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Miles
Elena isn’t messing around. She’s glaring at me as if she’d happily take my head off. Given the circumstances, I try to think of an answer that’s both honest and intelligent, but there isn’t one—only the truth.
“I wish I could tell you I’d do the right thing,” I say. “I wish I could say I’d be able to leave her. I’d try, but I know how badly I need Layla. I know how badly I need the future we’ve talked about. I’m sorry, Elena, but I don’t think I’d be able to.”
“And you?” Elena stares at her daughter.
Layla’s hand squeezes mine tightly. At least Elena hasn’t told us to let each other go. Or maybe I’m looking too eagerly for good signs. Perhaps she’s giving us this brief moment of intimacy because she’s about to shatter it all.
“No, Mom,” Layla whispers. “Oh, God, I feel terrible, but we have to be honest. I can’t let him go. I know it’sicky—”
“Is that what you think?” Elena cuts in.
“No,” Layla replies. “It’s something Tess said at the beginning.”
“At the beginning?”
“She changed her mind when she saw how serious I was.”
“It’s not like he’s really her uncle,” Noah says. “It’s not like he’s known her since she was a kid.”
“I knowyou’retotally for this,” Elena says, glancing at my little brother.
“I am,” he replies, steadily returning her gaze. “Some men would do something like this because they’re perverts or the taboo aspect gives them a sick thrill. Some men would take advantage of a woman half their age to get what they wanted, but Miles isn’t one of those men.”
Elena purses her lips. For a second, I think she’s going to snap, but then her features soften.
“I know he’s not,” she says, taking her seat again.
She reminds me of Layla when she’s full of nervous energy, like before we left for this meeting. My woman was pacing the bedroom and wringing her hands.
“That’s what makes this so hard,” Elena goes on. “I wish I could look into the future and know this will work out. You remember how cautious I was in the beginning, Noah.”
He grins, those early dating days still bringing warmth with them.
“Convincing you I was a decent man was the most difficult and fun thing I’ve ever done. I’ll always cherish those dates.”
“It was a month before we even kissed.”
“Everybody moves at their own speed,” Noah says.
“And anyway,” Layla says. “Icanlook into mine and Miles’ future. We’re going to be together forever. I don’t have a single doubt about that.”
I squeeze her hand warmly, knowing I probably shouldn’t smile, but I do, listening to her love-filled words.
“How can you be so sure?” Elena asks.
“When you and Noah had the date at the movies…You know the one.”
Elena smiles, then wipes it away as though she’s annoyed at herself for letting the happiness show.
“Of course, I remember. I came home, and we talked for hours. That was the night I knew this relationship was different. It was the night I knew I would marry him if he’d have me.”
Noah grins. “There was never anif.”
“Imagine that feeling and that conversation,” Layla says, “but condense it into a single moment. A single breath. That’s what happened to me. I knew he was the one for me the second I saw him. It was the same certainty you felt, Mom. I swear.”
“It was the same for me,” I say. “There was never any doubt. From minute one, fromsecondone, I knew I had to have Layla. If she weren’t my step-niece, I would’ve proposed to her right there if I wasn’t so afraid of ruining what you and Noah had.”
