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“She’s going to be okay,” Luisa said. “Like for me, her recovery won’t be easy. In some ways, what she went through was harder; in some ways, it wasn’t.”
I cupped her cheek with my palm and stared into her eyes. “I am so proud of you, Luisa. More, I’m in awe of you. Your strength, the way you’ve worked so hard to heal.” My voice was clogged with emotion, and I couldn’t continue.
“I couldn’t have done any of it without you, Press.”
I smiled. “Yes, you would’ve.”
She shook her head. “You’re wrong, but I don’t want us to argue. There’s something I need to tell you.” Luisa gripped both my hands in hers and turned her body so she was facing me. “I love you, Lavery Barrett. I know I said I wasn’t sure how love felt, but I am now. I love you so much.”
“And I, you, pet.”
We satin each other’s arms, love flowing between us. The last several weeks had been filled with utter devastation and unimaginable loss. If there had been another way for Luisa and me to meet, to get to know one another, to fall in love, I’d trade it in a heartbeat. But here we were, the two of us together, rising from the ashes like a phoenix.
“I had a thought about Jada,” Luisa said, raising her head from my shoulder.
“What’s that?”
“Do you think Tryst would let her and Zin stay atEl Lugar de Curación?”
“I am certain of it.”
EPILOGUE
LUISA
In the same way I’d been the one to initiate it when Press and I first made love, I was the one who proposed.
We’d returned to Napa after spending the remainder of the week at Seahorse, where I could visit Jada every day, and left after she and Zin departed for Tryst’s ranch.
Two nights later, after insisting I wanted to make dinner while he relaxed, I asked him to join me at the dining table. In my hands, I carried a plate covered by a silver dome. Once he was seated, I placed it in front of him.
“Go ahead,” I said when he looked at me with scrunched eyes. He removed the dome and picked up the card that rested on the plate.
“Please join Lavery Barrett and Luisa Reeve, February 14, as they become man and wife, partners in the vast and wondrous universe,” he read out loud.
“Will you marry me, Press?” I asked.
“To do so will make me the happiest man alive.”
“And me, the happiest woman.”
He stood and we kissed.
“What do you say we go use more of those condoms?” I said.
“What about dinner?”
I raised a brow.
“Right.”
“I love you, Press.”
“I love you more, Luisa.”
