If This Is Love by Jewel E. Ann

Author:Jewel E. Ann [Ann, Jewel E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-05T16:00:00+00:00

Milo drives.

I open the window and let the warm wind scatter my hair and my imagination in every direction. In a different life, Milo would marry me. Or not. Does marriage matter? If he’s marrying Jolene, I don’t think there’s an ounce of sanctity left in exchanging vows.

Milo doesn’t have to marry me. His love is enough. I’d rather be his Indie girl than an appointed wife.

“Where are we?” I ask when he pulls onto a long gravel road with nothing but acres of pasture on every side.

Milo rolls down his window and types a code for the black iron gates to open. “It’s Fletcher’s newest purchase. Over five hundred thousand acres of—”

“No.” I shake my head.

Milo squints. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing to do with Fletcher. Take me some place he doesn’t own. Take me somewhere he’s never been.”

After a few seconds, Milo’s face relaxes into a soft smile. “I can do that.”

I lean my head back and close my eyes. “Thank you.”

Thirty minutes later, we pull into the drive-thru of a chicken joint.

I laugh. “What are we doing?”

“This is Fletcher’s biggest competitor. I thought we’d give them our business.”

Nodding, I bite my lower lip. Who cares that I don’t like chicken unless they’re laying eggs for me to eat.

We order someone else’s chicken, fries, and shakes before driving to a park filled with kids playing soccer and dogs chasing Frisbees. It’s nothing spectacular, yet incredibly special. I feel normal here.

Just two people in love, eating greasy food in the front seat of a pickup truck while hiding in the shade of Spanish moss-draped Cyprus trees.

“Did you play soccer?” I ask.

He shakes his head.

“Did you own a dog?”

Again, he shakes his head.

“Are you ever going to tell me about your childhood?”

He takes a bite of his chicken sandwich and gazes at the kids playing while he chews his bite. “I hope not.”

“Why do you always say that?”

“If the day comes that I’m sharing something that awful with you, it means I’m in a worse place than I was when my world imploded. As long as I can keep looking forward, it means I’m still alive.”

I pause a fry at my mouth and tap it to my lips a few times. Milo twists his neck, shifting his gaze to me.

“When did you know Fletcher bought me?”

“Don’t look back, Indie. Didn’t you hear me? It’s a slow death. Look forward. Chase something better. Don’t ever fucking look back.”

“If I don’t know where I’ve been, how will I know where I’m going?”

He removes his hat and tosses it onto the dash before running a hand through his hair. “You’ll know where you are when you get there not because you know where you’ve been. You’ll know it because it’s where you’re supposed to be. It will be a feeling of belonging that can’t be explained. It’s just a feeling you’ll know. And all you have to do is keep following that feeling, and you’ll be fine.”

“How do you know?” I ask. “Have you felt it?”

Milo nods.

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