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He took another step forward until we were nearly touching. “I hate what I did. I was seeing things in only one way. I couldn’t find a way to make this work.”
“So, how do you know it’ll work this time?”
His hand dropped to my chin and lifted my head to look up at him. “Because I love you.”
I melted at those words. The words I’d been so desperate to hear for so long. Words I’d never thought I’d hear. Not after how everything ended. Not after he walked out without ever uttering them.
“You do?” I asked, wanting so bad for it to all be true.
“I always have. I loved you when you refused to let me into my own house because you’d redecorated. I loved you when you crawled around on the ground as a delirious drunk. I loved you when you trusted me enough to take care of you. I loved you here, and I loved you in LA. I’ve always loved you, and I always will.”
A tear spilled down my cheek. He swiped his thumb across my cheek to capture the tear.
“I love you, Nora Abbey.”
A laugh burst from my chest. “You’re back.”
“I really am. I’m here for you. I refuse to be separated from you ever again.”
“But what about LA?” I asked, looking up into his eyes.
He frowned. “We’ll figure it out. I know I said that it wasn’t possible before, but I discovered it’s impossible to live without you. I’ll fly back. We’ll video-chat. I’ll fly you out. I don’t know. As long as you’re mine, I don’t care. I know how important your job is to you. I know that you belong here. I won’t forget it or try to change you. I want you to do what you find most important. I’ll be here for the ride.”
I sniffled again and threw my arms around him. He had no idea about the job offer. He had no idea how much had changed in the few weeks since he’d been gone.
“I want to go with you,” I told him.
He pulled back fiercely and looked alarmed. “What? No. Nora, you can’t give this up for me. That’s not okay. I was wrong to even suggest it last time.”
“West, no…”
“I’m serious,” he said, grasping my hands. “I want you to be happy. I don’t want you to have to give up your passion or try to start over in LA.”
I laughed and pressed a kiss to his lips. Those were the perfect words. The words I’d needed to hear that he was sincere. He would figure this all out with me if I asked him to.
He drew me against him, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing me, as if he’d been crumbling to dust without me and I was making him solid again. “I love you, Nora.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered. “But I’m still coming with you.”
He looked alarmed. “You’re going to quit your job? But I thought…”
“English offered me the job.”
“Oh my God,” he said, momentarily stunned. “You’re going to be working a celebrity wedding?”
I nodded vigorously. “I start next week. I already put in my two-week notice here. Hollin asked me to stay on and help while we onboard new employees or even run my own company out of the vineyard, but I could do that in LA, too.”
“You…quit your job.”
“Yes. The fee for that one wedding is most of my salary here. And it’ll give me a year to see if this is the right move for me. Maybe even a year in LA to find a new job.”
“You’re serious.” His eyes were wide with shock. “You want to come to LA with me?”
I took a deep breath. “Can we bring the plants?”
He burst into laughter, swinging me in his arms and twirling me in place. “We can bring all the plants. I’ll get you as many beautiful plants as you want. Everything and more.”
I giggled and clung to him. “You know, in LA, I can grow citrus trees.”
“I’ll get you a whole grove,” he told me.
He set me carefully back onto my high heels and pressed another deep kiss against my lips. The rest of the world disappeared in that embrace. Weston Wright loved me. He’d come back for me. Been willing to make it work while I stayed in Lubbock. I might not have forgiven him any other way, but this was exactly how it always should have been.
So, I put the past behind me and gave myself over to this man.
“I love you, West.”
“And I love you, Nora.”
We’d started out as roommates, tried it out as a fling, and ended up forever. What more could a girl ask for?
