“Wait! All week? Dex, you’ve been planning this for a week?”
“Longer, actually. Before the wedding I knew one of us would need to make a change so I started weighing my options. I knew I wanted to do this right. Wanted to have a plan, not just show up and hope for the best.”
I leaned against him, and the swing creaked gently as we moved. “This is really happening.”
“This is really happening.”
“Six weeks?”
“Give or take. I need to wrap things up in Willowbrook. Pack. Figure out if I want to buy a garage here, or if I want to try something new.”
“You move fast.”
“When I know what I want? Yeah, I do.” He kissed the top of my head. “And I want this. I want you. I want us.”
We sat there for a long time, just swinging gently, looking out at our new neighborhood, our new life, our new beginning.
“Thank you,” I said finally.
“For what?”
“For choosing this. For choosing me. For being brave enough to take this leap.”
“You don’t have to thank me. Finding you was the best thing that ever happened to me. I can’t believe this is my life now. That I actually got this lucky.” He tilted my chin up. “Because you love me enough to let me do this.”
“Always,” I whispered.
He kissed me again, soft and sweet and full of promise. And sitting there on the porch of what would be our home, I felt it settle deep in my bones.
This was right.
This was real.
This was forever.
EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER - FEBRUARY 14TH
LEIGH
Iwoke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of the ocean.
Home.
Our home.
The cottage we’d bought together, that we’d moved into in October, that we’d spent the last four months filling with our lives. It had taken me all of half a day to decide that this waswhere I wanted home to be, and that was only because Dex made me think about it first.
I stretched and smiled, noticing Dex’s side of the bed was already empty. Pixel and Aperture had claimed his spot, curled up against each other, purring softly.
“Morning, babies,” I whispered, scratching behind Aperture’s ears.
I found my robe and wandered into the kitchen.
Dex was on the back deck in his usual morning spot with a coffee in his hand, looking out at the ocean. Even in February, even when it was cold, he liked to start his mornings out there.
I poured myself coffee and joined him.
