“Sarah…” I crumpled, shoulders folding forward at the absolute sorrow I felt that she could ever consider that true. I hadn’t even thought of it that way, that she could see it as me trying to get rid of her instead of helping her on her path to what she’d always wanted.
I’d been naïve.
“I know,” she said again, shaking her head as her gaze fell to the floor. “It’s pathetic, but it’s true. I self-sabotaged because it was the only thing that felt right. I didn’t want to listen to you, or have hope that I was different, that what we had was special, that it was real. I couldn’t even consider that when you told me you loved me, you meant it. Because I didn’t even love myself.”
“Come here,” I said, reaching out my arms for her, but she immediately shook her head.
“No,” she said firmly against the tears still flooding her eyes. A single blink would send them cascading down her cheeks. “No, I need to say this. I need to get this out.”
My heart swelled with the need to hold her, to soothe her pain, but I respected her wish to stay a few feet away. I slid my hands into the pockets of my slacks to keep my promise.
“Reese, from the moment I met you, I knew you would change my life,” she said, the left side of her lips curling up before they fell again. “At first, I thought it would just be musically. I was going to learn from one of the greats, hone my skills, make my dreams come true. But, it became so much more than that. Somewhere along the way, I started to feel beautiful when you looked at me. I started to feel valued when I’d speak and you’d listen, like I was the most interesting woman you’d ever met. And you saw me as that — a woman, not a girl. I think you were the first person to see me that way.”
She crossed the space between us, hands reaching out to touch the buttons of my shirt. She watched her hands as they pressed against my chest, and just as I predicted, a single blink sent two parallel tears falling down her soft brown cheeks.
“I know you would never hurt me. And I have never felt more safe or more wanted with anyone in my entire life. You make me feel worthy again, like I’m not damaged, like I’m cherished and revered and cared for. That night in your bed was the most amazing night of my life, and not just because of the amazing way you touched my skin,” she breathed, lifting her eyes to mine. “But because of the incredible way you have touched my soul, since the very moment you came into my life.”
I couldn’t fight it any longer, and my hands slipped from my pockets to frame her face, to wipe her tears away as I searched her eyes. She leaned into the touch, closing her eyes as more tears slipped free as soon as I’d wiped the first ones away.
“What are you saying, Sarah?”
She blew out a shaky breath, opening her eyes again with an unsure smile. “I’m saying… you were right. I do love you. And I want you to come with me to New York.”
That hope that had bloomed in my chest, that had soared across my soul, it flooded my entire body in that moment. With Sarah’s face in my hands, her eyes watching mine, her heart on her sleeve and mine firmly in her hands — I came to life.
“Do you really mean that?”
She nodded, smiling even with the tears in her eyes.
“Say it again.”
“Come with me to New York?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head as I smoothed my thumbs over the line of her jaw. “The other part.”
At that, she folded, shaking her head before threading her arms around my neck. She lifted onto her toes, eyes searching mine for the longest moment before she whispered, “You were right. I do love you.”
The words were barely out of her mouth before my lips were on hers, pressing, seeking, claiming. She melted into me, body bending forward as my arms swooped her into me. I held her close, held her tight, kissing her like it was the first and last time all at once.
And in that moment, I had everything.
Everything I’d ever wanted, everything I’d ever needed, everything I’d never thought I’d have for as long as I walked the Earth. All the pain, all the loss — it led me to this moment, to this girl, to this future.
I knew I didn’t deserve it, didn’t deserve her — but I held on tight, anyway.
“Wait,” I said suddenly, pulling back on a breath. “What about your uncle, your aunt, your mom.” My chest tightened. “We need to sit down and talk to them. I need to talk to them, to try to help them see that I’m not just some perverted old guy trying to steal their little girl away to the big city.”
Sarah chuckled, crossing her wrists behind my neck. “I already told them.”
I blanched. “What?”
“My mom, my uncle, my aunt. I told them everything, and they were weary at first,” she admitted. “But… I think they can see it, what we feel. And they support it.” Sarah kissed my lips quickly before adding, “Not that they really had a say, anyway. I would have still come here and said every word I said, with their blessing or not.”
I chuckled, kissing her nose. “So, you’re telling me my boss knows I’ve kissed his niece who’s sixteen years younger than I am…”
Sarah cringed. “Yeah… and don’t get me wrong, he was probably the least understanding. He was upset at first, and walked out of the room, even threatened to drive straight to your house.”
“He did come to my house. Before work that night we fought. He basically threatened me. I think he knew even then.”
Sarah nodded. “Maybe. But, regardless, he respects me. And you, Reese. He knows your character just like I do.” She paused, swallowing hard before she met my eyes again. “And he told me to tell you that you still have a job. If you decide to stay in Pennsylvania.”
I shook my head, smiling at the worry in her eyes as she spoke those words. “You actually think I would stay behind?”
She shrugged. “I would understand if you did, especially after all I’ve put you through.”
My hands slid to frame her face again, and I kissed her softly, slowly, hoping she could feel all the words I couldn’t find to convey what she meant to me. “I’d go through it all again and more if it meant I got to have you in the end.”
Sarah shook her head, like she would never believe that I wanted her, that I was hers entirely. And I didn’t know how long it would take to make her believe it, but I fully intended to find out.
She melted into me again when I lowered my lips to hers, wrapping my arms all the way around her and lifting her off the ground in a slow, movie-like twirl, which made her burst into laughter as soon as her toes were on the ground again.
“That was cheesy,” she said.
“You think that was cheesy? Just wait. You’re in for a whole lot of cheese.”
“I’m vegan.”
“Have you ever been kissed in the rain, Sarah Henderson?” I asked, ignoring her comment.
She cocked a brow. “No…”
“Well, come with me, then. Because you are the kind of girl who deserves to be kissed in the rain.”
She tried to fight me at first when I laced my fingers with hers and tugged her toward the kitchen doors, but I kept pulling, kissing her at every stopping point along the way until we were outside. The rain soaked us both as soon as the back door kicked open, and she gasped at the cold sensation, eyes blinking rapidly as she adjusted.