“Did I say them all? I feel like I left out half the stuff I wanted to tell you. The crowd was making me nervous.”
“Tell me now that we’re alone.”
I looked down at her blissfully happy face. “I want to be with you no matter where you are. And I know asking you to leave your new job and move back here just for me is shitty and unfair.”
“But you want me to do it?”
I nodded. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want you with me all the time. You make every single day better.” I kissed her lips. “You make me better.”
Her eyes closed, and she tucked herself against me. “I want to be with you all the time too. We’ll figure it out, Dex. I love you so much—God, it feels good to say that.”
“It feels good to hear it. Better than I even imagined.”
She leaned back at the waist again. “What made you change your mind?”
“Apart from feeling like you took a huge piece of me with you when you left and there was a gaping hole in my life?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
“Conversations with people who matter to me. My sister. My girls. Justin. Chip. Even Naomi, believe it or not.”
Her eyebrows rose. “You told Naomi about us?”
“She sort of guessed, based on things the girls have said, and I didn’t deny it.” I kissed her forehead. “I’m done hiding and pretending. I don’t care who knows I’m in love with you.”
Her smile warmed my entire body. “Me neither. I can’t wait to introduce you to my dad and sisters.”
I winced. “Your dad must think I’m such an asshole.”
“No way. Sometime I’ll tell you the story of the day my sisters and I made him go declare his love for my mom at her job in the middle of the day.” She smiled at the memory. “Tonight really brings that moment full circle.”
“I can’t imagine thinking anyone is good enough for my daughters, let alone some guy so much older who already has two kids.”
She laughed. “You just described my dad and Frannie—he’s ten years older than she is, and he had three kids when they met. He has no room to get weird about that.”
“Still doesn’t mean he’ll think I’m good enough for you.”
“Well, you are.” She tucked her head beneath my chin again, and I held her warm, soft body to mine. “You make me happy, and that’s all a dad can ask for.”
“I got a letter from my dad,” I said quietly.
“You did?”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “I’ll show it to you. It was also part of what made me realize how stubborn I was being. How stupid it was to let my fucking ego call the shots. When I think about my life and how I want to live it, you’re there.”
She kissed my chest and held me tighter.
“I want to take care of you,” I said gruffly. “I know you don’t need it, but I do.”
“I love that you’re protective of me.” Her tone was adorably ferocious. “I love that you’re older than me. I love that you’re a dad and a firefighter and always trying to keep the people close to you safe.”
I rubbed her back. “Even though I’m a hairy ogre at heart?”
She laughed. “Even so. You’re my hairy ogre, and I’ll be your princess forever.”
My forehead rested on hers. “I wish we could spend tonight together. I want to wake up next to you.”
“I want that too, but we’ll have lots of nights together.”
“Can the girls and I still take you to breakfast in the morning?”
“You better.” She leaned back again. “What was that about a magic spell?”
“That was your doing—I assume you taught them about the nose wiggling?”
“I did, but I had no idea they remembered it.” She laughed as we started walking toward the house. “Are they going to claim responsibility for this?”
“Of course they are. They said it worked for the cat, and now it worked on us.”
“They’ll probably ask for a dog next,” Winnie said as we stepped onto the porch.
“Or a baby brother.”
She looked up at me and laughed. “Does that terrify you?”
“Actually, it doesn’t.”
Her jaw dropped.
Grinning, I pulled open the front door. “Come on. Our family is waiting for us.”
Thirty
Winnie
Two Months Later
“I can’t believe I have to do this.”
Ellie was not sympathetic. “Hey. You took the bet, you lost the bet. Now you pay.”
I looked around the crowded Mexican restaurant, which was always filled to capacity on karaoke night. Unfortunately for me, it was also the night before Christmas Eve, so in addition to all the regulars, the place was jam-packed with holiday tourists from all the nearby ski resorts.
Did I mention every single member of my family was there too? Also Dex, Hallie and Luna, Bree and Justin, Chip and Mariah, and half the Sawyer clan? Somehow they’d all heard about tonight and thought it sounded like a good time—I was going to murder Ellie if I lived through this.
Our group occupied a bunch of tables near the stage, where someone with way more talent than me was currently belting out a Whitney Houston song.
“You’re supposed to be my best friend,” I whined. “Can’t we work something out?”
“Dex, she’s trying to get out of it again,” Ellie said to him across the table.
“Dex knows how bad I am.” I turned to him. “You hate my singing voice.”
“I don’t hate anything about you.” He tapped my nose. “Plus this is going to be hilarious.”
“Ellie, I’m begging you.” I clasped my hands under my chin and pleaded with her. “Don’t make me get up there. I will die.”
“You’re not going to die.” She plucked a corn chip from the basket on the table and crunched happily. “You’re just going to know total and utter humiliation for like three minutes. But what’s three minutes compared to the lifetime of happiness you two are going to share?”
“And shouldn’t that count for something?” I bounced in my chair, panicking as “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” wrapped up. “I mean, this is real love! This wasn’t like those times before—I didn’t fall in love with a jerk, I fell in love with my soul mate! We’ve been together for months! I gave up my dream job for him.”
It was all true. After Dex’s big romantic gesture on the Wilsons’ lawn, I’d flown back to Rhode Island and been honest with Sandra Elson about what had transpired on my weekend visit home. She encouraged me to take time to think about my decision, but in my heart I knew where I belonged. With sincere apologies, I thanked her for the opportunity and gave my notice a week later. She was sad to see me go, but said she understood and wished me well.
Dex came out to Newport to help me pack up and make the move, and we spent our first full night together in my bed. When we woke up the next morning, the sun streaming through my bedroom window, he’d wrapped me in his arms and told me how grateful he was for me, how much he loved me, and how he would do everything he could to be the man I deserved.