the theater came into view, she gasped.
The theater was all decorated, with the window display just as amazing as she’d remembered from her childhood. A Christmas tree stood at the center with toys set up artfully beneath it—blocks, cars, dolls, and a battery-operated train set running around it all. Boughs of holly hung around the frosted windows; it was the picture-perfect Christmas morning.
She walked up to the window to study the display up closer. The tree had matching ornaments to the ones she had at home—the ones Liam had given her. Happiness bubbled up in her chest, and she laughed. The driver held open the door of the theater, and walking as if in a daze, Viola went inside.
She half-expected it to have been transformed too, but it was still bare, with the exception of a table and chairs set up in the middle of the room and white Christmas lights strung around the perimeter.
Liam stood beside the table, looking as breathlessly handsome as he’d ever been. Her heart raced at the sight of him and everything else disappeared. How could she have forgotten for a second what seeing him did to her?
“You came,” he breathed. He stepped forward and took her hand in his.
She raised an eyebrow. “There were doubts?”
“Loads of them.” He stared intently into her eyes and she found she couldn’t have looked away, even if she’d wanted to. “I quit Pets and More.”
It took her a few seconds for his words to register. “What? It’s your store! You can’t quit.”
“Xander and I sold our majority shares. It’ll go public in the morning and be all over the news, but I wanted to make sure you knew first.”
“Why?” she whispered.
He stepped closer, bringing their entwined fingers up to his mouth so he could kiss them. Her heart stuttered. “Because when I thought about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, it wasn’t that. I don’t want to be tied to my phone. I don’t want to spend most of my life never having one place I call home. I don’t want to deal with the high-stress of always being on display and always being available for every single major problem that happens across the world. My dad did that, and it sent him to an early grave.”
Viola’s mind went blank as he brushed her hair over her shoulder and stared intently into her eyes.
“And I don’t want to be away from you anymore,” he whispered.
Viola’s breath hitched. This felt like a dream. It couldn’t be real—Liam Nichols standing in front of her, saying things she’d longed to hear from him, but never imagined she would.
“What are you going to do, then?” she whispered.
He led her over to the table at her question and she sat in one of the chairs, loathe to let go of his hand but relieved to sit. He sat across from her and leaned back in the chair as he glanced casually around the room.
“I’ve always loved going to the movies.”
“What are you saying?” she asked, stunned.
“I’ve not only spent the last two weeks untangling myself from my father’s business, but I’ve also spent it talking to Callie about what it’s like owning a business in Eureka Springs. She’s all for it, by the way.”
Viola’s heart pounded so fast, she was sure he could hear it. She was almost afraid to ask, afraid of what his answer would be, afraid to get her hopes up too high.
“I’m going to reopen and run The Old Grand. Not as a chain, but as a single theater, here in my home of Eureka Springs.”
Before he could finish, she launched out of her seat and into his arms, nearly taking them both to the ground. He laughed and pulled her in close to him.
“I can hardly believe this,” she said, trying to process everything he had told her. Liam was moving to Eureka Springs permanently. He was reopening the theater. He was staying in her life. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
Liam brushed his thumb on her cheek. “I’ve spent my entire life doing what everyone else expected of me. For the very first time, I’m doing something I really want to do, and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “I like running a business, but my favorite part is getting to meet and talk with people. That’s partly why I visit the stores so often—I like to be