Or even back to England.
Bollocks.
She could have a boyfriend in England, and I wouldn’t know.
The thought of her in love with anyone else makes my blood hotter, but I push aside the temptation to plot yet another man’s demise and rise to my feet. “Then let’s get going,” I say, reaching a hand down to Van.
She shakes her head. “No, it’s too late. We’ve lost too much time, and I’m not even sure I was headed the right way.”
“No doubting yourself after you’ve come this far,” I say. “You’re unstoppable when it comes to solving puzzles, and you always predict the plot twist five minutes after the movie’s started. It’s diabolical.”
Her lips quirk. “That’s different—once you work in television for a while, you just know what a story needs—but thank you. I like being called diabolical. It feels fancy. And smart.”
“You are fancy and smart and diabolical and made of tougher stuff than this. We don’t get to the finish line and lie down for a nap, Savannah. That’s when we push even harder. That’s when we give it our all.”
She laughs. “You sound like an exercise video.”
“Thank you,” I say, curling two fingers. “Come on, up you go. Back on that bike. Lead the way, and I’ll follow.”
“You will?” Her plaintive, hopeful voice makes me think she’s talking about more than this bike ride or the treasure hunt.
My heart lifts as a second, perfect moment presents itself. All I have to do is open my mouth and tell her that yes, I will follow her anywhere. That I’ll follow her to the moon and back if that’s what it takes to win her heart. Hell, that I’ll give up my life in London, my job, my house, everything I’ve worked for, and move half a world away to a town named after sexually satisfied female genitalia if that’s what it takes.
I need to tell her.
I need to take this risk, despite all the reasons I’m positive she’ll reject me. One cannot hear yes if one doesn’t ask the question, and if there’s anything I’ve learned in three years of having Savannah in my house, teaching Bea—and me—the value of embracing joy, of trying new things, and of sheer belief, it’s that leaps of faith are worth taking.
The biggest risks are necessary if a man is to achieve the greatest rewards.
And I’m about to do it. The words are right there, an eloquent confession even my jaded heart thinks might have a chance of winning the girl.
But before I can speak, adolescent male voices echo through the woods, coming from the same direction we did a few moments ago.
“Come on, hurry up,” one shouts. “We’re the first ones on the trail!”
“Okay, but don’t go too fast,” the other shouts back. “That raccoon lives somewhere out here. That thing’s freaky as hell. My mom says it’s probably packed with diseases and that’s why it acts weird.”
“Did you hear that, George?” I ask, glancing down at the raccoon who does, amazingly, look rather cheesed off. It’s as if it actually understands what the boy said and isn’t happy about it. “Think you can slow them down for us?”
Van pulls in a breath, like she needs to protest, and I hurry on with my final orders to the raccoon. “No cheating, just a little…creative interference.”
George lets out a positively gleeful string of chatter and bounds off in the direction of the voices. I reach my hand down to Savannah again. “Come, my lady. Get up and go after your dreams. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Beside me.” She takes my hand and lets me draw her to her feet. “You should stay beside me. So I can keep an eye on you, in case you get into trouble again.”
I’m already in trouble. Too much trouble.
I’m in love with a woman who’s clearly decided she wants something different from life than what I have to offer, and it fucking sucks.
But I don’t say any of that. I simply nod, pick up my bike, and climb back to the trail beside her, doing my best to memorize the slope of her nose and the way the sun catches her hair, wanting to remember every second of this day, the last one I might ever have with the woman I love.
Chapter Six
Savannah
Thanks to our bikes, we’re the first ones to the Kennedy Family Day School, but now I’m nervous that Steve and his lady friend have been here and are already on to the next clue. We were in the woods for a while.
Or maybe it just seemed like a long time because I kept having mini-heart attacks, hoping Colin was going to say what I thought he was going to say—that he adores me the way I adore him and wants to spend the rest of his life making more beautiful memories together.