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“I did,” he said. “I do.”
“I want to do the same,” I said, feeling as though I was in midair, suspended between trust and doubt. Between my wants and my fears.
I thought of my father, alone in that big house that used to know love. Doubt and mistrust had been Jasper’s roommates, his only friends.
That could be me one day. I knew it. A few years from now, and I could still hold this grudge against Tyler. I could still see only the hurt he’d caused me and never pay any attention to why.
But Jasper had found his way out of that house.
And Tyler was the key.
If there was one thing Miguel had shown me, it was that context was everything. Circumstances mattered. And Tyler’s context was complicated.
There was a light in Tyler, dim right now, but growing brighter every moment. It was Tyler as he should be.
Noble and good. Human, but trying to rise above the worst of himself.
I can do that, too, I thought, inspired by his beauty, his courage and his effort. I want to do that.
“I want to show you the best of myself, too, but I don’t know what that is,” I said, the truth actually hard to say. “All I’ve done is doubt you—”
“For good reason, Juliette. Christ, I’ve hurt you and lied—”
“You keep absolving me of guilt,” I said, “like I’ve had no part in what’s happened to us. Like I’ve done nothing wrong, and that’s not true. Priscilla told me that I wanted to believe the best in you but couldn’t get past the worst, and she’s right. The second things went south, I doubted you. And I was interrogating you that day at The Manor. And maybe you lied because I never really showed you how much I trusted you.”
His eyes went wide. “I don’t blame you, Juliette.”
“Tyler.” I couldn’t help but smile, and once I did, tears bit hard into my eyes. Love filled my heart. “I know you don’t. But maybe you should blame me a little more and yourself a little less.”
I reached out for his hand, lacing my fingers through his. Pressing my palm to his, I felt every callus. Every heartbeat.
He clutched at my hand, his strength taking my breath away. “Let’s go slow,” I whispered. “Take our time.”
“Where are we going?” he asked, pulling me in closer, winding the fingers of his other hand through mine, until we stood there, smiling at each other, holding hands as if the world might tear us apart any moment.
“Anywhere,” I whispered. “I’ll go anywhere as long as I’m with you.”
Epilogue
One Month Later
It was the end of the night and I could not contain any more joy. I was full—my hands, my heart, my whole damn body—full of as much happiness as I could hold.
Margot, Savannah and Matt were home and the party had been grand—even Carter had come home for it.
But still, I looked in the shadows under the grand cypress in the back courtyard for Tyler.
Because no amount of happiness was enough if Tyler wasn’t there.
I found him, sprawled in a chair, his shirt half-unbuttoned.
“Hey, baby,” he said, his voice liquid like his hand on my back, fingers down my spine, and I smiled. “Where are the kids?”
“Margot let them have the sleeping porch. They’re out cold.”
He held out his hand to pull me into his lap and I went willingly, though I rearranged myself to straddle his thighs.
“Well, well,” he said, his half smile the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. He wrapped his arms around my hips and pulled me closer.
I lay into him, my face in his neck breathing in the warm spice that was Tyler.
“Miguel told me he wants to go on with the emancipation paperwork,” I said. The trial had been last week and Ramon was going to jail. Emancipation was the first step toward adoption.
“What?” he asked, pushing me away slightly so he could look into my eyes. “Really?”
I nodded.
“That is good news,” he whispered, his voice gruff.
In that moment I made my decision. Or rather, I pushed my mind out of the equation and let my heart lead the way.
A month ago, I would never have expected to do this. But over the past three weeks, I’d come to realize just what kind of man Tyler was.
The best kind of man.
“I love you,” I said. “Have I told you that?”
“Not enough,” he said, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. “Have I told you you have a great butt?”
I laughed, I kept laughing until I couldn’t stop the tears.
“Hey,” he said, lifting me up so he could see my face, wipe away my tears. “Come on now, what’s this?”
“I’m happy, Tyler,” I said. “I’m so happy.”
“That’s great, Jules. Me, too.”
“I’ve changed my mind,” I said.
“About what?” he asked.
I licked my lips, thinking I needed to gather my courage, my belief and trust. But it was simply right there. Everything I felt for Tyler was so much a part of the happiness I felt, and I knew that this moment, all the moments ahead with Miguel and Louisa, were only possible because of him.
