I will prove to her, over and over again, that she is it for me. That I will be hers until the day I draw my last breath.
“Tell me something else about you that I don’t know,” Anastasia says. “Something happy.”
We’re lying on a blanket spread out on the deck of the boat, the stars above us our only light since I turned off everything else. The pizzas Anastasia made are long gone, our bellies full and hearts fuller.
Her hand is held in mine, our fingers threaded together as we lie shoulder to shoulder.
“Most of my happy memories are ones I share with you. I’m not sure I have anything new to offer,” I reply honestly.
Anastasia turns her head toward me, so I do the same, facing her. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah.” I can see the pity on her face, and it makes me smile. “Why is that a bad thing?”
“Because we didn’t meet until our late twenties, Sawyer. That means you spent most of your life unhappy.”
“But ever since I met you, my life has been on the uptick, and that’s good, right?”
“You deserved better.” She turns her face back up to the sky.
“I’ve got everything I need.” I squeeze her hand gently as I consider her question. “Okay, there is one that you weren’t there for.”
“Yeah?” She turns toward me again.
“Yeah. It was the summer after I moved to Stormwatch Landing. I’d just bought the auto shop, and I was going through inventory, when this woman walked in. She had a beautiful smile but a nasty temper when I refused a dinner invitation.”
“This does not sound happy.”
“Just hang on, you’ll see.” I laugh. “She insisted that I come to dinner, but I wasn’t used to any kind of familial group setting, so I kept refusing.”
Anastasia, catching on, smiles. “Then what happened?”
“Well, she told me that I was coming whether I liked it or not. That I was family now, and I needed to just suck it up and deal with it.” I laugh. “And that was the first night Momma Knox extended a personal invitation to me.”
“She was not taking no for an answer.”
I laugh. “No, she wasn’t.”
“Why didn’t you want to come? Just out of curiosity.”
“Like I said, family gatherings in my history were not great. I didn’t want to subject myself to it again. But that first night—it meant more to me than I could ever put into words. And what was even more was the fact that, when I walked in the door, she immediately put me to work peeling potatoes. None of my foster families let me anywhere near the kitchen, so it was nice to be trusted.”
“I’m so glad you went.”
“Me, too. The next week, when you showed up?” I laugh. “I was a goner. I knew nothing was going to keep me from that dinner table if I could help it.”
She laughs softly. “I remember being so nervous around you at first. You were just this handsome, strong, goofy guy who made my heart dance whenever I saw you. And then, over time, you became someone I genuinely couldn’t live without. Anytime you were gone on a mission, I’d stand on my balcony, waiting to see the lights come on in your apartment, just so I knew you’d gotten home safely.”
Having someone wait for me to come home is another new one for me. “I’m sorry I took so long to ask.”
She looks over at me through thick lashes. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to see.”
Chapter 22
Anastasia
The hottest day of the summer is a perfect excuse to spend the day lounging on the beach next to my best friend. With the sun high above us, soft towels and warm sand beneath us, I’m here in my happy place.
Waves roll and crash into the shore, and in the distance, children laugh and play.
