For every bit of silence back home, there was noise here, activity, and something happening all the time, and while I was enjoying it, it was also just making me feel more out of place. I was still staring out the window when Lu suddenly gasped and scrambled to her feet.
“Uncle Theo! You’re home.”
Everything inside me stopped as I looked up and saw him standing in the foyer. He seemed travel worn, his dark hair messy and a leather jacket slung over his shoulder where he was talking to Zach in hushed tones.
A moment later though, he turned away from his brother, his eyes sweeping the room. The second they met mine, everything changed. The constant noise faded and the anxiety I’d been feeling disappeared.
He looked different than he had back in Quartz Pass, his hair shorter and his expression sharper, but his shoulders dropped when he saw me, like he’d been carrying the weight of the world and had finally allowed himself to toss it off.
I stood up, but neither of us moved toward the other at first. Instead, we just stared at each other, and in that moment I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this hadn’t been some foolish mistake. The certainty sank into me like something I’d known all my life and just hadn’t been consciously aware of until right now.
Maybe our feelings weren’t logical and maybe a relationship wouldn’t be practical or convenient, but it was right. Theo’s gaze softened as it held mine, a relieved smile appearing on his lips. The way he looked at me made me feel like he’d finally found his way home and my heart swelled in response. I felt exactly the same.
It suddenly felt like I could breathe again for the first time since he’d left and I knew then that no matter how different our worlds seemed, he and I were meant to be. This was right. Hell, it was everything.
There was no awkwardness or tension as he strode toward me, only taking two slow steps before he broke into a run. I barely had time to laugh before he reached me, gathering me up in his arms and lifting me straight off my feet.
The impact knocked the breath out of me, but I didn’t care. Theo was here, burying his face in my hair as I wrapped my arms around his neck. We just held each other for a few long moments, breathing each other in while my heart pounded and my knees felt vaguely weak.
Behind us, I heard Adeline clear her throat. “Would you look at that.”
“Uncle Theo’s home,” Lu announced, as if anyone had needed the confirmation. “I think he likes her.”
Jennifer giggled. “I think she’s hisbestfriend.”
“They’re having a moment,” Adeline said. “Be quiet.”
“It’s a gross moment,” Lu said. “Do you think they’re going to smooch?”
I laughed quietly against Theo’s shoulder, wondering if I should let go and put some space between us considering our audience, but his arms tightened around me like he’d heard the thought and was telling me to stay put.
“Let’s go, young ladies,” Adeline said. “Privacy is a real thing and I think they need a bit of it right now.”
Lu objected immediately. “But Uncle Theo?—”
“Uncle Theo’s going to come find you in a minute,” he said without lifting his face out of my hair. “I heard Zach say something about glitter pens. Maybe you should go find out what that means.”
“Oh, you fucking—” Zach muttered from somewhere nearby, then immediately broke off, but apparently not fast enough.
“You owe us twenty dollars each,” Jennifer announced delightedly.
Zach groaned. “How about twenty minutes with the glitter pens instead?”
“With you?” she asked.
“Sure.”
Someone stomped a foot, presumably Lu, since she spoke up next. “I want to stay.”
“Nope. You’re coming with us, little one,” Zach said firmly. “Let’s go, Lauren.”
“Why?”
“Because Uncle Theo is definitely going to smooch her and you’re not old enough to see that yet. Nor do you want to. It’s going to be super gross.”
Their banter continued as they moved down the hallway, Adeline and Zach ushering the girls out of the room. When I looked up again, Kate and Jacque had disappeared too, and Jane had left earlier after getting a call from Alex.
Once they were gone, Theo finally pulled back and looked into my eyes, but his hands stayed firmly around my waist, likehe wasn’t taking any chances of me trying to move away from him. “I’m sorry. I never should’ve left.”
