“I don’t want to lose you. I want you in my life.”
A slow smile spread across his face but he stayed where he was, across the barn from me. He looked at the handful of pennies he still held. “Am I about to get lucky?”
My cheeks went hot. “Well … I … ”
“That came out wrong.” He put the pennies into his pocket.
“I think it came out right.” I took a few hesitant steps forward.
“I want you in my life, too,” he said.
“You do?”
“I’ve wanted it for a while now and I didn’t think you were interested and then it seemed like you were.”
“I was. I am.”
“Is there a reason we’re talking to each other from fifty feet apart?” he asked.
“I wanted to give you space.”
“I don’t want space,” he said.
And then we were both moving toward each other until we crashed in a hug at the center of the barn.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered by his ear.
He kissed my neck, then my cheek, then my lips. I kissed him back, holding on to his shoulders like I was going to lose him again.
He pulled back and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “The pig barn? That was your ideal location for this? It really stinks in here.”
I threw my head back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think of that until after.”
“And now we’re going to have to shovel manure after this?” he asked. “I have a pocketful of pennies that should help us bribe our way out of manual labor.”
I smiled. “You make work fun.”
“That was a yes, wasn’t it?”
“We can get one of those lemonade slushies when we’re done.”
“I just want to do more of this when we’re done,” he said, taking my face in his hands and kissing me again.
“I can get behind that plan, too,” I said. His lips tasted like a cherry Jolly Rancher. “You taste good.”
“You too.” He backed me up against the railing to the pigpens and kissed me some more.
I put my hands on his chest to separate us slightly. “I need to tell you something. Maybe I should’ve told you first.”
“You won the lottery again?” he asked, his eyes sparkling.
“Funny.”
He shrugged. “I thought so.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m going to Stanford.”
“Oh. Stanford?”
“Yes. But I really want to stay together … um, if you want to. You are perfect for me. I think we balance each other out well. And long distance won’t be too bad, right? And I’m going to try to come back two weekends a month to see my family, and you, if you want.” I was talking too fast, letting my nervousness show. I shut my mouth.
“I want.”
“You do?”
“Of course, Maddie.” Seth grinned. “I tried to get your attention for over six months. You think I’m just going to let you go after all that work? I don’t work that hard for anything.”
I laughed. “So then maybe you can come see me sometimes, too? I talked to a financial advisor yesterday. He put my money in investments and we worked out a budget and I told him travel back and forth was important to me. And we have a fund set aside specifically for that. And there are other funds for other things of course, but the point is, I can afford to fly you up.”
“I could drive up. It’s only six hours.”
“Six hours and two minutes of time I’d rather be spending with you. Will you let me bring you out to see me at least one weekend a month?”
“That will be hard for me.”
“To see me? To travel?”
“To take your money.”
I kissed his hand. “I know. But think of it as me buying myself a gift.”
He laughed. “I’m your gift?”
“Yes … And … will you let me loan you some money for college?”
“You don’t have to. I got a scholarship.”
Joy jolted through me. “You got a scholarship?”
“I did.”
I threw my arms around him. “When did you find this out?”
“Yesterday.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Me too.”
“So see, it will work out. It will all work out,” I said.
“It will. I have fifty pennies’ worth of luck to back us up.”
“Luck is for losers,” I said. “We’ll have hard work.”
“Says the girl who won the lottery.”
“Says the girl who won you.”