Chapter 29
Malone
December
“What are you doing, Slater?” We’re in the field where we first parked back in the summer. He’s got his old truck parked there, along with the cooler I recognize from that first date of ours, a blanket laid out in the back.
There are candles everywhere on the ground, lights strung up on poles that I didn’t notice before. He’s standing in front of everything, his profile backdropped by the soft glow.
It’s a cool night, enough so that I had to wear a big jacket and gloves. His breath comes out in puffs of white when he talks
“I wanted to surprise you.” He gives me the smile. The one that travels all the way from the top of my head, down to the bottom of my toes. The one I never thought I’d be able to call mine again.
“This is a huge surprise,” I laugh, even though I can already feel a rush of emotion bubbling up in my throat. “What do you have up your sleeve?”
“So many things.” He grins so hard that the dimple he sometimes has in his right cheek pops deeply.