Chapter 52
Lily immediately leapt out of Del’s taxi and ran towards Ben’s car which was now stricken in the middle of the pond.
She hoped he hadn’t been hurt in the accident and was grateful to see him push open the driver’s door and jump out of the car.
He leapt straight into the mud but didn’t seem at all concerned nor thankfully hurt either.
‘Are you OK?’ she said, rushing across to stand on the bank in front of him. ‘Are you hurt?’
‘I’m fine,’ he replied, staring up at her with a confused look. ‘I thought you’d left!’
‘I came back,’ she told him, with a tremulous smile.
‘Why?’ he asked, his look filled with nerves and uncertainty.
‘Because I can’t leave you,’ she told him, with a sob. ‘Because I love you.’
Finally he broke into a relieved smile. ‘And I love you too. Does this mean you’re staying?’
She nodded. ‘Definitely,’ she replied.
‘Good because I think my feet are really stuck,’ he told her, glancing down at his bogged-down trainers.
Lily couldn’t help but laugh. ‘That’s great news,’ she told him.
‘It is?’ He looked bemused at her happy expression.
‘Because it means I can do this,’ she said.
She stepped back and took a leap across the pond where, thankfully, she felt his arms reach out to catch her.
Somewhere in the background, she thought she heard Del whoop with joy and then the sound of running getting further away.
She looked up into Ben’s face, his brown eyes so close that she could see the love in them staring back at her.
‘You know, I have a confession to make,’ she told him. ‘I think I really did need saving all those months ago when we met. You know, when I was the one stuck in the pond.’
‘Perhaps we saved each other,’ he replied, in a soft tone.
‘For what?’ she murmured as he kissed her gently on the lips.
‘For the future,’ he whispered against her lips. ‘Our future. Together.’
There was no talking for quite some time after that as he kissed her and she forgot everything else but him. Finally they drew apart.
‘Thank God you came back,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure that I could have dared to imagine a life without you.’
‘I was so stupid,’ she said, rolling her eyes at herself.
‘Just ambitious,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘And there’s nothing wrong with that. You’ve still got dreams that you want to fulfil.’
‘But they were different ones to what I had said out loud. Anyway, I had to come back,’ she told him. ‘I realised everything I ever wanted was right here. With you. I’ve travelled the world over but nowhere has ever felt more like home. This place is magical.’
‘Yes, it is,’ he replied. ‘But it’s you that makes it special for me. It’s you that gives it the magic.’
‘And you’re the magic right here for me too,’ she told him, reaching out to stroke his face. ‘And I want to stay here. In this hotel. With you. I want to grow old here. Have our family here. Everything. All of it. All that life can offer.’
‘This place is yours now as well,’ he said, holding her close. ‘I can see it everywhere, in each room, in the whole feel of the place. It’s yours.’
‘Ours,’ she reminded him.
‘Ours,’ he repeated with a loving smile. ‘You know, when I sent out my lantern across the lake, I wished for you.’
‘And I wished for you right back,’ she told him.
‘So the magic really does work,’ he said, with a soft laugh.
‘It truly does,’ she said, drawing his head down to hers once more.
As they kissed, she could hear the Jackson family in the background growing closer, a joyful throng as they realised that she had returned to them and what it meant for the future.
When Lily drew back, she looked up at Ben.
‘I love you,’ she told him. ‘And I will never ever stop loving you.’
‘I love you too. Welcome home,’ he said, bending his head to close the distance between them once more.
And she knew that she was home. Forever.