Chapter Twenty
Grace tugged gently at Oliver’s sleeve, pulling him away from the breakfast room door as exasperation danced behind her calm exterior. “You can not just barge in there until we come to an agreement on what to tell them.”
Oliver crossed his arms over his chest as he casually leaned against the wall, the twinkle in his eye coaxing the butterflies in her stomach to take flight.
She wasn’t sure how they had managed to keep their composure through dinner the night before, but the moment she had descended the stairs that morning, Oliver had informed her that he had no intention of going another day without letting everyone they came in contact with know how hopelessly in love with her he was.
“I am planning on telling them the truth.” He smiled, silently challenging her to doubt that he would shout it from the rooftops if given the chance.
“And what would that be?”
“That I am going to marry you.”
Grace felt the warmth creep into her cheeks, as she fought the smile tugging on her lips. “I think you are getting ahead of yourself,” she murmured, her eyes flicking toward the partially open door. “We should simply tell them that we have an understanding.”
Oliver’s grin widened as he leaned closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear. “We both understand how much I thoroughly enjoy kissing you.”
Grace’s hand shot up to swat him in the arm, but before she could scold him further, he dipped his head and pressed a quick, infuriatingly perfect kiss to her lips. Her breath hitched; the world seemed to stand still.
“Oliver Blackburn!” she whispered in mortification.
The door to the breakfast room swung open, and Grace quickly tried to push Oliver away, but he remained unmoved.
“Are we interrupting something?” Matthew asked. Sarah stood right behind him, her eyes brimming with hope.
“Yes,” Oliver waved them off with a playful grin. “Could you return in a few minutes?”
Matthew laughed as Sarah rushed forward to wrap Grace in her arms. Grace felt herself melt into her embrace.
“I am so happy for you both,” Sarah whispered into her ear.
Grace remembered when she had whispered those very same words into Sarah’s ear the day she and Matthew announced their engagement. Tears had been flowing down both of their cheeks, as Benjamin’s absence had sat beside them like a shadow she thought would never lift.
She pulled back from Sarah, and her eyes instinctively rose to lock with Oliver’s.
Matthew and Sarah’s voices swirled around her in a haze of teasing, laughter, and congratulations.
But all she could see was Oliver, who still hadn’t stopped smiling at her like she was the only person in the room.
He slipped his hand into hers, as if to remind her that he wasn’t going anywhere.
His love had not erased Benjamin, but he had shown her she was not defined by her greatest loss. She had loved Benjamin—and she loved the man standing beside her now, whose own heartbreak had made him capable of loving so fiercely that it made her brave enough to believe in forever again.