“I could see it,” I whispered, my throat tight. “But I didn’t know how to help.”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t ready to let you, until now.”
I bit my lip.
“Tell me it’s not too late,” he begged. “Tell me you still love me.”
“I still love you, Theo, but—”
He crushed his lips to mine, and I nearly melted at his feet. Maybe I should have been angry, pushed him away, told him he didn’t have the right. But I’d missed this. The tingle in my toes. The butterflies in my stomach. The shiver up my spine that said yes kiss me yes hold me yes be mine completely because all I want to be is yours.
He lifted his head, and it took me a moment to open my eyes and realize I was still on two feet.
“God, I missed hearing that.” A little smile on his lips. “I missed everything about you. And if you still love me, Claire, please give me one more chance.”
“I want to, Theo, but I’m scared. How do I know you won’t hurt me like that again?”
“You don’t.” His brow furrowed. “Believe me, I tried my damnedest to think of a way to prove it to you. Words I could say. Things I could do. Promises I could make. But it all comes down to this.” He took my hands in his. “I’m asking you to trust me. And I’m going to trust you, too.”
“But what’s different this time?”
“What’s different is that I had to live without you in my life for the last ten days. And I hated it. With you, I’m stronger. Braver. Better.” He spoke a little quieter. “With you, I know I’m safe. I can be who I am.”
“Yes.” I smiled up at him, tears in my eyes. “You can.”
He kissed me again. “Come here.” Taking me by one hand, he led me out of the garage, around the front of the house, and up the steps onto the porch, where a beautiful wooden porch swing hung from silver chains, swaying a little in the wind.
I gasped, bringing my gloved hands to my cheeks. “Oh my God!”
“I made it for you.”
“You made this?” I moved closer, detecting the scent of fresh cedar. I took off my glove and ran a hand along its smooth, narrow boards. No one had ever made me anything like this before.
“I hope it’s as nice as the one you dream about in your future.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said tearfully. “Even better than the one I imagined.”
“I know it’s winter right now, and we won’t use it for a while, but I’m going to be here come spring. And summer. And the summer after that.” He took me by the shoulders and turned me toward him. No regret or sorrow in his voice now—it was strong and sure. “I was wrong, Claire. Love is enough. Let me stay.”
I tried to speak but couldn’t. My whole body had started to shiver, but it wasn’t the cold.
He rested his forehead against mine, rubbed his hands up and down my arms as if to warm me. “I’ve made a thousand mistakes in my life, and I might make a thousand more, but walking away from you won’t be one of them. I don’t deserve you, but if you were mine, I’d spend every last damn day of my life trying.”
“Theo.” I finally found my voice. “Come inside with me.”
* * *
It was both a reunion and a new beginning.
A dream remembered and a story not yet told.
Our bodies moved together with familiar ease but each kiss, each caress, each breath shared between us felt like the first.
When he was deep inside me, my legs wrapped around his waist, our fingers locked together next to my head, his eyes on mine, I felt like I was falling for him all over again—and also like I’d loved him forever.
“Stay with me, Theo,” I whispered softly, desperately, as he rolled his hips over mine in smooth, sinuous motions that had me writhing beneath him. I wanted to come and I wanted to hang on to this feeling forever, this dangling-over-the-edge feeling right before the euphoria of jumping off.
“Always.” He moved a little faster, thrust a little deeper. “God, I missed this. Your skin. Being inside you. Feeling you come.”
“Yes, yes…” I struggled to free my hands so I could touch him but he had them pinned to the mattress.
“Come for me. Now. Now…” His words fell away, becoming strangled breaths, and I matched his rhythm, rocking my hips beneath his, hearing the crescendo of our cries, watching the room beyond him turn to liquid gold, until there was nothing in the world but this, this, this, this, this.
This moment. This magic. This healing.
This feeling of belonging and acceptance.
This knowing I am yours and you are mine.
It was real. It was ours. It was love.
And it would always be enough.
Eight Months Later
Theo
* * *
“See you tonight.” I kissed her cheek like I did every day before leaving for work. This would be nothing like any other day, but she didn’t know that.
“Bye, love. Have a good day.” She smiled at me, and my heart stuttered a time or two.
She had no idea.
No idea how much I adored her, no idea how many times a day I thought of her, no idea how happy I’d been when she’d asked me to live with her over the summer.
And she really had no idea I was going to propose to her today.
It had taken some planning, but I’d had help—from her friends, from her principal, and especially from her students. I’d been trying to think of a clever way to ask her to marry me for two months. When she mentioned the fairy tale project, I knew it would be perfect.