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Logan watched as she descended the stairs. Had she seen him coming through the plane’s window? Was there something else she wanted to say? Something she’d forgotten?
It didn’t matter. Maybe she wouldn’t stay. Maybe she wouldn’t let him come with her, because he was willing to do that too.
But it wouldn’t be because she didn’t know that, for her, he was willing to risk it all.
She stepped onto the tarmac and started toward him, her hair blowing in the breeze, her eyes hidden by sunglasses.
She looked up at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” he said. “I thought you’d be gone.”
“I almost was,” she said. “But then Bea started talking about sharks, and how they have to keep moving or they’ll die, and — ”
“That’s actually not true,” he said.
“Really?”
He nodded. “Ask Willow. She’ll tell you all about it. Turns out only some breeds of shark have to keep moving. Others can stop and still survive.”
“I’ll tell Bea.” She bit her lip and he had to resist the urge to cover her mouth with his, to beg her to stay no matter how undignified it sounded. “Thing is, I used to think I was like the first shark, the ones that have to keep moving, but I think maybe with a little patience, I could stop, give myself some time to feel something.”
He fought against the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He still didn’t know what this meant. “Is that so?”
She nodded. “I’ve been…” She sighed. “I’ve been so so stupid for so so long.”
He reached out to touch her face. “You have never been stupid.”
“Scared then,” she said. “I’ve been scared.”
“Me too,” he said. “It’s why I let you go the first time. I can’t make that mistake again, Ella. If you want to go, if you really want to go, well, the plane is waiting. But I love you. I love Leo. My heart doesn’t beat without you anymore. I know it’s complicated. I know you’d have to come to California or I’d have to go to Chicago, but I don’t care about any of that. I just want to fall asleep with you every night, wake up with you every morning, and I need you to know that, really know that, before you get on that plane.”
She didn’t say anything at first, and when he reached down to take off her sunglasses, he saw that her eyes were filled with tears.
She sniffed. “Is there French toast involved in this deal?”
This time he couldn’t stop the smile that rose to his lips. “All you can eat.”
“That is a compelling offer.”
He reached for her hands and looked into her eyes. “Do you think we could stand still together for awhile? Finally see where it takes us?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “It sounds awfully grown-up.”
He grinned. “I don’t know about you, but being grown-up sounds pretty good right now.”
It might have taken them twenty years to get here, but part of him would always be a kid when he looked at her, and he doubted a day would pass when he wouldn’t see her as a serious, scrappy little girl, a beautiful young woman who’d set him on fire.
She smiled up at him. “I love you. I always have.”
“And?” he prompted. He was teasing her. Nothing she could say after that really mattered.
She rolled her eyes. “And I’ll try to be a grown-up with you, Logan Bane.”
“That’s the nicest offer I’ve ever had.” He lowered his mouth to hers and swept her lips into a kiss. He was suddenly seventeen again, feeling like he had the world on a string as long as she was in his arms.
“Mommy and Logan are kissing!”
