‘I don’t know about that.’ She gave an awkward laugh. Everything he said was just so perfect that she found it hard to believe he was talking about her.
‘Well, I do,’ he said, raising his head to look her in the eyes again. ‘You don’t even realise it. You don’t realise how people see you, or how great you are. You don’t realise how you have this incredible ability to make people feel better about themselves. To make them feel like they’re important. And here’s the thing,’ he added, ‘you’ve made me realise that my life isn’t over. That I still have some control over it. For so long, it felt as if everything was happening to me, and I had no say over any of it. You’ve made me realise that I do have a say. You’ve made me realise that I had been hanging on to some idea of what I thought Sophie and I should have been, rather that realising what we really were. We hung on to each other out of habit, rather than being the best people for each other.’
Her heart was in her throat. She couldn’t believe what he was saying, but with every word, she felt as if she were closer and closer to where she wanted to be.
‘You’ve taught me to be brave, and take chances,’ he continued.
‘I’m glad,’ she muttered while she felt unable to say anything more. Not until she knew, exactly, where this was going.
‘So I’m taking a chance,’ he said and dipped his head closer to hers.
Jo felt her breath catch in her throat.
His hand was on her cheek, angling her face towards his. ‘I don’t want to be the person who hurts you,’ he repeats. ‘I want to be the person who takes chances with you. Who sees the world differently. Who watches cheesy movies with a charming six-year-old. Who helps you rescue dogs like Paddy, and old men who really should be taking it easier. I want to be the person who kisses you, right now.’
His lips were on hers, soft at first. Hesitant, as if he was afraid this wasn’t what she wanted.
It was her turn, she realised, to take a chance right back. She raised her hand to his cheek and kissed him back, losing herself in the sensation. And she knew in that moment, this was what she had been waiting for. The kiss that all those movies promised came as a reward for true love. The kind of kiss Westley and Buttercup shared in The Princess Bride. The kiss she knew signalled the start of her own happy ever after.
Epilogue
One Year Later
The pop of the champagne bottle made Jo jump, even though she had watched as Noah had started to twist the cork slowly and had known that the noise would follow.
Her nerves were on edge and fizzed just like the liquid that was being poured into delicate long-stemmed champagne flutes. The hum and chatter of the guests assembled in the next room made her feel giddy. So giddy that she downed the better part of her glass of bubbles in one go, prompting her mother to warn her to slow down.
‘But, Mum,’ she said, ‘I’m really, really nervous. What if everyone hates it? What if it bombs and the only reviews that come are one-star assassinations? What if not a single person buys it?’ A strange feeling of déjà vu washed over her. This felt very much like a dream she’d once had – but this was actually happening.
Her mother put down her own almost empty glass. ‘Jo, you are spiralling. Everyone will love it. Why would they not? It wouldn’t be published if it wasn’t any good.’
‘But it’s different having everyone you know read it!’ she protested.
‘Yes. Yes, it is,’ Lorcan said, as he took her champagne glass from her and started to gently massage her shoulders to ease her tension. ‘But I am also someone you know, and I’ve read it and it’s brilliant. And Libby and Noah have both read it. And Mags, and Grandad, and Erin.’
‘And me!’ her mother piped up.
‘Me too!’ her father said as he beamed with pride. ‘You’ve done brilliantly. Your mum and I couldn’t be more proud.’
Jo looked at her parents, who had become even closer since he had returned from Dubai and had stuck with his decision not to go back. He had thrown himself into retirement with gusto, and even enjoyed pulling a few shifts at The Ivy Inn and getting involved in walking Paddy. He was currently campaigning with her mum to get their very own rescue dog. When he finished his shifts at the Inn, he would often come upstairs to Noah’s old flat – which Jo was now resident in, along with Lorcan of course. As the wedding approached, Noah had decided to move across the street to Libby’s flat – although there was some talk of them buying a house if only they could bear to live anywhere but on the lane.
Jo had made the flat her own, redecorated it with gusto and created a perfectly girly guest room reserved just for Clara and her frequent sleepovers. While there had been a few tearful moments when Jo moved out (mostly from Jo herself), she and Clara had adapted well to the new arrangement, and Lorcan and Clara had grown very close. It was possible this little girl with the red hair had saved Lorcan just as she had saved Jo herself.
‘Not everyone gets a book deal,’ Lorcan continued, pulling her back to the present. ‘But you did! And here you have it, your book. Your own book that you wrote and it’s going to be on sale everywhere. Everyone out there is here because they love and support you. They all want you to succeed. So enjoy this moment.’
She knew that he was right. He had a habit of always being right – especially when it came to encouraging her to feel the fear and do it anyway. They’d done that a lot together over the previous year. From finding their way, tentatively in a relationship with each other, to him accompanying her to London for her face-to-face meeting with Graham Westbury. They had felt the fear and did it anyway when he made the move to Derry, where he combined helping Harry run the shop, with setting up his own fledgling Chandler Bing-style IT business. They had even managed to talk Harry into some modernisation for the shop, to make sure it was secure for the future – although the line had been very firmly drawn at installing a fancy coffee maker.
Lorcan had known when to put a cup of tea in front of her when she was writing and starting to feel a little stressed. She had known just went to suggest the two of them take Paddy for a walk when Lorcan needed to unwind after a day listening to Harry’s epic monologues. When she lost her pencil, or it got broken, he was always there with a new one and if she fell, he was there with a hug. Their relationship was relaxed and easy but very much filled with love.
Clara barrelled into the room, her face alight with excitement. ‘Libby says it’s time to get started now. She says to tell you to be brave.’
‘That’s good advice,’ Lorcan agreed, lifting Clara up into his arms. ‘Will we help Jo be really brave?’
Clara nodded enthusiastically.
Jo watched the pair of them together, her heart full. This was her family. Lorcan and Clara at the very heart of it. And one day when they were both ready she just knew, there would be another child or two. While neither she nor Lorcan would ever forget the babies they had so wanted to love, but had lost, she believed that they had much more love to give.
‘Well, I suppose I’d better go and do this then,’ Jo said with a grin, and she walked into Once Upon A Book to a round of warm and welcoming applause from all the people who really mattered to her.