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“Yeah.”
“It hadn’t been the happiest day of my life up until that point, though,” she said softly, eyes watery. “That happened here. The day I married Adam.”
Boone’s heart reached out to her, and he drew her in closer, maybe needing that even more than her. “It’s a beautiful church for a wedding.”
“Isn’t it?” She stared up at the cathedral ceiling. “My wedding was a fairy tale. I couldn’t have imagined a day that could ever compare to it.” When she looked back at him, his chest expanded fully as he became lost in the sweetness of her eyes. “After Adam passed away,” she continued, “I didn’t think I could possibly be happy again. To see anything beyond my pain. But then everything changed.” Her voice broke. “And you’re one of the reasons for that.”
“Me?” he asked, a little taken aback.
She turned to take his hand, her fingers his lifeline now. “I think I had convinced myself that being with Adam was all I got,” she said. “That when he died, my dreams died too.” A tear slid down her cheek, but she quickly brushed it away. “I moved to Stoney Creek because I felt the happiest there, and I was so desperate to be happy again, but the happiness I found there wasn’t what I expected. I found a new happiness, and I see now that the world is full of wonderful surprises, and you’re maybe the best surprise of all.”
Boone sat there speechless, listening to her pour her heart out, feeling like he should say something but unable to find the right words.
She gave him a smile and then examined the church around her. “The love Adam and I had was sweet, young love.” Her gaze returned to Boone. “And then there’s you…and what we have.”
“What do we have?” Boone managed, staring deeply into the depths of her eyes.
“I love you, Boone,” she said softly. “And this, between us, is a brand-new kind of love. Something bigger than I could have ever imagined.”
Boone’s chest cracked open and warmth sunk into places he thought were dead. He cupped her face, bringing his mouth close to hers. “And it’s our love, something that belongs only to us.” She smiled gently and leaned into his touch, offering him so much with a single expression, and he added, “Adam was lucky to have you. And so I am. I love you, Peyton.”
He dropped his mouth to hers, wanting nothing more than her kissing him back until she went soft against him. He’d questioned a lot in his life, many things, especially the type of man he wanted to be. He blamed himself for Chelsea, for his mistakes there. He didn’t want to blame anyone anymore.
Peyton, that’s all he wanted.
When he tangled his fingers into her hair, deepening the kiss, she moaned softly before she leaned away with a chuckle. “We’re in a church.”
“I don’t care,” he told her softly.
“Well, I do.” She slid out of the pew, then took his hand, tugging on him. “Besides, I have one more place I need to show you.”
“Your high school?” he asked when they reached outside.
“Somewhere better.” She pulled him along until he was walking at a speed where she finally settled into a fast walk.
Ten minutes went by, and he liked those ten minutes. Walking hand in hand, being a couple was a sweet, sweet thing. Maybe he forgot what this felt like. How nice it was to have a woman there he was proud to have walking beside him. Someone who knew him, more than anyone else knew him.
She took a few right turns, then she stopped in front of a white-sided two-story house, with a dark green front door and shutters. The lawns were perfectly manicured. The neighborhood was full of BMWs and Ferraris, telling Boone some of the people who owned these houses made more money than the entire town of Stoney Creek.
Leaving him at the bottom of the front landing, she knocked on the door. When a man appeared, wearing navy-blue slacks and white button-up, his bright hazel eyes widened. “Peyton.” He thrust the door open, wrapping her in a tight hug. “What are you doing here?”
“Peyton!” a feminine voice screeched from inside.
A short dark-haired woman appeared in the doorway, wearing a yellow dress with a white apron, storming past the man, tears on her face. She stole Peyton from his arms. “You didn’t tell us you were coming.”
“I didn’t want to explain on the phone,” she said, hugging the woman back tightly. “There’s something I need to tell you, and”—she turned to Boone and gave him a sweet smile—“Mom and Dad, I want you to meet my boyfriend, Boone Knight.”
Boone felt the ripple of happiness spread over him. The warmth that Peyton brought to his life when he closed the distance and offered his hand to her father. “Boone Knight, the boyfriend.”
Her father’s brows rose; he exchanged a long look with his wife, then returned the handshake. “All right then, son, best you come in and we can have a chat.” He patted Boone’s back.
Peyton’s mother still hugged Peyton tightly, talking too fast to make any sense…“You said you weren’t serious? You look so good! What’s happened?” The rambling was endless.
Slowly, Peyton glanced at Boone and smiled. Yeah, that smile was where things stopped for him. Boone had gotten a lot of shit wrong in his life. Peyton, though, she was something that he’d ensure he’d always get right.
* * *
Late in the night, in Peyton’s childhood bedroom, she lay on her side staring at a sleeping Boone. Dinner with her parents had been delicious, and they seemed to like Boone, asking him questions the entire time. Truth was, they seemed as taken by him as she was, and that really didn’t come as much of a surprise. He impressed her father and charmed the heck out of her mother. It also wasn’t a shock that her mother refused that they sleep at the hotel again, instead staying in Peyton’s bedroom with a double bed.
