With a laugh, she said, “It’s true. Never did have a taste for firearms.”
And then it was my turn to laugh as we descended the stairs to the sidewalk, turning for the shop. I looked up, not sure what to expect.
That was when I saw her.
Tess stood in front of the turquoise door, sunlight gleaming on her auburn hair, casting a shine on it like a new penny. Her velvety eyes were alight with hope and apology as she stood before me, waiting for me.
“Hear her out, Lucas. And tell her how you feel,” Mom said gently, squeezing my arm before letting it go.
I drifted toward Tess with a confession, a profession, an admission on my lips, but before I reached her, she stepped toward me to grab my hand and tow me to the window, turning me to face it.
My lips parted in awe as I took in the display—I’d only seen Tess until just then.
Written across both windows in flowers were the words Love happens in moments. And I stepped closer, distantly noting that her hand fell away.
In each window were three vignettes, marked by signs held by scrolling frames. Moments, moments we’d lived, moments I’d lived with her, moments I’d loved her. The first was a small pile of hay with our blanket tossed over it, a whiskey bottle and two glasses on display next to a sign that said, When you first kissed me. The ladder she’d fallen from: When you saved my life. The swing I’d made for her: When you stole my heart. Numb feet walked me to the other window where three of our succulent crates were strung. Sometimes, things work out, its sign said, and next to it was a piece of our broken installation. And sometimes, they don’t.
At the end was a mirror, its elaborate gilded frame carved in whorls and waves. In the curves of the scrolls, ranunculus in creams and peaches over leaves of green.
I glanced at my reflection, then at the sign under the mirror.
But as long as I have you, nothing else matters.
Tess moved to my side, and for a long moment, I memorized the sight of us in the mirror, the vision framed by flowers, the rightness of it staggering.
She turned. I met her. Looked into the face I loved so well, and all the things I wanted to say boiled down to one.
“I love you,” I said, my hands framing her face, tilting it up to mine.
A laugh slipped out of her, her eyes shining with tears. “Wait, that was my line.”
But I smiled without an ounce of regret. “You did all this for me?”
“Because I love you, Luke Bennet,” she said, smiling as she spoke the words that would forever change me. “Can you forgive me for my fear if I promise to always have faith?”
I drew a breath that drew her into me, and I answered her with a kiss, pressing my lips to hers in a delicate crush of decision and affirmation. And I kissed her with every corner of my heart and soul open in offering.
She melted into me, her body pressed against mine, the space between us gone, even when I broke the kiss.
“I am so sorry, Luke. I was so afraid—afraid for our future, afraid I’d lose you—and I can’t … I don’t want…” Her voice broke.
I thumbed her cheek, the space under her palm on my chest aching. “Shh. Please, don’t apologize,” I whispered.
“You told me nothing matters, not as long as we have each other, and you were right. Losing you would leave a wound that would never heal. Nothing matters, not as long as I have you.”
With a breath, I made a promise. And with a kiss, I sealed it.
“I’m yours,” I said against her lips before taking them.
Forever was written in that kiss.
When it finally broke, I gazed down at her, brushing her hair from her face with a smile on mine. “I knew they were keeping me from something, but I had no idea you’d done all this.”
Tess laughed. “We hatched the plan yesterday.” Her smile faded. “I’m sorry. For what you’ve been through the last few days. I should have been there for you.”
But I shook my head. “I didn’t know how to handle it either, and I don’t blame you for needing time.”
She gazed up at me in wonder. “Anyone else would have been furious with me for pushing them away like I did.”
A chuckle. “Four days we were apart. Granted, they were four of the longest days of my life, but you needed a couple of days to process my ex-wife telling a room full of people she was pregnant with my baby. You weren’t being unreasonable, and you have nothing to apologize for. And Wendy won’t bother us again. You were right, Tess. She would have always manipulated me, and I would’ve let her. But not anymore. I promise you that.”
A sheepish expression touched her face, brightened her cheeks. “Wendy came here yesterday. She told me everything, and after talking to your mom … well, we thought maybe there was a way we could help her after all. We need an extra set of hands, and she needs a stable job with insurance and an employer who understands her situation, who can be flexible if she needs to take a few days off. We want to give her a chance, if you feel the same.”
I searched her face. “Is that really what you want?”
“It is. I believe her. And I want to help her.”
“Then I’m in.”
“All in?” she asked with a sidelong smile.
“All fucking in.” My eyes traced every plane and angle of her face. “I can’t believe you’re here. I can’t believe you came back to me.”
“Oh, I didn’t go far,” she said on a laugh. “I love you, Luke Bennet. And I’m not going anywhere.”
She tightened her arms around my neck, and I leaned in, knowing exactly what would happen before it did. I knew the moment our lips would meet, knew the way she would taste. I knew the softness of her lips and the familiar curves of her face, fitted in my palm. I knew her. And in that moment, I realized she always would come back, and I always would be waiting.
Because the way I loved her would never fade. And as safe as she was in my arms, I was safe in hers.
We wound together, a tangle of arms, bodies flush and kiss deepening. God, how I’d missed her. And for a moment, I gave myself over to the joy of finding what I’d thought I’d lost.
Cheering was what broke the kiss with a shocked pop. Whooping, whistling and clapping came from beside us, our surprised faces swiveling to the entirety of the Bennet clan, Tess’s dad, Ivy under Dean’s massive arm, everyone watching us with watery eyes and flushed cheeks. Blushing, we turned to them, though she was still tucked into my side. I couldn’t let her go, didn’t want a millimeter between us. Tess laughed, leaning into me, the weight of her hand on my chest like an anchor, tethering me to the earth as I took in the happy faces of those who loved us.
When I reached the end of the line, I realized with no small amount of shock that Natalie stood at the edge of the brood, and a photographer stood next to her. I couldn’t see the girl’s face though—her camera was pointed at us, shutter flashing.
Tess saw her too and sucked in a breath. “Is that—”
“I forgot she was coming the second I saw you. It was supposed to be a surprise.”
“Well,” she said, straightening her spine, “let’s go see if we’ve got a shot.”
Before we could talk to Natalie, we were rushed by our family and friends. Mom was crying and blubbering and taking turns holding our faces and hugging us. Dad just smiled proudly from the back of the crowd, his eyes deep with emotion and hands in his pockets. My brothers and sister making jokes and laughing and hugging and clapping shoulders, as was our way. Tess hugging her dad, kissing the top of his head. His grip was iron, his smile sideways, his blessing plain.