CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Breck
I kiss Rory’s shoulder, moving across the bare skin of her back until I reach her spine. My lips start a wandering path down each vertebra that’s on display for me and she shivers, a small sigh escaping her.
“Good morning, beautiful.” I make my way back up with slow precision, landing a kiss just below her ear. “I didn’t want to wake you, but I couldn’t help myself.”
She rolls over, bringing the sheet with her, and covers the expanse of skin I was enjoying.
“Hey! I wasn’t done,” I pout.
“Well now I’m awake and it’s my turn,” she says and presses me onto my back. Leaning on one elbow, she trails her hand down my chest and under the sheet. The muscles of my abdomen tighten as her fingers skate across each dip and valley, brushing down the dusting of hair there.
“Rory,” I grumble, a warning in my voice, because I won’t hold back if she keeps this up.
“Yes?” she says sweetly, like that’s what she’s hoping for.
“You’re playing with fire, baby.”
Her fingers move lower, making my breath catch when she whispers, “I’m not afraid of burning, not with you.”
I grab her wrist, flipping us with ease so she’s pressed beneath me. Every inch of my body lines up against every inch of hers. I don’t release her, lifting her arm over her head toward the headboard. Then I follow suit with the other until both her hands are held in one of mine. I smooth my thumb over the delicate underside of one wrist and she melts beneath me.
“I hope that’s true.” With my kiss, we catch fire and burn until there’s nothing left but sweat and panting breaths between us.
I didn’t want to leave the warmth of my bed with Rory held safe in my arms. But her excitement, and that of my daughter, to climb the monstrous metal bridge looming before us pulled me from it—reluctantly.
It was always the plan to climb the Harbour Bridge on Willow’s eighth birthday, but then we spent it in Tahoe. We haven’t prioritized going since being back. I’m glad for that now, because this is perfect. I have both my girls bouncing on their toes beside me, anticipation rolling off them as they look toward the bridge.
Wes and Joss sidle up to us with the guide who’ll take us to the top for the most stunning three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the city.
“Are you ready?” I ask Willow and she nods, blue eyes alight, dark pigtail braids trailing down her back. I ask Rory the same and she beams her brightest smile, pressing up onto her tennis shoe–clad toes to coast her lips over mine.
“I am.”
“Y’all are insufferable,” Wes says and laughter overtakes the group, including the guide.
We put on our climb suits and harnesses, and Wes and Joss take the lead, hooking in first with Willow, me, and Rory following after. It’s a two-hour journey to the top and back down now that we’ve completed all of our pre-climb prep.
The sun is shining, there’s little to no cloud cover, and there’s visibility for miles. There’s not much opportunity to talk, but that doesn’t stop Willow from trying. She squeaks excitedly and points out different parts of the city to those of us who can hear her.
We stop as a group to take pictures at the top. Rory was disappointed when they told her she couldn’t bring her camera up with her. In fact, we all had to empty our belongings into lockers at the base of the bridge because they can’t have anything falling from top. We’re going to have to trust the professionals stationed up here to capture the moment for us.
“Alright, can you gather the whole family together for this first one?” the photographer asks, and I look at the four people around me. They are my family. We squeeze in close and I stretch my arms across the back of the group, letting the feeling of rightness settle over me.
After our group picture, we all take some individual ones. When it’s just Rory and me left, I press my lips to hers then pull back a few inches, searching her face.
“I love you.” I breathe the words, only loud enough for her. My heart soars at her answering smile before she kisses me again.
“I love you too,” she whispers against my mouth, and I want to live forever in this moment. I’m literally on top of the world.
After our climb, Wes all but thrusts Rory’s suitcase at me, having packed it into the back of Joss’s car.
“No point in her sleeping on the couch at our place when there’s a perfectly good bed she can sleep in at yours,” he says with the all subtlety of a firework.
Willow’s excitement over the prospect of a sleepover with Rory is palpable, especially when she says, “It’s going to feel just like being back in Tahoe.”
Rory asking if she can tuck Willow in for bed after dinner is different than when we were in Tahoe, though. That was a boundary she never crossed even when we were living together, so her asking for this moment tonight gives me hope that the conversation we still need to have is going to go the way I want it to.
My heart squeezes as I watch them saunter back to Willow’s bedroom. I finish up with the dishes we left strewn on the table when we opted to fit in a couple rounds of Attack Uno before Willow’s bedtime.
Grabbing the woven blanket off the couch, I head for the back door. The telltale creak as I open it and the mesh of the screen pulling away from the frame feel nostalgic as I step onto the back porch.
I toss the blanket onto the double Adirondack chair I built a few years back and start stacking logs in the firepit. This is my favorite part of this house. It’s what I’ll miss most if—
I break the thought, not ready to fully go there yet. Rory and I need to talk first.
I look over my shoulder, still bent over the firepit, and find Rory unabashedly checking me out from the stairs.
“Like the view?” I quip.
“Oh, very much. The backyard is nice too.”
I laugh, deep and unencumbered.
She’s really here .
“Get over here, will you?” I say, bringing the flickering flame of the lighter to the wood and kindling. It catches and I stand only to find Rory right behind me. Her arms slide around my middle and I twist to face her, a smile brighter than the fire spread across her face. “Sit with me.”
The flames dance across her expression when she settles next to me.
“Like the view?” she mimics my question with a smirk when she catches me ogling her.
“Very much.” I lean into her space and brush my lips across hers, pulling back before we can go too far and I lose this opportunity to talk to her. “I meant what I said on the bridge.”
She moves back an inch, taking in the seriousness of my tone, my expression. Her smile doesn’t falter when she says, “I meant what I said on the bridge too.” Leaning to the side, she slides her legs into my lap so she’s facing me, giving me her undivided attention.
