The car rattled as he slowed, checking the house numbers on the doors and post boxes. 1423 Aspen Street. 1423 Aspen Street. 1407… 1411…
The house was modest, not unlike what he'd pictured from her letters, though much more isolated than the rowhomes of Hope Valley. It sat far up from the road, no break in the tall grass and gravel for any proper path. Henry let the car roll to a stop at the edge of the land and turned off the engine.
Four days ago they had been over six hundred miles apart. He'd steadily covered the distance until it was four hundred miles, then two hundred. And now he was here, this last dusty length of ground all that kept him from her.
The only sounds to be heard were his car door opening and closing, his shoes thumping on the road, the shifting of the rocks and dirt underneath his feet as he made his way up to the screen door. After seconds that seemed like hours, the toe of his boot pressed the gray plank of the porch, and he exhaled.
There was a plan. There were many of them, after four days in the car. Different variations of what he would say. Sometimes there was a nervous apology, or a tearful hug. Other times he revealed himself with a mischievous smile. "Guess who?" he might say, or "Well, hello there." Sometimes she embraced him before he said anything at all.
He took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair before replacing it again. He straightened the open jacket of his suit, pulling at its hem. He cleared his throat. When there was no more fidgeting to be done, he leaned his boot forward on the creaky slats and knocked on the white wooden frame.
A moment passed. Then another. He had forgotten all of the plans. The inside doorknob was grabbed and turned, and then finally opened.
"Mr. Gowen!"
"Cody!" Henry's smile was genuine, his potential embarrassment put off a little longer. "How are you, young man?"
The boy had barreled out of the screen door to throw his arms around Henry, who just barely managed to stay on his feet. Thirteen now, Cody nearly matched him in height, though all of him was clearly still filled with the same boisterous young energy.
"What are you doing here? How did you find us?" Cody asked as he pulled back.
"Your mom and I have written a few times," Henry answered, downplaying the frequency of their correspondence. "I had a few days to spend, thought I'd come see how you were doing."
"Mom will be so happy to see you. It's been okay here, but a little lonely. I think she misses home a lot."
The corner of Henry's mouth turned down with regret. "Home misses her too. And you."
Cody nodded. "She's around back. Want me to get her?"
Henry looked out at the surrounding field. "Would you mind if I went back myself? I'd like to surprise her."
The smallest smile passed over the boy's lips. "Yeah, sure. She's probably working on the vegetables, so go around that way," Cody pointed to his right. "You'll stay for dinner?"
The invitation touched him. "I'd like that."
He tipped his hat and started off down the porch, anticipation mounting as he passed the barrels and buckets clustered against the house. In his periphery the edges of the siding came closer, his approach nearing the point where the path would open out into a field and he would turn, completely exposed in front of her. There would be no town to define them, no work to excuse a hasty retreat, no ink to hide an ill-advised word. There would be only Henry, and only Abigail.
She was facing away from him, folded low to the ground in front of a raised bed of cabbages. The hem of her dress brushed against the dirt, her elbow appearing and disappearing from his view as she worked the soil.
He'd expected to be fully conscious of himself when he saw her, his heart pounding, his brow sweating. Instead it was a dream, like everything around him and inside of him had become suspended. She laid the trowel down and the only thing that moved was the breeze through her hair.
His lips parted to say something but his breath caught. His voice felt rusty, and he didn't trust any sound that would come out, or that any sound would.
She stood and wiped at her dress, turning back toward the house. Catching him out of the corner of her eye, she did a double-take, and stopped.
No other moment for the rest of his life would ever compare to the way she looked at him right then. For the first time he could remember, he saw someone look at him with relief and happiness and love, like everything was finally okay.
The last ten feet were the easiest because she met him there, closing the space between them. He removed his hat and rushed forward - only Henry, only hers.
Kissing her was the most beautiful surrender. The unfamiliar taste of her quickly became intimately ingrained in him as their lips refused to leave the other, their desperate breaths and sighs the only air. He pulled her closer, and closer still, afraid to fall back out into the dream. Her hands held him there, firm but restless, not content to stop in any one place and miss feeling the rest of him. He tangled his hand in her hair, another swell in his heart as she eagerly recaptured his mouth in return. There was absolutely nothing else in this world but her.
Their breathing was heavy when they finally slowed, not completely breaking apart, leaning forward to kiss once more, and one more time. He leaned his forehead against hers and shook his head lightly.
"I haven't properly courted you."
Her laugh was light and teasing. She pulled back to look at him, playing with his hair affectionately.
"I think we're a little past that." Her adoring gaze settled on him again, and he blinked back threatening tears. "I've wanted you to do that for a long time."
He let out his own sharp laugh. "I've wanted to do it for a long time! But I never thought…"
"Sure you did," she smiled. "You wouldn't have come all the way out here if you didn't."
She never made a damn thing easy. God, how he loved her.
"I'm sorry it took me a while."
"You made it. That's what matters." She kissed him again. "Even better than I imagined too," she said, unable to keep the smile from her face.
"Oh really?" His eyes widened with a sly twinkle. "So you imagined it?"
"Did you want to stay for dinner?" she said, abruptly dragging him by his hand into the house.
"And it was even better, you say...?"
She rolled her eyes and he kicked the door shut behind them.