Trev grinned, bemused by her funny ideas about love. He’d never heard anyone talk about love like that. In fact, hardly anyone in his life talked about love at all. In his circle, there was no such thing as love—only negotiations.
He cleared his throat, not liking the serious direction of their conversation and the earnest way she looked at him, like she expected him to respond with his own views on love. She wasn’t going to get that from him today.
He didn’t know what else to say, so he did what his royal advisors told him to do in unknown situations—he flashed a brilliant smile. They told him smiling made him look confident. Smiling won the people over. It was all part of Trev’s charm. It usually came naturally, and he relied on it in situations like these. Sometimes he didn’t even know he was doing it. Today though, he knew. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he wanted the unusual woman to like him.
His flashy smile appeared to surprise her, and she looked at him in obvious confusion, until a huge smile of her own spread across her mouth. He was winning her over.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He answered without moving his lips. “I’m smiling.”
She laughed. “But why is it so creepy?”
“I didn’t know it was.” Then they both burst into laughter.
She leaned in closer, touching her shoulder to his playfully. “Thank you for saving me.”
She was teasing, but the warmth in her smile was sincere. Strangely, it made his heart lurch.
“You’re welcome.” His voice came out raspier than he intended, but her sudden nearness caught him off-guard. It had been a long time since he’d used his charms on a woman. They worked better than he remembered.
When Trev had first pulled her out of the water, he’d noticed her beauty but only in passing. Now, conversing with her, he was wholly captivated. Golden waves of wet hair tumbled around her shoulders down to her chest, framing her expressive green eyes—eyes that told an animated story every time she spoke. Her skin glowed with the tint of a summer tan that complemented her pink lips. And her smile—it was the biggest prize of all, making him somehow feel a surge of happiness every time she bestowed it on him. His attraction to her seemed to grow exponentially, with an intensity he couldn’t deny.
“You know, I should probably give you a reward for saving me.”
Was she batting her eyes at him? He couldn’t account for this flirtatious change in her behavior. All he knew was that her face and, more importantly, her lips were getting closer to his. It was weird. He didn’t even know her name, and here she was, acting like she was going to kiss him.
This was moving fast.
She was moving fast.
He parted his lips in anticipation. She paused, her green eyes holding his gaze. He didn’t dare look away, or he might miss her next move.
Or was it supposed to be his move?
In her pretend story, she held her rescuer’s gaze and waited. He was supposed to kiss her. That’s what she wanted, right?
But could he do it? In a way, it was wrong. What about the princess of New Hope?
I haven’t even met her yet.
This would be his last kiss with another woman. The last kiss he chose for himself. Maybe he owed it to himself to have one last kiss.
He closed his eyes and leaned in, ready to give her what she wanted, when suddenly her satisfied voice snapped him back to reality.
“Thanks for the help, stranger.” Her smile radiated with playfulness as she spoke. She tousled his hair like he was a schoolboy and hopped to her feet. He didn’t realize that he’d been holding his breath until the air escaped his chest in a mixture of relief and disappointment.
“And by the way,” she paused for a moment, eyebrows raised, taunting him, “we were both wrong. I don’t need a pretty, blue dress to get you to kiss me. Just some eye contact will do.” She pursed her lips together in the most adorable way and then ran off into the trees.
No. She frolicked into the trees—like she didn’t have a care in the world.
Trev sat there, stunned, trying to figure out what had just happened.
Then he knew.
That was her charm kicking in, and she had won.
3
Renna
A laugh escaped Renna’s lips as she made her way to her father’s grave. Her dad would have loved her interaction with the stranger. She had inherited her mischievousness from him. When he was alive, he used to prank absolute strangers, making big scenes. She’d loved that about him.
Renna approached the meadow, noticing the puffy, white dandelion heads scattered throughout the deep grass. She picked one up, holding it to her mouth as she blew the seeds into the air. A light breeze carried them into the middle of the small field where her father’s grave lay. The sun shone on his headstone, casting an angelic glow on the ground surrounding the grave. Preetis and Nellie had kept the wild grass from overtaking the monument, maintaining a clear path to and around it. Trees circled Renna, closing her in, keeping her safe from the bustle at the house down below. She was happy knowing her father was above Wellenbreck Farm, not far from their pond and everything he had loved.
“Hi, Dad,” Renna whispered, kneeling over the marble headstone to trace the letters of his name. KIMBALL DEGRAY. Only his body rested there. His soul was somewhere else—maybe with her always. At least that’s what she told herself, so she didn’t feel stupid when she carried on conversations with him.
“I’m sorry it’s been so long. You know I would come every day if I could.” Her voice was low.
She wiped away a stray tear trickling down her cheek, unsurprised to find it there. She was used to the ups and downs of her grief. One minute she’d be laughing, and the next she’d be curled up on the bathroom floor, praying the hurt and tears would subside. Today though, she was here with him.
“You would have loved the ride here,” she said cheerfully, laughing to herself as she swiped another tear off her cheek. “Actually, you would have hated it. Mom complained the whole time about how bumpy it was.”
She picked at a few blades of grass in front of her. “But you would have loved the government transporter we rode in. We covered more miles in an hour than we ever covered in a day with Canyon Ann pulling the wagon. I wish everybody was allowed to have one. It would change regular people’s lives.” She sighed. “But only fancy people get fancy things, and Mom’s fancy now.”
Renna’s smile faded. “I would give it all up, all the nice things, just to have you back.” She could feel the emotion creeping into her voice. “I miss you so much, Dad. It still doesn’t seem real—you gone, Mom marrying Bryant, moving to the Government Center. None of it feels like my life. I should be used to it after four years, but I’m not.”
She looked around at the trees and bushes lining the edges of the meadow. Everything seemed bigger; time had matured the trees just as it had her.
“I’m sorry Mom didn’t come say hi.” Renna let out a slow breath. “I suppose we both know why. It’s probably for the best, though. I went swimming in the pond, and we all know Mom hates that. I also pretended to drown and made some guy dive in and rescue me.” She chuckled, the man’s wide grin flashing in her mind.