Chapter 30
As I watch Griffin drive off into the distance, a piece of me goes with him.
I take a shaky breath and head inside, locking the front door before moving to the couch.
My friends walk out of the kitchen with a platter of bonuts like they knew I’d need them and some sugar therapy tonight.
I’m not sure if cinnamon-sugar biscuit donuts will help my heavy heart, but they certainly won’t hurt.
Shayna sits beside me and rubs soothing circles on my back, reminding me of the way my mom used to help me fall asleep when I was younger. With a gentle voice, she asks, “How are you holding up, Mal?”
“It feels like my heart is breaking.” I take the tissue Kelsey extends to me and dab under my eyes.
Shayna gives my arm a reassuring squeeze. “Sometimes things need to break in order to shine.”
“Like what?”
“Glowsticks, for one.” She pauses. “Oh, and that thing where they take broken pottery and repair it with gold.”
“Kintsugi,” Alyssa says, like it’s a normal piece of information to know.
“Exactly.” Shayna makes a clicking sound with her tongue. “That’s all I can think of right now, but I’m sure there’s more.”
Alyssa takes a bite of a bonut. “Is it just that things feel more real now that Griffin’s leaving tomorrow? Or is there another reason your heart is hurting?”
I purse my lips. “I think a part of me wishes I could go with him.”
“Then go,” they say together, as if it’s the obvious solution.
I stare at them, slack-jawed. Is it that simple?
Can I leave my life behind and go with Griffin?
These are my girls, my soul sisters, but I know they’d gladly make room for Griffin and welcome him into our friend group with open arms. It’s a leap of faith, leaving everything I’ve ever known, but now that I’ve found the man that I want by my side forever, I think it’s a leap worth making.
“I think we broke her,” Kelsey mutters out of the side of her mouth.
I throw a decorative pillow at her head.
“But the kind of breaking that leads to something beautiful.” Shayna smiles.
“Kintsugi,” Alyssa says again, making me snort.
“I can’t just leave. I have my job.”
“Girl, you never take a personal day.” Kelsey grabs a bonut and drags it through the berry sauce before popping it in her mouth.
“Exactly.” Shayna nods. “Use up your vacation time and go be with your man.”
“You could stay out there with him for a little bit and then take some long weekends off to spend with him every few weeks.” Alyssa pulls her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
“What about y’all and my family?”
Kelsey pats my arm. “We’ll still be here when you get back. We’re talking seven days, not seven years.”
“And your family loves Griffin.” Alyssa offers me a bonut, and I nibble on it. “I ran into your mom at the grocery store this week, and she couldn’t stop talking about him.”
“Really?”
She nods. “I think Mrs. Porter would be mad if you didn’t go.”
They’re saying all the right things, but there’s one major piece of information we haven’t discussed.
“Okay, I get what y’all are saying, but Griffin didn’t ask me to go with him.” I purse my lips. “Well, I guess he told me that he wouldn’t ask me to come with him—he knows how much y’all, my family, and my job mean to me.”
“See.” Kelsey nudges my knee. “He wants you with him, but he’d never ask you to sacrifice your life to be in LA because that’s not who he is.”
“He loves you too much for that,” Shayna agrees.
They’re right. Griffin has done so much to show me how much he cares. I think it’s time that I show him just how much he means to me.
I jump off the couch and grab the bonuts.
“What are you doing?” Alyssa asks.
“I’m going to get my man.”
“Yeah, you are,” Shayna cheers.
“Why’d you take the bonuts?” Kelsey stands and grabs another one from the platter.
I head upstairs with my friends trailing behind me. “I’m going to need sustenance tonight if I’m going to stay up packing, emailing my principal, and preparing lesson plans for a sub.”
When I walk into my room and flick the light switch, I look around with wide eyes.
A warm vanilla-and-lavender-scented candle is burning, and there’s a bouquet of vibrant pink blooms on my nightstand next to a large Dr. Pepper from McDonald’s.
My pink suitcase is lying open on top of my bed, already half-filled with clothes.
Every little detail is a reminder of how well my girls know me and how lucky I am to have them as my best friends.
I turn around to find Shayna, Kelsey, and Alyssa wearing matching smiles.
“When did y’all do all this?” I ask.
“We divided and conquered while you were saying goodbye to Griffin,” Kelsey says.
Alyssa points to my laptop bag. “There’s a draft email in your notes on your computer for your principal, too.”
They spill into my room, pulling me into a group hug. I squeeze them tight. I’m not sure I’ve ever loved them more than I do at this moment. My girls. My family. They have been there for me through thick and thin, and I don’t want to think about what life would look like without them.
Speaking of, there’s also a certain man I can’t imagine my life without, and I can’t wait to see his face when I show up with my luggage tomorrow.
