“You can do it, Lily. I believe in you.” He leaned in to kiss her again.
As his lips brushed hers, the sky above them exploded. Fireworks rippled and popped all the way along the coast. The inky sky was ablaze with shimmering red, silver, green, and purple. Every boom echoed against the ocean waves, and he felt it resonate through him. It was like his life was truly beginning. A life that was full, finally.
And as they entered the New Year, and their new lives, Sean knew that anything was possible with Lily by his side.
Epilogue
Three months later…
It had been a whirlwind day. The previous evening Sean had driven two hours into the city and crashed with a friend of Jasper’s so he could be at Melbourne Airport bright and early to greet Lily. Seeing her again was like having fresh air breathed into his lungs or like catching the perfect wave.
They’d piled her luggage into his car and had driven back to Patterson’s Bluff. She was moving into his place, and he’d spent the previous week getting the house ready for her arrival—including making her the perfect writing studio in what used to be his spare room.
“I still can’t believe you did all this without telling me.” She looked around the room in wonder.
It was several hours later, and the sun was getting low. They were having dinner at her parents’ house and had to leave in a few minutes, but Lily was still lingering over the room she would call her own. He’d painted the walls a calming, pale blue and bought her a desk and chair that faced the window overlooking the backyard. Zoey had helped him pick out a cute reading chair for the corner, and he’d hung a photo on the wall that Jasper had taken of the local beach.
“Every little detail is perfect.” She grabbed his hand and looked up at him with her warm brown eyes. “Thank you. You’ve really made this feel like home.”
“I wanted to start everything out on the right foot,” he said, a warm bubble sitting in his chest. Making Lily happy was one of the most satisfying things in the world, and something told him it was about to become a lifelong passion. “But if we don’t get going, your mother is going to have my head. She said eight o’clock sharp.”
“I appreciate you giving up the opportunity of having me all to yourself for the first night, so we could do dinner with them.” She smiled. “That’s a boatload of boyfriend brownie points right there.”
They headed outside. The air was balmy, and it smelled of rain and eucalyptus and wattle blossoms. Overhead, grey clouds gathered as he ushered her toward the car, praying the weather would hold out.
By the time they made it to her parents’ house, she seemed a little tired from her travels and the change in time zone. But her smile was brighter than ever. Not to mention that she looked incredible in a tight pair of jeans and a pretty yellow top that brought out the gold flecks in her brown irises. Through the front window of the Dunn’s house, he saw the glow of lamps and could already smell something delicious.
They walked up the driveway toward the front door, hand in hand. There was such a familiarity in this place—he’d never been able to get their brief teenage kiss out of his mind. The idea of re-creating it had come to him one night when he was lying awake at some ungodly hour, texting her while she was in LA instead of sleeping. He wanted them to relive that moment and close the loop.
They rang the doorbell, and when nobody immediately came to the door, he turned Lily toward him. “Remember the last time we were here?”
A wicked smile curved her lips. “I do. You were wearing board-shorts and your hair was long and I thought you were the hottest boy to ever walk the earth.”
“And I thought you were an angel who’d gotten lost and wound up on earth.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her closer. “What do you say we have a proper kiss this time? Make a fresh memory here to go along with the old one.”
She leaned into him, her lips eager and willing. The scent of rain in the air mixed with the perfume on her skin and the jasmine blooming in her mother’s front garden. When he pulled away and slowly lowered himself to one knee, her eyes widened.
“Lily, I brought you here tonight somewhat under false pretences. It’s not just dinner with your folks,” he said. “I told your mum not to answer the door right away when we rang because there was something I very much wanted to do.”
Her hands flew to her cheeks. “Sean!”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red box. Inside was a simple ring with a gold band and a diamond flanked by two yellow citrines. The ring reminded him of the warmth Lily possessed—in the gold flecks of her eyes and her mesmerising smile and in the love in her heart.
“Lily Dunn, I have waited more than a decade to tell you how I felt.” He reached for her hand, and it trembled in his grasp. “I can’t spend another night without letting you know I want very much to spend the rest of my life by your side. Will you marry me?”
“Of course, I will. Yes!” She gasped as he slipped the ring onto her finger. The diamond sparkled, and the band was a perfect fit. “Oh my gosh, it’s stunning.”
“Just like you.”
The sound of cheering from inside the Dunn house startled them so much that Sean almost fell over. Behind the black screen door, her parents stood arm in arm with enormous smiles on their faces.
Sean stood and pulled Lily into his arms, kissing her long and hard and not caring one iota that his future in-laws were right there watching. The universe could watch for all he cared. He loved this woman more than anything, and he wasn’t afraid to show it.
Because that was the man he’d become—a man who went after what he wanted, a man who strove for more.
And that was all thanks to loving a woman with the heart of a lion.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she said, holding his face in her hands and her eyes sparkling like the diamond on her finger. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, Lily. Welcome home.”