Page 138 of Carson

Luna walks further into the living room. She spins in a circle under all of the brightly colored paper origami creations above her. “I kept every one of them.”

Her eyes fill with tears when she notices all of the flowers sitting around the cabin. She rushes to the kitchen window and spins the dragonfly crystal now hanging there. The one that had been on her rearview mirror.

Cole tried to incorporate her into our space. He said he wasn’t going to let Tim be the memory that stuck out to her.

By the way she’s smiling, I think it worked.

Rage is still looking at the origami he created for her all those years ago as she hid in the closet. I think he’s surprised she held onto them.

“Oh, my gosh, you guys, this is …” She spins again, dancing in the rainbows littering the floor. “This is perfect.”

Cole sticks his hands in his pockets and looks at me. I know he did this for her, but he did it for me too. I give him a little nod to let him know he did good.

Everything that happened between us is water under the bridge.

When people say today is a new day, I’ve never really understood it. Isn’t every day a new day? Now I understand that phrase a bit more.

Life has changed, and I’m sure it will continue to do so, but today is the start of a new chapter and I’m so fucking excited to see where it leads me … us.

She gives me a big hug, but I tell her all the credit for this gesture goes to Cole, so she gives him a hug too.

He’s shy about it, which is new for him.

“I’m just going to go grab a few things,” she says when she pulls away from him. “Then I’ll be ready to go. I don’t want us to miss those warm cookies coming out of the oven.”

Cole instantly perks up. “Shit, yeah, hurry up,” he says, pushing her toward the hallway.

“You guys can go on without us. We’ll meet you back at the house,” I tell them, following her to our room.

Luna stands in front of the closet, staring without seeing.

I walk up behind her. “Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah,” she says, wiping her eyes. “I’m just a little struck by being back here. I had just hung these, and then went outside …”

I rub my hands down her arms, and she falls back against me, letting me take her weight.

My chin rests on her head, while I hug her.

“I think it needed to happen. It forced me to run toward something instead of just away from it. I’ve never done that before. I’ve been running and running with no real destination.”

“What were you running toward?” I ask.

“Your dad, the path, the flowers, everything my mother pointed me to, but I realize now that when she told me to run, it wasn’t from Tim. It was from myself. I’d been holding myself back. I thought being on the road had healed me, and it had … to an extent. But I’d never had anything to show me which wounds were still there.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here so we can pick on you.”

She laughs and turns in my arms. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“I chose you, remember? I’ll never give up on us. I can promise you that.” I lean down and place a soft kiss on the side of her mouth, and she responds by not letting me retreat. She reaches up and places her hand on the back of my neck, tugging me closer.

Luna kisses me back, and I don’t know if I’m just getting my hopes up or if something has changed, but it feels different. Her body is soft against mine. She’s even more relaxed than she was when we were in Ireland.

When she pulls away, she smiles. “Thank you for choosing me.”

She glances around the room. “I think I’m ready to go back now.”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. In my mind I knew she wouldn’t want to stay here tonight, but part of me hoped it was a possibility.