“I’ve been struggling more and more to walk. It wasn’t just an occasional limp anymore. The surgery was inevitable. And my agent recommended this doctor because he specializes in getting athletes back on the field. The plan was to do the surgery, recover, rehab, and then go back to playing rugby for as long as I could. But that plan was before you came back into my life.”

She doesn’t react. Doesn’t blink. Doesn’t flinch. And that’s when I realize. “You already knew, didn’t you?”

She swallows and nods. “The doctor came out to update me about how the surgery went. He mentioned it.”

I stare at her, stunned. “You knew all this time and said nothing?”

Magnolia nibbles her bottom lip. “I wasn’t sure what it meant. I didn’t know if it was still your plan, or things had changed, or you were just waiting for the right time to tell me.”

“You should have said something.”

“I didn’t want to ask because I was afraid you might be going back to your old life without me. I didn’t want to hear you say you were leaving without asking me to come with you.”

It knocks the breath out of me.

Because I’ve been so wrapped in my fears, I didn’t stop to think about hers.

“I would not leave you. I can never be parted from you again. You get that, right?”

Her eyes shine, but she doesn’t look away. “I didn’t. But I do now that you’ve told me.”

It guts me—knowing she’s been walking around with that weight in her chest, wondering if I’d disappear again. Wondering if she was temporary.

It makes me realize I’ve been too quiet. Too careful. Too damn slow.

So I push forward, needing her to hear the truth—all of it.

“I need to make something clear.” My eyes lock with hers. “I will not let you go again, Magnolia. Ever. I don’t care where we are or what happens. We will never part ways again.”

She stares at me, that hopeful wariness flickering in her eyes again—the kind you get when you want to believe something so badly that it hurts.

“What does that mean to you? Never parting from me again?”

It means everything to me. But I have to know where she is before I lay it all out.

I hesitate, just for a breath. “Can I ask you something?”

She nods. “Sure.”

“Have your feelings changed about marriage? About having kids?”

Magnolia draws in a shaky breath. “Being apart from you has changed everything for me.”

I don’t breathe. I don’t blink.

She hesitates for a moment and swallows. “I want it all, and I want it with you.”

I swear, my world tilts.

“Say it again.”