Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Hallie
I t’s almost ten o’clock by the time I slide back into Ben’s car after shoving the biggest stuffed monkey I have ever seen into the backseat.
“You know, you didn’t have to pick the biggest prize. A smaller one would have been just fine.”
“When we were kids all you wanted was one of the huge stuffed animals from the Shooting Gallery, but we could never win one, no matter how hard we tried. If you think I would pass up an opportunity to win you one now, you’re out of your mind.”
He leans over me and clicks my seatbelt into place again, kissing my forehead before closing my door and getting in on his side. After eating all the french fries in the entire park, we chased them with ice cream and a funnel cake—because nothing says revisiting childhood memories like eating like ten-year-olds. Uncomfortably full and slightly nauseated, we walked around the old games for a while, playing whatever looked interesting. But when we got to the Shooting Gallery, Ben got all one-track mind and shocked everyone when he actually won, hence the massive pink monkey currently sitting in the back seat. I’ve been ribbing him about it ever since, even though I secretly love it.
“Thanks for this, Ben. This has been the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
“Anything for you, Hal. But the night’s not over yet. We have one more stop to make.”
We drive out of the park and back the way we came, but instead of taking the turn that would take us to my house, he gets on the Parkway headed towards downtown. Weird. He takes the Carson Street exit, and before I know it, we’re parking right in front of the entrance to the Duquesne Incline. I turn to him, confused.
“The Incline, seriously?”
He just winks at me. “The Incline. Seriously.” He hits the button to unbuckle my seatbelt and comes around to open my door. He takes my hand, and we head into the lower station. I am instantly filled with nostalgia. The Incline is a cable car that goes up and down Mt. Washington. It has been around since the eighteen hundreds and is as much a symbol of Pittsburgh as three rivers, golden bridges, and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood . I came to the incline on countless school trips as a kid and even rode a few times as a teenager just for fun. But like Kennywood, it’s been years since I sat in one of the red wooden trolley cars. Ben pays our fare, and we enter one of the cars. He sits down first and pulls me into his lap.
“We’re the only ones in here, you know. Plenty of seats.”
He just wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me back against his chest. “I like you close to me.”
Well, okay then. “Benji, you are positively swoony.”
“Only for you, Hal.” He whispers into my ear, and goosebumps erupt all over my arms. Something he absolutely does not miss. I can practically feel his smirk against the back of my head.
The incline starts to move, rising up Mt. Washington. The higher we get, the more the view opens up in front of us, and five minutes later, we’re at the top. Ben takes my hand, and I follow him out of the trolley and into the upper station.
“So, are you going to tell me what we’re doing up here?”
“Come with me.” He leads me out of the station and over to the observation deck. No matter how many times I have seen it, the view at night takes my breath away. From up here, downtown Pittsburgh stretches out in front of us, the city lights casting their glow over the three rivers and the fountain at Point State Park, where the rivers meet. We have a perfect view of the golden bridges stretching across the rivers, the illuminated buildings, and the stadiums, empty of people at this late hour.
Ben pulls me in front of him and crowds against my back. His hands rest on the observation deck fence on either side of me, caging me in. I lean my head back against his chest and take in the view.
“This is what we’re doing here,” he says. “The view. I just…needed to see it.” His voice drops at the end until it’s practically a whisper. I turn to look at him, curious. But then he keeps talking.
“I haven’t let Stonegate know yet that I’m turning down the deal. I don’t want that life, but there’s a tiny piece of me that wonders what it would be like. So, before I turn it down, I wanted to come up here and look at the view. I have lived in Pittsburgh my whole life. I grew up here and went to college here and started my business here. And I thought that maybe if I came up here, I could quiet that tiny bit of wondering.”
I turn in the circle of his arms so I can see his face. “And?”
“Fuck, this view. It reaches in and grabs me by the chest every single time. I can look at this view—at the rivers and the bridges and the shape of the skyline—and understand everything about myself. This is my place. This city. This view. It’s a part of me. It’s buried deep in my soul. I’m a Pittsburgh boy, Hallie, and I don’t want to be anything else. There’s no part of me that needs anything different than what I have right here, on the banks of these three rivers. I’m calling Stonegate tomorrow.”
Emotion swamping me, I stand on my tiptoes and pull Ben’s mouth to mine. His lips are soft and warm. And when he takes my face in both of his hands, his mouth moving softly over mine, I feel it straight down to my toes. The kiss is soft and sweet, and when he pulls away, he leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead, hands still cupping my face. Then he wraps his arms around me and tucks my body into his. I circle my arms around his waist, and he turns us so we can look out over the rivers together. I feel safe in his arms as the warm summer breeze swirls around us, content right down to the tips of my toes.
“Thank you for coming with me. I needed you here with me for this. I just…need you.”
My heart squeezes at his words. “You have me.”
“You’re a part of it too, you know.”
“A part of what?”
“A part of this life. My life. The one I see when I look at this view. The only life I want. It might be too soon to say this, but I hope maybe one day it can be our life. That we can live it and build it together.”
God, this man. This sweet, kind, big-hearted man. He came to me with his heart in his hands at the exact time I needed him. And it feels like it was supposed to be this way all along. He has always been there when I needed him, and I’m glad I can be that for him, too. His arms tighten around me as he leans down and presses another kiss to the top of my head. My body explodes with warmth, and butterflies swarm in my stomach, and it’s all so clear to me. Standing there wrapped around each other, high above the city we both love, staring out at the fountain and the bridges and the city lights, I slide gently into love with my best friend. And it feels so completely right. Ben is it for me. It was always going to be us. Hallie and Ben. We are the most perfect fit.
“It’s not too soon,” I whisper to him. And then I burrow deeper into his hold, and I let myself dream a little about a shared life with Ben and everything the future holds.