“Come on.” I grit my teeth and press my foot harder on the gas pedal as I tap the call button on my car dashboard screen again. “Pick up.”
The call to Griffin goes straight to voicemail. I huff as I press the end button on my steering wheel.
I didn’t account for rush-hour traffic when I set my alarm this morning.
And I definitely didn’t account for construction flaggers on the side road I tried to take as a shortcut.
It seems like the whole world is against me this morning, trying to ruin my grand gesture, but I refuse to let it. I’m going to make that plane.
A quick look at the clock says I might be too late. 7:58. He’s probably boarding the jet, if not already in the air.
I press my foot down harder, going well over the speed limit as I get closer to the private airstrip. If I get pulled over, hopefully the police officer will be understanding of chasing down true love. Maybe they’d even give me a police escort.
The stoplight I’m approaching turns red, and I hit the brakes.
“Shoot,” I hiss and tap my fingers against the steering wheel. “Come on. Come on.”
The second the light turns green, I hit the gas, speeding ahead. When the airstrip comes into view, I see a plane on the runway and my heart skips a beat. I wish with everything in me for it to be Griffin’s.
When I pull up to the gate, a man working the booth looks at me as I roll down my window. “Name?”
“Mallory Porter.”
His neutral expression flickers with something like surprise. “Can I see your ID?”
I glance at the plane, relieved to see it’s still there, before reaching over to the passenger seat and grabbing my wallet from my purse. My hand trembles as I pull out my driver’s license and hand it over.
He glances at it, then at me, before handing it back with a nod. The gate opens, and I fling my ID and wallet onto my passenger seat before speeding onto the tarmac. I’m almost to the jet when I see a figure move onto the plane’s airstairs.
A smile tilts my lips when I realize it’s Griffin. The kind of smile that hurts my cheeks, but I don’t care because I’m so happy.
I pull the car to a stop, hop out, and run toward him. As I approach the airstairs, he shouts three words: “Say ‘don’t go.’”
I stop at the bottom of the stairs, staring at Griffin. “This is supposed to be my grand gesture moment,” I huff.
But here he is, begging me to tell him not to go.
Griffin jogs down the steps to me. “You came.” His voice is husky and riddled with emotion.
“I couldn’t let you leave, not without me.”
Griffin takes a step closer, taking my hands in his. His eyes are alight with hope. “You’re coming with me?”
I nod. “But I have a question for you first.”
“Anything, beautiful.”
“Were you trying to make me admit that I love you by shouting Taylor Swift song lyrics at me?”
“That depends.” He shoots me a lopsided grin. “Did it work?”
“Mm-hmm.” I rise onto my tiptoes and give him a whisper of a kiss to leave him wanting more. “I love you, Griff.” My heart skips a beat as I wait for his response.
He cups my face in his hands, stroking a finger across my cheekbone. “I love you, Veronica Mallory Porter. More than I ever thought was possible to love another person. I can’t imagine a future without you in it.”
Griffin pulls my lips to his in a heated kiss. One that comes from knowing him. Loving him. One that ignites a fire in my belly and leaves me feeling lightheaded.
When I pull back, I’m lost in his eyes. “When did you know?”
“You had me at hello.”
“You’ve loved me since you met me?”
“Maybe love isn’t the right word.” Griffin’s eyes are full of desire, locked on my lips, but they become clearer when he meets my gaze.
“But I felt a pull toward you from the moment we locked eyes and first said hello. It was this innate feeling that you were meant to be part of my life, and now I know why.” He kisses my temple.
“Everything we told that magazine was true. You’re my soulmate, Veronica Mallory Porter.
Meeting you was inevitable. Kismet. Destiny.
Fate. It was always going to be you and me in the end. ”
“That sounds like a love declaration in a rom-com.”
“Except it’s better than any line that could ever be written.” He kisses me, pulling me into a love-induced haze.
I kiss Griffin back with all the fervor and love I feel for him. When we pull apart again, I put on a reporter voice. “Griffin Reynolds, what will you do now that you’ve got the girl?” I hold my fist out to him like it’s a microphone.
“I’m going to get on this jet with the woman I love and fly off into the sunset.” He wraps his arms around my waist and smiles that tilted grin I adore.
“It’s eight in the morning.” I laugh.
Griffin squeezes my side, making me giggle. “You know what I mean.”
After we park my car and load my luggage on the plane, I find myself once again sharing a leather recliner seat with Griffin.
We’re exactly where we want to be.
Wrapped in each other’s arms.
Irrevocably in love.
And I wouldn’t change a single thing about our journey because it led us to this moment. To each other. To a love that’s as sweet and steadfast as the man in front of me.
He was right. This feeling is better than anything that could ever be written or dreamed up.
Because this love is ours.