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“Whatever you need it to be.”
She narrowed her eyes on me. “Thank you for getting me a hotel room in town.”
I smiled. “Yeah? Did it help?”
Emily laughed. “Tremendously. And I can’t thank you enough for the rental car. I couldn’t stand the thought of driving around with Ethan one more day. Spit for hair gel doesn’t actually smell nice.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “No, I can’t imagine it would.”
“And most of all, thank you for believing in me.” She parted her lips to say more and then closed them.
“You’re incredible, Emily.”
“I know the last few weeks were hard, but I needed them. I needed the time for me, for my work, and to make sure that when I came back to you, it was because I wanted to, not because it was expected of me.”
I took a sip of beer.
“But I secretly loved all those messages you sent me so that I knew you understood that we weren’t over…”
I nodded, knowing we never would be.
She let out a deep breath. “I never knew that kind of freedom existed, and I never knew that I’d be someone who needed it.” Her hand caressed her pendant, and she smiled. “I guess I kind of am like a wildflower at heart.”
“I never once doubted it,” I said tenderly. “It’s why I never pushed you, but I also knew we were meant to be.”
She nodded, quietly reflecting, but I knew what she was thinking. Emily was still waiting for that sign.
My hand ran over the smooth cover of my grandmother’s poetry book, and I took a deep breath, hoping that this would give her the sign that she so desperately craved.
“Emily, I love you. I’ll never stop loving you. You’re my best friend, the person I think about night and day. You’re my everything. I just can’t imagine a world without you in it.” I let out a deep breath. “But I need you in my world.”
Tears teetered on her lids as she kept her focus on me. “I hope you never for a moment thought I didn’t love you, and I don’t even think it had to do with Clara.”
I smiled, nodding.
“No. I know it didn’t.” I gripped my grandma’s book and slid it onto the table.
Emily’s gaze fell to the cover, and she gasped when she saw wildflowers strewn all over. Her fingers traced my grandmother’s name as she shook her head, whispering the title.
“Wildflower Fire.” She shook her head and stared at me. “This is unbelievable.”
I nodded, seeing hope, joy, and exhilaration flood through her gaze.
“I knew there was something more,” she whispered. “I always felt it. Some connection with you, but I didn’t know why or what.”
Emily reached her hand across the table. “We were always meant to be, Lucas. It was written in the stars. It was written in the seeds.”
I stood up from the booth and sat next to her, bringing her close to me as my entire world felt right again.
“Emily, I love you with all I have.” My forehead pressed against hers as she traced her fingers along my arms. “And I can’t think of anyone else I want as a best friend, as my best friend, as my partner.”
“I feel the same way, Lucas. I just love you so much.” Her hand ran across the cover of the book, and she smiled. “I can’t wait to share this with my sisters and Mom. I’m blown away and freaked out and just… everything feels as right as it did the first time I saw you.”
I laughed. “And we both spent a year fighting it, but I’ll always be here to support you, Emily. Whatever you want in life, whatever your dreams may be.”
“You’ve more than proven that, Lucas, and I can never thank you enough for giving me the space to be me.”
I pressed my lips to hers, and we kissed, finally knowing that we’d be together forever. It was as if the universe had finally spoken, the ghosts of our pasts allowing us to align our futures, and I couldn’t imagine this journey with anyone else.
