She reaches back and touches my thigh.
And if she doesn’t quit, we’ll get started on that sooner than later.
EPILOGUE
SOPHIE
One week later
Talk me down.”
Liv storms into the kitchen and plops herself into a chair. Her hair is unruly, her cheeks red, and it’s all I can do not to laugh.
But I don’t. Because when Liv is this fired up, someone is in trouble.
Usually her.
“What happened?” I ask, brushing against Holden as I walk by the stove. He reaches for me, but I leap aside just in time. I was a half of a second from getting caught in his arms. That’s a place I find myself often these days. But I’m not complaining.
We’ve melded easily into each other’s lives over the past week. He makes breakfast, and I make dinner. We do our own laundry. Evenings are spent watching a movie or reading out loud from romance novels or taking walks around town. He even has taken an interest in the Honey House and has been helping me pick out the new gazebo design.
I don’t know what the future holds for us. That conversation hasn’t really come up. I just take it day by day and hope it continues like it’s going.
Because this life with him is the life I’ve always dreamed of.
“I think I hate my new boss already,” Liv whines.
Holden looks over his shoulder. “I thought he starts next Monday.”
“He does. But I got my first email from him today, and he’s a dick.”
“Why?” I ask.
She sighs dramatically. “He’s so . . . bossy.”
Holden snorts. “Well, he is your boss.”
“Like that matters.” Liv shimmies up in her seat. “He could be a little nicer and realize that I’m the one that’s kept that office running for the last six years. He’s going to come here and screw up all my systems. I know it.”
I walk past Holden at the stove. He reaches out and pulls me into him. His hands lock around my middle, and his chin rests on top of my head.
He does this a lot. If we’re in the same room, he’s touching me in some way every few minutes. It’s almost a game at this point: How long can Holden go and not brush against me or reach for me? Thankfully, not long.
“You two were cute at the beginning,” Liv says, her nose wrinkled. “But it’s annoying now.”
I can’t help but laugh. “It’s just annoying because you’re in a bad mood.”
She considers this.
“Maybe your new boss man will be great. You can’t always read tone in emails, you know,” Holden points out.
Liv shrugs. “Maybe.”
“Now that that’s settled, I have a favor to ask of you, Liv,” Holden says as he lets me go.
I turn around to face him. His eyes twinkle as the corners of his lips turn toward the ceiling.
Backing away, I return his grin. “What are you doing?” I ask.
He winks before looking up at my sister. “Can you help me with something?”
“Sure. I guess. Unless it’s the freaking chimney. I’m never doing the chimney again.”
Holden laughs. “No. I need a wedding planner.”
My heart skips a beat as I look at him. “Holden? What are you doing?”
He doesn’t look at me. He stays focused on my sister. “Do you think you can find me someone, Liv?”
Liv springs from her seat. Her mood is totally changed. Her hands plant on the counter, and she looks at my husband with wide eyes.
“Why?” she asks. Excitement drips from her voice. “What are you thinking?”
“Well, I’m thinking that I need to remarry my wife.”
I turn to mush as I look at his sweet, handsome face. He turns his head toward me, and the twinkle from before has softened. It’s now filled with a tenderness that brings tears to my eyes.
“I want to do it the right way,” he says. “I want you to have the wedding of your dreams.”
Liv squeals from the other side of the room.
I blink back tears and launch myself at Holden. He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight against him.
“Let me plan it,” Liv begs. “Please? I’ll stay within budget and I’ll do whatever you want, but she’s been married twice and I’ve not even gotten to go to one of them and—”
“Liv,” I say, moving my face from against Holden’s chest. “Stop.”
“So, can I?”
Holden pulls away just enough to look me in the eye. His irises are my favorite shade of green—bright and slightly wide and full of love.
“You don’t have to do that,” I tell him. “We’re already married.”
“But I want to be married in front of the whole town. In front of Pap and Liv and Jobe. I want you to wear a white dress, and—”
“And I’m maid of honor,” Liv says.
I laugh as my entire body fills with a warmth that I’ve never known before. Like the sun is shining inside me somehow.
“I’m taking your silence as a yes,” Liv says. “I’ll get started planning right away.”
“Wait,” I say, turning around in Holden’s arms. “We don’t have a date or anything. This was just sprung on me.”
Liv’s face scrunches as she takes her phone from her pocket. “Ugh. I hate this man already.” She slides it back into her pocket. “Okay. I’m going to go deal with Mr. Boss Man’s email. You two be at my house in an hour. I’ll order pizza, and we’re going to plan a wedding. Eek!”
Holden and I laugh as Liv nearly skips out the door. As soon as it closes behind her, he twirls me in his arms to face him again.
He studies me closely. “Will this make you happy, Mrs. McKenzie?”
“You make me happy.”
He touches the side of my face. “But I want to give you everything—every memory. Every experience. Every expectation. And I really want to start that by promising it to you in front of everyone you know.”
Tears pool in my eyes. I try to blink them back, but a lone, solitary drop streams down my cheek. Holden catches it with the pad of his thumb.
“You know something?”
“What’s that, sugar?”
“I always thought I wanted all these different things in life. But there’s only one thing I’ve ever really wanted.” I lace my fingers at the back of his neck and tip his head down toward mine. “I’ve just wanted someone to look at me like you look at me.”
“How is that?”
I grin. “Like you love me.”
“I most certainly do.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I’d like to give thanks to my Creator for blessing me beyond measure.
My husband, Saul, is the inspiration behind so many of my heroes. He’s much of what’s good in Holden’s character in Like You Love Me. Like Holden and Sophie, our personal love story is built on a foundation of friendship and respect, and I’m reminded again and again of its importance in a relationship. Love runs stronger when rooted so deeply.
Our love created four little boys, who have taken our hearts and lives places I never dreamed possible. Alexander, Aristotle, Achilles, and Ajax are the reason I get up in the morning and why I work so hard. Thank you for being so patient with my deadlines, boys. I love you.