come back. I remember.” The tears started to fall.
“I was scared. And stupid. I didn’t think you wanted me, and I knew I didn’t deserve you.”
“Oh, Noah.” I shivered, but I wasn’t cold anymore. “I did want you.”
“Let me tell you what I want.” He spoke quietly but forcefully. “I want the chance to make you happy. I want to be the only one you’ll ever love. And I will fight like hell every single day of my life to deserve it.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “I love you, Meg. I want to be your hero again.”
“You were always my hero, Noah.” I looked up at him. “And you always will be.”
He crushed his mouth to mine as we wrapped our arms around each other, oblivious to the howl of the wind or the hoots of the crowd or the rush of the fountains bedside us.
It was just Noah and me, starting our forever.
Finally.
“I still can’t believe you’re really here.” I was lying next to Noah in his hotel bed, an arm and a leg thrown over his torso, our skin warm and damp.
“I’m here.”
“Tell me again how you managed this.”
He laughed. “I’ve told you like ten times.”
“I know, but I love the story. And I need to memorize it to tell our grandchildren.”
“Christ, I’ve got grandchildren already?”
I giggled. “Not yet. Relax. And tell me again.”
“Well, I didn’t manage it all on my own. I had help.” He kissed the top of my head.
“From who?”
“April was a key player. I called her and explained the situation, and she was more than happy to help me plot and plan.”
“I love April,” I said with a sigh. “Although I can’t believe she kept the secret from me.”
“And then there was Nina. A conversation with her—in which she basically kicked my ass for being a stubborn jerk—prompted me to reach out to April. Also, Nina gave me her number.”
“Sisters are the best.”
“And Asher. Seeing him assert more control over his life has been amazing. He’s the strongest, bravest person I know. I realized I want to be more like him.”
“That might be my favorite part. I think we can all learn from Asher.”
“Definitely. And what’s crazy is that as much as I’ve tried all my life to protect and defend him, I’ve done a shitty job of really listening to him. Of treating him like I would any other brother. Which is really what he wants—not to be pitied or babied or so protected that he can’t fail. He wants the chance to make mistakes, to fall down sometimes. Who are we to keep that from him?”
I kissed his chest. “And your mom is on board?”
“She has to be. Asher is a grown man capable of making his own decisions. He’s conflict-averse, and he needed my help to get the conversation started, but they’ve been discussing it more. He showed her all the research he did, and apparently there are some new places that have opened up within an hour’s drive of where he works. They’re going to check them out this week.”
“That’s awesome.”
“I can’t say she’s excited about it, but I do think she’s coming around.”
“Has she talked about traveling?”
“Still working on that.”
I squeezed him. “Give her time. Things are okay between you and her? Sounds like it was a pretty big fight.”
“Oh yeah. We’re fine. She and I are a lot alike—we’ve got a temper, and we can blow up, but we don’t hold on to being mad too long. It took us about a week to cool off and see things from one another’s point of view, and we needed Nina to sort of mediate things at first, but we hugged it out. She’s even watching Renzo for me while I’m here.”
“Good.”
“It helped that I was coming here to try and win you back. She was beside herself.”
I laughed. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, I believe her exact words were something like, ‘O most gracious Virgin Mary, thank you for not forsaking me.’”
“She prayed to the Virgin Mary for this?” I winced, looking down at our nakedness. “Doesn’t seem right.”
“Whatever. If she sees this as the answer to her prayers, so be it.” He rolled on top of me, his hips over mine. “It’s definitely the answer to mine.”
I grinned, wrapping my arms and legs around him. “Mine too. Think Asher can help me find a place to live?”
“I think he’d love that.” He lowered his lips to mine. “And you know you can stay with me while you look.