“If you’re going to stay, you should get a better car.” Imogen’s car downright offended him, and she wasn’t safe driving around in that rattletrap.

She smiled. “Maybe. I hadn’t intended to stay here more than eighteen months.”

That meant she would possibly be leaving after Christmas, then, and he didn’t like the thought of that at all. Hell, they’d just gotten started on this whatever it was they were doing. He wanted to follow it and see where it could go.

“Charlotte’s a nice town,” he said, instead of saying anything he really wanted to, because it was too damn soon in their relationship and he would look like a total jackass if he let her know that he was already thinking beyond another night together. That he was thinking maybe they could try on dating, for real.

“Yes, it is,” she said simply.

He let it drop, knowing he would say the wrong thing if he continued the conversation.

After ten minutes of silence, Imogen was starting to huff and puff a little as they walked down the path, their boots crunching on the sticks and other debris. Ty felt a little guilty for the long hike, but then without warning, she stopped walking and just looked around her. She turned in a complete circle, gazing up at the sky, before closing her eyes and breathing deeply.

When she reopened her eyes, she was smiling in wonderment. “God, Ty, it really is beautiful, isn’t it? Everything is so verdant and alive, the sky so crisp and blue, the smells so unusual and fresh. Even the air feels different. Damp. Earthy. Thank you for suggesting this.”

She was beautiful. She was verdant and alive, unusual and fresh. Damn, if he wasn’t struck a bit dumb by the sight of her standing there glowing with curiosity and appreciation for the world around her. “It’s a pleasure to share it with you,” he said. “And if I wasn’t hauling twenty pounds on my back, I’d show you how much more pleasurable it could be.”

Imogen laughed, and the sound sent birds scattering from the red maple behind her. The sunlight that streamed in between the canopy of leaves danced across her face, and her eyes sparkled.

Ty had no words to describe how she looked, how he was feeling.

And suddenly the meaning of the quote he had memorized from Much Ado About Nothing became clear.

So he said to her, “‘Silence is the perfectest herald of joy.’ ”

Imogen’s laughter died out and her hand curled into a fist on her chest. “What did you say?”

“‘Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were but little happy if I could say how much. Lady, as you are mine, I am yours: I give away myself for you and dote upon the exchange.’ ”

“Oh, my God,” she whispered. “Act Two, Scene One. Claudio describing his joy in being with Hero.”