Chapter 44
FORTY-FOUR
REID
I spring up awake, sweaty, my heart racing. I panic and close my eyes. Please, please don’t let that be a cruel sex dream. Please let her be next to me. Please, please, please. I plead to the dream gods, and the hand on my back jolts me out of my chant.
“Hey, are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?” I turn to see Annika curled up under the sheets, her hair sticking in a hundred different directions and her eyes looking like she could use another hour of sleep.
She’s radiant, a perfect angel in bed next to me.
She’s better than any dream I’ve ever had.
“No, not a bad dream. It wasn’t a dream at all.” I curl back next to her and pull her to my chest. This is real. She still has the necklace draped around her neck. The necklace that’s haunted me for years is finally where it’s meant to be.
We turn to face the window, watching the waves crash on the sea from our bed.
I recognize how the beach has brought us closer together once again.
Maybe one day we’ll move closer to the ocean.
So we can walk to the beach every morning.
Or get coffee and share a breakfast sandwich while watching the waves.
I see our entire future, and instead of pushing it away, I let it flow through, squeezing her tighter. This is real.
Everything happens for a reason. I replay the words Anni told me yesterday.
I’ve struggled for so long about how I could have changed the path of my life.
I wanted to prevent ever being heartbroken.
I wanted to grow up with a mom. I wanted to not move so much as a kid.
I wanted to not fall so hard for her over and over.
But with her in my arms, watching the ocean, I realize it’s all meant to be.
Every bump and pain. Every belly laugh and every tear-drenched pillow.
It was all worth it, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.