Finding You (By You #3) by Kelly Harper

drive?"
    His heart leapt in his chest when she looked at him that way.
    "Then I guess we would have had to stay in," he said, eyeing her intensely.
    "Oh..." Her eyes bulged as she looked at him, and he could tell she was blushing. He let out a deep laugh, one that started in his belly and worked its way up. "What's so funny?"
    "You should see the look on your face right now," he said. "I'm just teasing you. I never really considered it. I guess I just assumed everything would work out."
    She flashed him a tiny smile from the corner of her mouth before focusing back on the road.  
    "Things don't always work out the way you expect," she said, her voice distant.
    He turned his head and focused on the mile markers as they zipped by.
    "Tell me about it," he said, his voice trailing off.
    Jeremy was all too familiar with the fact that life didn't always turn out the way you thought it was going to. He had never thought he'd be starting college at the age of twenty-one, and he never thought he'd have to go through everything that happened a few years earlier.
    He gritted his teeth, trying to push those thoughts away. He'd spent enough time living in the past, and now wasn't the time to revisit those memories. He was on a nice date with the most amazing girl he'd met in a long time, and dredging up things he'd put behind him wasn't going to end well.
    "Is there something wrong?" Sarah asked, after they'd driven in silence for a while.
    He shook his head. "No, not at all." He hoped she didn't see through the lie. "I was just thinking that I haven't been out this way in a while. Seems like everything has changed so much."
    "Did you used to come out here a lot?"
    "When I was a boy, I did." He let out a small laugh. "Seems like forever ago. It's funny how things that are so important in your life one moment can slowly fade into distant memories without you realizing it."
    She gave him a curious look. "What is it exactly that we're doing?"
    He waggled a finger back and forth, shaking his head. "Nah, ah. I'm not telling--you'll find out soon enough."
    Her eyes narrowed at him suspiciously, and her nose scrunched into that cute little way, but she didn't say anything. He was happy that she was such a good sport about all of this. For a first date--wow, he really was on a date with her--she had been very trusting. Knowing that she trusted him like that made him feel good.
    When they came on their exit, a ton of those old memories came back to Jeremy. He hadn't been out this way since he was a young teen. It was going to be nice getting to share this with Sarah, and he couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she found out what they were doing.
    Sarah turned down the tiny road that led away from the highway. They followed that road as it cut through luscious green hills of south Texas. The dense trees gave way to open farmland, and after another fifteen minutes, or so, Jeremy had her take one final turn onto a narrow, dirt road. Sarah gave him a curious look, but he just gave her a big smile, still not giving her any hints about what they were doing.
    They took one final turn onto a narrow driveway and passed a gated fence that had been left open for them. When they pulled up to a row of tiny buildings, Jeremy had her park next to an old, Chevy pickup truck that belonged to someone he hadn't seen in years. As Sarah looked out over the fields in front of them, her eyes were wide with amazement.
    "Are we doing what I think we're doing?"
    He grinned at her, his heart threatening to pound straight through his chest just from how excited she looked.
    "Sure is," he said. "You're in for one hell of a time."

Chapter 14

    As they climbed out of the car, looked around in wide-eyed excitement. She breathed in all of the smells that came along with being out in the open fields, away from the city. Horses grazed out in the pasture, and the only thing that separated them from where Jeremy and Sarah stood was a fence made of thick lumber. She watched