27. Hudson
CHAPTER 27
Hudson
I woke up to the feel of Sofia’s hair brushing against my chin, her steady breaths warm against my neck. For a moment, I just stayed still, holding her, letting the quiet morning settle around us.
Christmas morning.
It didn’t feel like it should, not after the night we’d had. But having her here, in my arms, safe and whole—that was more than enough.
She stirred, her fingers flexing slightly against my chest before her eyes fluttered open. When her gaze met mine, soft and warm in the pale morning light streaming through the curtains, something in my chest cracked wide open.
“Morning,” I murmured, brushing her hair away from her face.
“Morning,” she whispered, her voice still heavy with sleep. She shifted, sitting up slightly as she stretched. “What time is it?”
“Not sure. Early.” I didn’t move, not wanting to let go of the moment just yet. “Merry Christmas.”
“You, too.”
I picked up one of her hands and kissed her palm, mindful of the bandages on her wrists as well as the scratches from when she’d fallen. “How are you feeling?”
She glanced at me, her lips curving into a small smile. “Better than I expected. Sore, tired… but okay.”
I let out a slow breath, relief washing over me. “Good.”
For a while, we just stayed there, wrapped up in each other, neither of us in a hurry to move. But then Sofia tilted her head, her expression shifting into something thoughtful. “I want to go to the house,” she said softly.
My stomach tightened. “Sofia…”
She shook her head, sitting up fully now. “I know what you’re going to say, but hear me out.”
I propped myself up on one elbow, watching her. “I’m listening.”
“I meant what I said last night about how we define that place,” she said. “I want it to be what you intended it to be, and I don’t want to wait to make that happen.”
I sat up, running a hand through my hair as I tried to find the right response. “We don’t have to rush this. You’ve been through?—”
“I know,” she said, cutting me off with a hand on my chest. “Hudson, if I don’t do this now, if we don’t do this together, then Rex wins. And I can’t let that happen. I won’t.”
I stared at her, my heart swelling with something too big to name. She really was amazing. Brave, stubborn, so ridiculously strong.
“You really want to go?” I asked, my voice softer now.
She nodded, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “I do. With you.”
That settled it. If she said she was ready, she meant it. The last thing I wanted to do was tear away her agency. She knew her own mind. And if she was ready to go back to that house so we could claim it for ourselves, then so was I.
“All right,” I said, pushing back the covers and standing. “Let’s go.”
She slid out of bed, wrapping one of my flannels around herself before grabbing her shoes. I moved to the nightstand, opening the drawer and pulling out a small, velvet box. My fingers tightened around it briefly before I slipped it into my pocket.
Sofia glanced over at me, one eyebrow raised. “What’s that?”
“Nothing,” I said, a little too quickly.
Her eyes narrowed, but thankfully, she didn’t press. I wasn’t ready to explain—not yet.
When we were finished getting ready, I grabbed my jacket and held the door open for her, letting her step out into the hallway first. As I followed her out into the crisp morning air, my heart was racing in a way that had nothing to do with what had happened the night before.
This wasn’t how I’d planned to do it, but maybe that didn’t matter. My only goal had been to wait until there was no more danger looming over every bright moment we shared, and now? That box was checked.
And now that we were free, I wanted nothing more than to give her everything she deserved.
Including what was in my pocket.
The drive to the outskirts of town was quiet. Sofia kept her gaze out the window, her fingers lightly tapping against her thigh. But when we pulled up to the house, her hand found mine, and I brought it to my lips.
“You ready?” I asked against the back of her hand.
She inhaled deeply, then nodded. “Ready.”
We got out of the car and let ourselves in—with my key—and it struck me right away that the house looked different in the light of day. And, unfortunately, not in a good way. The scuffs on the floorboards, the peeling paint, the broken glass still scattered near the back door—they all stood out more starkly now.
But so did the potential. The way the sunlight filtered through the windows spoke of a space with good light, and the wide-open floor plan begged to be filled with laughter and life.
Sofia walked beside me, her hand in mine, her steps deliberate and sure. I didn’t say much as we moved through the house, letting her take it all in. But I watched her—closely. The way her eyes moved, the set of her jaw, the faint furrow in her brow. I was looking for signs that this was too much for her.
She stopped in the living room, turning a slow circle. “It’s bigger than I thought,” she said softly.
“Yeah?”
She nodded, her gaze lingering on the window that faced the front yard. “It’s beautiful, Hudson. Even like this.”
“It’ll be better,” I promised. “Once it’s finished, once it’s ours…”
“It already feels like it is.” She turned to me, her eyes meeting mine. “Even now.”
My fingers tightened around hers. “Are you sure about this? About… making new memories here? Because if it feels?—”
Her expression softened, and she reached up with her free hand, brushing her fingers over my cheek. “I’m sure. It’s hard, yeah. I won’t pretend it’s not. But every second I spend in here with you—looking at it now, fixing it up, making it ours—it’ll erase those few minutes I spent being scared.”
I blew out a breath, shaking my head as I stared down at her. “You’re incredible, you know that?”
Her lips curved into a faint smile, and her only response was a brief kiss.
“Come on,” I said, taking her hand and stepping back. “There’s something I want to show you.”
I led her toward the back of the house, past the kitchen, before carefully stepping through the back door. She stopped at the threshold of the screened-in porch, her eyes widening as she really took it in for the first time.
“This,” I said, gesturing to the space around us, “is going to be that library I told you about. Your library. We’ll close it in, add some insulation, and put in floor-to-ceiling shelves. Maybe a cozy chair in the corner and a little fireplace…”
She tore her gaze from the space to focus on me, her eyes shining.
I lifted my chin. “This is your space, Sofia. Your retreat. Your sanctuary.”
Her breath hitched, and she took a step closer, her free hand resting lightly against my chest. “This is the best Christmas present ever.”
“Better than the suitcase full of books?”
She chuckled. “Yes, but now I know where I’ll put them all.”
“Fair point.” I reached into my pocket, my heart pounding as I pulled out the small velvet box. “And, at the risk of turning our lives into a walking Hallmark Christmas movie, here’s another present.”
Her lashes fluttered as she looked down at the box in my hand. And when I lowered myself down to one knee and into her line of sight, the impact of her watery smile almost kept me from saying what I had to say.
“As soon as I bought this house, I made a plan to do this right here, in this exact spot. This morning, before you asked me to come here, I was trying to figure out where to do it instead. But then you reminded me—again—that every dark thing has a bright side, and I knew I had to stick to my original plan.”
She pursed her lips, nodding in a way that told me she was glad I had.
“Sofia.” I opened the box, revealing the vintage ring nestled inside. “Will you marry me?”
For a moment, she just stared at me, her hand pressed to her mouth. Then she nodded again as a soft, breathless laugh escaped her lips. “Yes.”
Relief and joy flooded through me in equal measure, and I slid the ring onto her finger. The moment it was in place, I pulled her against me, holding her close as her arms wrapped tightly around my neck.
Her lips found mine, and the kiss was everything—soft, sweet, and full of that fiery strength that flowed through her veins.
I pulled back just enough to look into her eyes as I cupped her face. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispered, her smile brighter than I’d ever seen it.