“Are you okay?” I whispered.
Luca’s jaw clenched, and I knew he was just trying to hold it together. I squeezed his fingers.
“Excuse me,” Warren snipped. “Who are you?”
I whipped my head around to face him. “You’ve got some nerve ambushing him with something like that on live television. What was the goal here? Did you think you were gonna facilitate some happy family reunion?” I tilted my head and tapped a finger to my chin. “Or were you hoping Luca would decline his dad’s half-baked offer that’sclearlya cash grab so you could still paint him out to be some hypocritical villain?”
Warren’s eyes darted from side to side, and he tried to speak, but I cut him off, unable to stop the words from pouring out.
“I’m not done,” I spat. “Your first clue this guy hasn’t changed a bit should’ve been that he reached out to a TV show to pull this stunt instead of trying to make amends with his son personally. His beautiful, resilient, loving son that he is worse for not knowing. Frankly, even if his dad has changed, that doesn’t negate the years of trauma he caused, and that’s not something that can be overcome in the span of a twenty-second voice message.”
“Cut,” someone yelled off camera. “We need to go to commercialnow.”
“I…what…” Warren’s cheeks turned red. “Who the hellisthis girl?”
I was ready to tell him exactly who I was, but Luca spoke first, his voice thick with emotion.
“She’s the love of my life.” He gave me a soft smile before shifting his focus to Warren. “And you need to get the fuck out of my house before I run out of grace and kick your ass.”
The production crewand Warren Wright packed up with lightning speed, but not before Jo ripped them a new one. A few minutes later, everyone was chatting in the kitchen of the hobbit house like old friends. It felt good, seeing both our worlds collide.
“Hey,” Luca said, reaching for my hand. “Can we talk for a second?”
“Of course.” I smiled up at him and let him lead me out to the garden.
Once we were outside, our breath appeared in front of us like tiny clouds in the cold night air. I shivered and he pulled me close, sliding my arms beneath his jacket.
He kissed the top of my head. “Thank you. For being here.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, I—”
“You did nothing wrong,” he said. “What matters is that we’re together now. And I promise you, I’m not running anymore. I know I’ve got a long road ahead of me, but I want to walk it with you by my side.”
“I want that too,” I whispered. “This whole thing made me realize how much unresolved grief I have for Brennan. The guilt I’ve been carrying around, this desire to be able to fix everything, has been eating me alive. I have a lot of work to do, but I want to do it all with you.”
“I’m gonna be right here next to you, McKenzie. For as long as you’ll let me,” he promised, rubbing his hands in slow circles over my back.
The laughter of our friends filtered outside, and we stood there in each other’s arms for a moment, soaking it all in. Every person in that house had shown up for us, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, they always would.
“You know, we’re pretty lucky,” he said. “And we’ve got some pretty great friends. I’m glad I finally got to meet Kia, Jen, and Ravi.”
I nodded. “They’re the best.”
“I was thinking maybe I could have a Sunday dinner here in the new house before everyone has to go back home.” He gazed down at me. “You think they’d want to come?”
My eyes widened. “Wait. What? The new house?”
“Yep.” A grin spread over his mouth. “I’m buying the hobbit house.”
I squealed. “Are you serious?”
“And you know what the best part is?”
My mind was reeling. Luca was going to be living here.
“What?” I asked, the corners of my mouth curling upward.
“I get to keep everything in it,” he said. “I would have hated for Randy McNutt to feel out of place with all his stuff gone.”
