Remi Carter didn’t hand out permission lightly.
I stepped inside and caught sight of her through the front window, sitting out back on the clinic’s rickety bench, one leg tucked beneath her, pen tapping her notebook. She was in her element. Hoodie sleeves shoved to her elbows. Hair up in some messy knot. Headphones around her neck but not playing.
Her walls weren’t all the way up today. Not the thick ones, anyway.
I nudged the door open and held up the tray. “I come bearing peace offerings.”
She looked up with a cheeky smile. “Coffee and not a single arrest warrant? What’s the occasion?”
I smirked and handed her the cup with the little ‘R’ scrawled on the lid. “Felt like a day to bribe a woman for her time.”
Remi gave me a suspicious look but took the cup anyway.
We sat in a comfortable quiet for a while. The kind I didn’t get with many people.
But Remi had this feel about her; I could see why people trusted her with their darkest days.
After a few minutes, I cleared my throat. “How’s Ava been?”
Her eyes softened. “Better.” Then she side-eyed me with a smirk. “But you’d know that. You see her more than I do these days, Grandpa.”
I chuckled. “You’re not wrong... kiddo.”
Remi snorted and then looked down at her notebook, a thoughtful look playing across her face. “She seems lighter,” she added, gaze drifting toward the street. “Still haunted sometimes. But… yeah. Happier.”
I nodded, then rubbed my palms on my jeans. “I’ve been thinking…”
“That’s always dangerous.”
“Smartass,” I muttered, but my voice cracked with affection. I looked at her then, really looked at her. And all I could think was how far we’d come. How close we all came to breaking. And how fiercely I loved Ava.
“I want to propose,” I said quietly. “To Ava.”
Remi blinked once. Twice. Then her eyes glazed over faster than I expected. She looked down at the coffee, sniffed hard, then gave a watery smile.
“Jesus, Chief,” she murmured. “You’re really gonna do it?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I want to build a life with her. All of it. The hard parts. The quiet ones. The ugly and the beautiful.”
Remi leaned her shoulder against mine, small and steady. “Then don’t screw it up.”
I huffed. “I’m serious.”
“So am I,” she said, smile crooked now. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to her. But she’s also the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Don’t forget it.”
“I won’t.”
She sat with that for a moment. Then pulled one knee up, wrappingher arms around it. “She used to talk about how she wanted to be proposed to. Before everything. Back when we were stupid and hopeful.”
I turned my head toward her, listening.
“She always thought it would be this big romantic thing. String lights. Candles. Maybe music playing. A fancy restaurant with an audience. Something about warm light and being seen.”
My chest tightened. “That’s good to know.”
“But” she added, glancing at me sideways, “that’s not you. And honestly, it’s not her anymore either.”
I swallowed. “No?”
