a chuckle.
“I’ll drink to that.” Evie raises her glass but doesn’t take a sip.
“As her roommate,” Chloe continues, “I witnessed a lot of her ups and downs. I was there when she got home from that first date with Hunter. I listened to her gush and swoon over everything he did and said. At the time, I was convinced they were soul mates.” She pauses. “Until she FaceTimed me and told me she’d agreed to travel Route 66 with a complete stranger after her rental car broke down.” Her eyes lock with mine. “You may have just met him, may not have known anything about him, but in those few moments, I knew this was different. Knew this man would change everything. Knew you’d found your true soul mate.”
She smiles at me before clearing her throat and turning to address everyone else once more.
“They say most people fall in love three times during their lifetimes. That each of these loves serves a different purpose.”
Evie appears quite pleased by this, considering her obsession with the number three.
“Your first love typically happens when you’re young. Around high school.” Chloe gives me a pointed look, and I know all too well to whom she’s referring.
Now that I’m older, I consider my first love to be Hunter, but before him was Aaron, my high school sweetheart. And the person I was dating when I got a wrong number text from Hunter.
“While this love is more akin to infatuation, you can’t dismiss it altogether. This first love teaches you what love can be. It’s not all-consuming. It’s merely your first exposure to this strange sensation. Think about the ocean. It’s like dipping your toes into the water to test it, but you don’t venture out too far yet.
“Now, your second love is challenging. This is the one that teaches us what a broken heart feels like. Teaches us lessons about life. Makes us stronger. In this second love, there’s great pain.” She swallows hard, her expression falling. “And great loss. But with this love, we grow. We learn more about love. What it’s like to fall in love. What it’s like to lose that love. Because we experienced this second, heartbreaking love, we’re able to figure out who we are and what we want in life. We’re finally ready to experience real love.”
Anderson pulls me closer as I swallow past the lump in my throat over the reminder of Hunter. Of exploding with joy when he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of planning our life together. Of losing him and our unborn baby in the car accident I survived.
Of the years I spent wishing I hadn’t.
“And that brings us to the third love.” Her expression and tone brighten. “This is the love that takes you by surprise. Finds you when you least expect it. Probably at a time in your life when love is the last thing you want. You fight it with everything you have. But before you know it, you can’t imagine your life without this person, even though you barely know a thing about them.”
She lifts her gaze to Lincoln, who towers over her by more than a foot. On the outside, they’re as different as two people can be. But outward differences don’t matter where the heart is concerned. I’ve learned that lesson with Anderson.
“You somehow find the ability to look past all his imperfections, all his faults.” She pauses, then adds. “All his regrets.”
I nod, swiping at the tears sliding down my cheek.
“At the end of the day, those things don’t matter. All that does is the understanding in your heart that you’ve finally arrived. That you’ve finally found peace. That you’ve finally found a home. And no matter where you go, no matter the miles you travel, as long as you’re together, you will be home.”
She raises her glass, and everyone else follows suit, this mishmashed group of people that has somehow become my family toasting us.
“I’m thrilled beyond belief you’ve finally found your way home. To Nora and Anderson.”
“Nora and Anderson,” everyone repeats.
I look at Anderson, who tips his flute toward mine. He curves into me, his breath warm on my lips.
“Here’s to our next adventure, love.”
I clink his glass. “To our next adventure.”
Chapter Three
Anderson
“Nora, darling,” I murmur into her neck, rousing her from sleep.
“We can’t be there already,” she replies in a scratchy voice.
“Almost. We’ll be landing in about an hour. I thought you might want to take the opportunity to