The Burns We Carry (Lost and Found in Wallowpine #1)

by Marae Good

I closed my eyes, my heart overcome with what he’d done. How could I have walked away, thinking he wasn’t worth the risk of being hurt? Never again. He was worth everything. “I want to work at the shop—but I also want time to write. And I might take an online class or two, because I really don’t know what I want to do. I kind of want to stay at home, at least for a while. I want to go on hikes and sleep under the stars. I want you to dance with me, because you promised you would. I want you at my doctor’s appointments, and I need you to hold my hand during labor and promise me I won’t die, because I’m really scared Tater’s going to rip me in two. I want you to be deliriously in love with our daughter and tell me she’s the most beautiful girl in the world, even if she looks like an alien. Make love to me, and laugh with me always. Give me your highs and lows, and let me cheer you on. I want you to make dinner for me, and I want you to teach me how to cook. And I promise I’ll give you all the lap dances in the world—” His eyes crinkled as he laughed against my lips, the sound filling my soul. “Anything else?” “Everything.” I cupped his jaw, his beard thicker than the last time I’d touched him. “But I’d be okay if you just gave me you.”