“I paraphrased just a tiny bit.”

“I had a feeling,” she said, laughing. “Are you going to freak out again the next time your mom says something to me that she shouldn’t?”

“I’ll try not to, but even if I do freak out, I won’t push you away again. I promise you that.”

“You broke my heart.”

Wincing, he said, “I know. I hate myself for that. It was the last thing you deserved after you took such a big chance on me. I never want to cause you another second of pain.”

“Then don’t. Let me take this walk with you and hold your hand along the way and help you deal with whatever comes up the same way you will for me.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“It is simple. I love you. You love me. What else matters?”

“Nothing, I suppose. There’s apt to be more hand-holding on your part than there will be on mine.”

“We have no way to know that, do we?”

“All I know is I’ll do whatever it takes to get you to forgive me.”

“I forgave you a while ago, actually. What’s not to love about a man who puts his ailing mother ahead of everything else in his life?”

“What’s not to love about a woman who puts up with a man who thinks he can survive without her when he should’ve known better?”

“She does sound pretty awesome. You should come inside and make love with her so she’ll believe you mean all these pretty words you’re throwing at her.”

“Oh, I mean them, and I’d like nothing more, but can I borrow her shower first? I had a little trouble with some tomatoes.”

Jenny laughed and then squealed when he picked her up and swung her around. She held on tight to him until he put her down, took her hand and led her inside to begin the rest of their lives together.

Epilogue

Epilogue

“So I have this big idea,” Alex said, much later that night. They’d spent the entire day in her bed making up for the time they’d lost when they were apart. Alex said he figured they’d be caught up in another couple of days. Then they could start over again.

Facedown on the bed, Jenny hugged a pillow and looked over at him. “What’s your big idea?”

“We own quite a bit of property behind the greenhouses. It occurred to me that we could build a place of our own back there so we’d be close to my mom but still have our own space.”

She couldn’t believe what he was saying. “You want to build a house.”

“For us. Yes. What do you think?”

“It’s a wonderful thought, and maybe by the time it’s built, I’ll be ready to move in with you.”