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“You gonna look at me, Mighty Dancer?” he asked, breaking the audible silence. But did he know that inside Beth’s head and heart, it was absolute and utter chaos?
“Are you really there?” she asked, just to be sure. “Or is this my subconscious making me think I can actually have all the things I want at the same time.”
She threw a mittened hand over her mouth. Winter and exhaustion certainly did a number on her external filter.
When he didn’t respond, Beth feared he actually was a hallucination, so she spun on her heel and had to immediately take a step back so she didn’t knock right into him and the most gorgeous yet jumbled bouquet of flowers she’d ever seen.
“I realized I never asked you what your favorite flower was, so when I finally found a florist who was still open, I had him give me one of everything he had left.”
The man before her was an Eli Beth had never seen.
For starters, he had a beard. It was short and neatly trimmed, every color of warm, rich brown she could imagine with a few flecks of gray. And where she’d always imagine his Stetson or his gorgeous, perfectly overgrown hair, he wore a gray knit cap to counteract the New York chill. But those bright blue eyes…she’d recognize them anywhere, especially when they crinkled at the corners due to the smile Beth knew was meant only for her.
It was a nervous smile, for sure. But it was Beth’s nervous smile, and she couldn’t believe it was here. That he was here.
“All of them,” she finally uttered, voice shaking. “All the flowers you brought are my favorite.”
“I like your…uh…” He pointed at her face, and Beth realized she hadn’t bothered to wash off her makeup.
“Oh my god!” she gasped. “I’m still a toy soldier!”
Eli’s face grew serious. “Beth, you were unbelievable tonight. I knew you’d be good, but I didn’t know what it would be like to see you do what you were born to do. I can’t believe I almost didn’t…”
He trailed off, but Beth didn’t need him to finish. He wasn’t going to come.
“This wasn’t a surprise, was it?” she asked. “Delaney didn’t know you’d be here because you weren’t planning on being here.” The reality felt like a punch to the gut…him showing up at the last minute, the ridiculous bouquet of flowers. It was a goodbye and apology wrapped all in one. And could Beth blame him? She’d been all but unreachable for the past month.
He shook his head. “And I got here so late that they’d given away my ticket. So I had to sit a little farther back. Delaney and Sam didn’t even know I was here.”
Beth nodded. The cold was starting to seep into her bones. She needed to remind herself that this was her best night, and nothing was going to erase that. Except…
This was almost her best night. The only thing missing was sharing it with her favorite human. Her person. Her Eli.
“I miss you,” they both said at the same time.
“What?” Beth asked. “You’re not here to”—she swallowed—“end this for good?”
“What?” Eli echoed. “No. Is that what you want?”
Beth’s eyes widened. She hugged her big puffy coat against her chest because despite being a dancer who had full control of her body onstage, this was one of those times when she had no idea what to do with her arms again.
“No!” she cried. “But you just said you weren’t going to come. And clearly those are Sorry-I’m-dumping-you-after-you-just-had-your-stage-debut flowers. I can’t think of any other explanation.”
Eli let out a nervous laugh. “I was supposed to neuter Trudy Davis’s new beagle this morning, which meant I never would have made it on time. But Trudy had to reschedule for next week, so I canceled the rest of my less pressing appointments and hopped on the first plane out here. I didn’t want to tell you I couldn’t come until the very last minute. But by the time it was the last minute, I realized it could have been a courtesy invite and that you might be better off without me here, so I wished you luck.” He groaned. “This all played out a lot better in my head, but I can see now how it might have looked from your perspective.”
“Put the flowers down,” she said softly.
“What?”
“Eli, put the flowers down.” The words came out as more of a command this time.
He glanced from left to right, then over his shoulder. But there was only the sidewalk and, a half block away, a fire hydrant.
“Put them on the ground, please. I promise they’ll be okay. I just really need you to not have anything in your hands right now, okay?”
His eyes widened, and recognition—along with her Eli smile—bloomed on his beautiful, bearded face.
He dropped the bouquet on the ground and barely had time to open his arms before she launched herself into them.
