight with a stubborn ass. So, stop all this fussin’ and kiss me, already.”

The woman sitting next to me is so much different than the woman I’ve known for years. She’s not concerned about how she’ll be perceived by others. She’s not concerned about making other people happy. She’s only concerned with me.

I stare into her eyes, trying to figure out if she’s completely serious about this crazy plan. Is she making a good choice, or being completely unreasonable?

Her stiletto taps against the hardwood floor, reminding me that even the spilt-second I’ve taken is too long, because when a beautiful, Southern woman demands you kiss her—you kiss her.

I grab her waist and pull her onto my lap, then cover her mouth with mine. She immediately melts into me, sliding her hands across my back before clasping them around my neck. Our tongues tangle for a few seconds, and when I pull away, the taste of bubble gum lingers. I open my mouth to speak, but Maddie interrupts before I can say a word.

“If you’re about to argue again, you can just hush.”

I can’t help but smile. “I’m not going to argue. I’m going to say thank you.” I nudge her nose with mine. “I cannot believe that you would give up your entire life for me.”

“I’m not giving up my life, Erik. I’m starting it. I thought it was pretty clear that you are my life. You are my family. You are the person I want to spend the rest of my days with. When we’re old and gray, we’ll be on the front-porch swing, sipping iced tea together. I don’t care what country that porch is in, as long as I’m with you.”

Tears spring to my eyes, a sign of how completely overwhelmed I am by how much thought she’s put into this. And the fact that she’s willing to drop everything to go with me. The only other people who’ve loved me like this were my grandparents, who took me in and cared for me, even though I wasn’t a blood relation.

“Oh, Erik.” Maddie smiles and brings her hands to my face, gently sweeping the pads of her thumbs across my eyes.

I sniff a few times and clear my throat. Done.

“I’m not arguing, but—” I begin tentatively. “What about your career? You’ve worked hard to be where you are at Commons.”

She shrugs. “I’ve spoken to Daddy about working remotely in some aspect of the business—maybe not in my current position, but something. If we can come to an agreement that works, great. If not, then the visa I’m applying for will allow me to work, and I’ll email my resume to every business in Prague until I find something. I’m not worried, Erik. I’m confident that I’m an asset to any company, not just my family’s.”

“I agree, one hundred percent.”

“So, we’re doing this?” Maddie asks, pulling back slightly. Her eyes are as bright as her smile.

I nod, but I honestly can’t keep the smile off my own face. “I guess we are.”

Maddie clenches our fists together and pumps it into the air. “I’m so excited.”

It’s a completely ridiculous thought to have at this particular moment, but my mind is already turning over how Maddie is going to fit all of her stuff into a few suitcases.

She extends her arm in front of her and slides it through the air, as if our names are in lights on a marquis. “Maddie and Erik take Europe.”

“Dramatic much?” I ask. Then I tighten my grip and hug her to me again.

Never in a million years did I think Madeline Commons would drop everything to move to another country with me. Asking her didn’t even cross my mind. And I’m not sure why. I didn’t doubt her love for me, but asking her to move to someplace so far from everything she knows didn’t seem like an easy request. I wouldn’t have asked it of anyone. But the fact that she made that decision, and all the work she put into answering any doubts I had, reinforces my belief that she really does love me.

“This is so surreal, Maddie.”

She snuggles into my chest. “I know. It’s going to be an amazing adventure. I’m excited to build a life together away from everyone and everything. We can start fresh.”

“Sounds wonderful.” I squeeze her tighter.

“Erik, can I ask you something crazy?” Her words are muffled because her face is buried in my chest. I lean back.

“You can ask me anything.”

“Will you marry me?”

“Yes.”

“Hear me out!” She rushes into her next sentence. “It just makes sense that we move to Prague already married. It means this is real. We’re both all-in. No one can question our commitment.”

“Sweetheart.” I tilt her chin upwards with my fingers. “I said yes.”

“Oh. Well, all right then. It’s settled.”

It’s settled. We’ve chosen our path. We’ve chosen each other, after all the years—maybe because of all the years. And the truth set both of us free.

Life is a series of decisions. We can choose to lie or choose to tell the truth. Sometimes the truth is the hardest thing we’ll ever have to face, but I’ve found, the hardest decisions have the greatest reward.