I clear my throat, emotion rising in me. “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t. I also wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t see a future for us. Not just for you and me, but for Willow as well. She’s my number one priority. She has to be.”
“I understand that. I do.” She nods, eyes never leaving mine.
I pull her hand into mine between us, rubbing small circles on her palm. “A future with me means a future as Willow’s mom.” I swallow, the magnitude of what I’m saying heavy between us. “I want that for her. You know I do, but I have to know you want that—that you want her as much as you want me . You’re twenty-seven, and though I’ve never felt like our age difference was an issue, I’d never want you to feel like you missed out on something or took on too much when you could’ve been wild and free.”
“Breck—” Rory attempts to interrupt.
I can’t stop though, needing these words out. “Wait. Please. If you need time to make sure this is what you want, that’s okay. I want you take it, because Willow and I are a package deal. I can’t see her in pain again. She’s already attached to you, and that scares me. She loves you, and I’m terrified to see her lose another person she loves. I won’t do that to her, so if a family—us—isn’t what you want—”
“Breck,” she cuts me off with a hand on my cheek, forcing me to look at her, to stop talking. “Do you think I came here without thinking about this? I’ve been looking at every angle for weeks now. Every variable. From the moment I realized nothing I had in Tahoe felt like it was worth anything when I didn’t get to share it with you, all I have done is think about this. Not just about you and me, but about Willow too.”
Her voice is soft but firm. She brings both her hands to squeeze mine on top of the blanket, holding me steady.
“I know you and Willow are a package deal. I know she’s your whole world. I know I have to be all in or all out. I’m telling you,” she says, releasing my hands and scooting closer, her own coming to frame my face, “I never would’ve gotten on that plane to come here if I wasn’t all in.”
My throat tightens and my eyes fill with tears. Dammit, she really has thought about this. I can’t speak so she does, wiping away a tear as it falls.
“I didn’t know how coming here would go. I wasn’t sure if I could trust what I believed to be true in my gut, in my heart. But I knew I’d regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t come and at least try to get what I wanted. You taught me that, to go for what I want. With Willow Tree Elopements, and with so much more. I owe you so much.”
I press forward to draw my lips across hers. “You don’t. That was a team effort. You deserve every ounce of your success. You always had it in you, you just had to find it. And god am I glad you did because it brought you here, to me.”
The next kiss is more insistent, everything clicking into place as I absorb everything she’s said. “If you’ve thought of everything, what do we do now?” I ask with a smirk against her lips.
“I think that’s a question for you and Willow. She deserves a say. I don’t know what it would look like, but I can move here if that’s what’s best for her, for you both.”
“Rory…” I say, overwhelmed by what she’s saying.
“No, don’t. I know what you’re going to say, but that option needs to be on the table. Especially for Willow. Her whole life is here.”
“It is, but you’ve just gotten your business up and running. You have that new contract. You can’t walk away from that.”
“I can if it’s what needs to happen for us to be together. I told you, none of it feels worth it if I don’t get to share it with you. We can rebuild Willow Tree Elopements here, find new contracts.”
I shake my head. I don’t want her to do that. I’m pretty sure I already know what Willow will say, but Rory’s right.
“Fine, that option is on the table, but go with me on this. If Willow is on board, we’ll move to Tahoe. You have a business there, one we can work at together. There’ll be a lot of logistics to figure out whichever way this goes, but I don’t expect you to give up your dreams for me and Willow, for us to be a family. I won’t let that happen.”
I slide my thumb across her cheek and she leans her head into my hand. I pull her forward so she slides farther into my lap.
“I love you, Rory. We’re going to find a way to make this work.”
“I love you both so damn much.”
The next kiss doesn’t end. It feels like it goes on all night. From the chair beside the fire, to the kitchen counter, to the bedroom. It’s a string of kisses that link together into the beginning of a future.
Breakfast in the morning is a family affair. I make the coffee, at Rory’s insistence, while she cooks bacon and directs Willow on how to make the pancakes. I was concerned she might be giving my eight-year-old a little too much free rein with the batter and skillet situation, but she only burned one. The first one, and even I can’t fault her for that. The first pancake is always a dud.
This kitchen hasn’t seen a Sunday morning breakfast filled with this much laughter, light, and love in a long time. Much longer than I care to admit. It feels like the mornings in Tahoe when we’d all move around each other, getting ready for the day, but the raw undercurrent of love is almost overwhelming now.
We’re all seated around the table when Willow, in true Willow fashion, breaks the ice with a question. “Are you two going to get married?”
I guess she’s not pulling any punches.
I spit my orange juice onto my empty plate and Rory inhales her coffee. She coughs and splutters for a minute, eyes watering. Willow looks between us like we’re misbehaving children.
I mop myself up, answering as I dab at my shirt. “Well.” I look at Rory and her eyes go wide. Neither of us expected this question, but she looks curious about what I’ll say. “We haven’t talked specifically about marriage, so I don’t have an answer for you on that one, Willow Bear.” I shoot Rory a wink. “But Rory and I do love each other. You were right about that.”
Rory looks between us, a small line between her brows.
“Willow knew before we did, or at least before I could admit it to myself,” I say to her, then turn back to Willow. “We want to be together, as a family. The three of us. How do you feel about that?”
My daughter jumps out of her chair and rushes for Rory, throwing her arms around her.
“Do we get to go back to Tahoe?” Willow asks. There’s a brightness in her eyes, exactly like I expected, even if it’s covered by tears. They’re tears of joy.
“We’re still figuring that out. We wanted to talk to you first, because as much as this decision is mine and Rory’s to make, it’s also yours. And—”
“I want to go back to Tahoe. Please, Daddy!” she begs, pulling on my hands now.
I laugh and so does Rory, then Willow joins in, and this feels like the first day of the rest of my life.