Jessa sighed. “Okay. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. But if he doesn’t pick up, I might cry. You’ve been warned.”
“And I’ll be here to buy you ice cream,” Megan said.
Jessa pulled out her phone and checked the screen for any missed calls or texts. There were none. She scrolled through her contacts and clicked on Noah’s name before holding it up to her ear.
This time it rang, and her eyes widened.
“It’s ringing.”
Megan smiled encouragingly.
Jessa held her fingers up to her lips, nervous to hear his voice. She felt giddy, and she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face and the tears that sprang to her eyes as soon as he answered.
“Hello, beautiful.” His voice immediately calmed her, and she wanted to climb through the phone and hug him.
“Hi,” Jessa said. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you.”
“I could say the same to you.”
She clutched the phone tighter to her ear. “My phone died in the airport and I didn’t have my charger with me. By the time I could charge it, it was too late to call.”
“It’s never too late to call,” he said. “I can guarantee I was probably awake.”
She took a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry I had to leave.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.”
But those words didn’t come through the phone. They came from right behind her.
Jessa turned around in her chair to find Noah standing behind her. He smiled brightly.
“Hey, love.”
Jessa stood and immediately threw her arms around him. His arms wrapped around her waist and she never felt more whole.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m here for you.”
She pulled back. “What do you mean?”
“I want you to come back to Wintervale. To stay. Move in with me, or find your own place if you prefer. But once you’re done here, come home. Come home with me,” he pleaded.
Tears sprang to her eyes. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
She nodded empathically. Never had something felt so right, and seeing him in person only solidified all the feelings she had been questioning.
“I’ll move to Wintervale. Permanently.”
His eyes flickered over to Megan before coming back to Jessa’s as if he had heard her wrong. “Seriously?”
Jessa giggled. “Yes. I wanted to come back. These last twenty-four hours have been miserable. I love being there. It’s the first town where I’ve felt a sense of home. And you… you’re there. You feel like home, and I’d like to see where that goes.”
He picked her up and twirled them around right there in the restaurant. She giggled.
“I don’t care how corny this looks. I’m celebrating,” he said.
