Chapter 24
That night, we dressed up for dinner. I slipped into my freshly dry-cleaned gown and left the French one hanging in my closet. I wasn’t sure I’d ever wear it again. I always thought I’d love elegant French clothing, but my original gown felt more like me than anything I’d worn there. Besides, in this dress, it was hard to forget how the rain had dripped down Hunter’s forehead as we ran along the cobblestone streets. Since I no longer had Hunter, I would have to cling to the memories we’d made together.
Jillian styled my long hair in loose waves with a braid crown that made me feel like a princess. She even loaned me a pair of diamond earrings to complete the ensemble. At dinner, she showed us the videos she’d posted online. While I’d expected to feel emptier experiencing those moments again, I loved seeing the city from Jillian’s perspective. It felt far more like the innocent moments I’d wanted for myself. Knowing she had a good time made me smile, especially when my youngest sister dared to try escargots on a dare.
I much preferred being on the other side of the camera this time.
“I still don’t see why we had to dress up on our first night,” Alexis grumbled during dessert. She wore a simple sleeveless black dress that ended at the knee. The low hum of gentle conversation and silverware scraping plates filled the giant room and the smell of roasted meat and baked bread filled the air.
“These ships run in a constant loop and pick up passengers at every port,” I told her. “It’s our first night, but for another group, it could be their third. Or their last.”
She frowned. “I know. It’s just that I wanted to do the zip line in a couple of hours, and now I’ll have to change first.”
“Not necessarily,” Jillian said innocently. “I’m sure the men on board would be plenty happy if you flew through the air wearing that.”
Alexis swatted at her arm, and we laughed.
“Speaking of men,” Jillian said. “I heard there’s a fun club on board. Let’s go there afterward. I bet the both of you that you can’t get a guy to buy you a drink.”
Alexis cocked an eyebrow. She loved a good competition. “How much?”
“Fifty bucks.”
“You’re on.”
I smiled at my sisters, feeling a warmth in my chest. A week into our trip, they were better friends than ever. Maybe Grandpa knew something we didn’t.
“You go ahead,” I told them. “I want to explore the ship a bit.”
My sisters walked away together. I turned toward the doors, but then Alexis hurried back and blocked my exit. There was a light in her eyes that I hadn’t seen there in awhile.
She gave me a stern look. “Just so you know, you’ll want to keep your bags packed. Jillie and I are taking you straight to the airport in Rome as soon as we arrive, and we won’t take no for an answer.”
“Lexi,” I breathed. “Not a chance. You need that inheritance.”
“With Dad’s guilt money? I traveled the world, and I still have over half of it left. I’m good. Jillie and I will finish off the last three weeks and send you photos to make you jealous. Don’t worry about a thing.”
“But—”
“Not. A. Thing.” My sister winked and strode away.
Four million dollars each. People killed for less than that. Didn’t they know what they were giving up? I couldn’t possibly accept their offer. I would never forgive myself if I stole their happiness while searching for my own. There was no guarantee Hunter would forgive me if I showed up on his doorstep, either.
But if I didn’t try, could I ever forgive myself?
I had no answer to that.
A few minutes later, I found myself at the very front of the ship. I felt sorely tempted to lean my stomach against the rail, fling my arms out, and shout, “I’m the queen of the world!” But that would mark me as a tourist for sure, and an American, no less. Besides, I had something important to do, and it couldn’t wait .
I pulled up a lounge chair and connected to the ship’s Wi-Fi. Then I sent Claude an email, short and sweet.
Hey, Claude, thanks for helping me find a place and for showing me around Paris. That apartment in your neighborhood is beautiful, but I need to use the deposit money elsewhere. I’m letting the contract lapse. I know you’ll find the right client for it.
~Kennedy Travell
My email signature usually added a heart emoji after my name, but I hit backspace to delete it. The last thing I wanted was for him to start sending texts full of romantic sonnets or something. A quick click, and it was sent.
Then I sat back and stared into the deep darkness of the ocean, searching my heart. Giving up that place in Paris felt like the end of a childhood dream but the beginning of a new one. As grand as this vacation already felt, I couldn’t deny the longing in my chest. I missed home.
Everything had changed, yet somehow, nothing had. My sisters and I were close again, Hunter was home, and I’d be home soon enough. The broad sky above looked exactly the same as the night of graduation, when we sat on his quilt and almost kissed. Minus the comet, of course. We’d have to wait another century and a half for that.
But Alexis loved her work in Colorado and wanted to go back to it. Jillian wanted to live in a big city. As for myself, I really only wanted the comfort of the home my mom created for her daughters. I wanted to raise my own children in the same home I’d grown up in, with Hunter at my side.
My sisters’ offer was unthinkable. Preposterous. Downright impossible.
And the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me .
I paused in the act of putting away my phone, then pulled it out again. My last text from Hunter had been a selfie he shared of us standing in front of the Paris Opera House. My face glowed with happiness as I stood in his arms. If I had any happily-ever-after moments in my lifetime, that was a big one.
Not happiness at being in Paris, or happiness in having the perfect relationship, but happiness in being myself, utterly and entirely, and caring for my best friend in all his imperfect, real Hunter-ness. And happiness at being loved for who I was.
Happiness wasn’t found abroad, in distant cities like Paris or anywhere else. It was found with the people I loved. It was like that line from Les Miserables, highlighted in Hunter’s copy.
The supreme happiness in life is the assurance of being loved; of being loved for oneself, even in spite of oneself.
Hunter loved all of me—the sunny lily pads and the chilly winters alike. He’d seen me at my worst and still chosen to love me. And I could say the same about him.
I’d made my decision, I realized, and it felt exactly right.
I grabbed my phone and found Hunter’s sister’s profile online, searching for the post about their dad. It took only a moment to find the donation link and select the Anonymous option.
A quick transfer and it was done. I couldn’t give more without an inheritance, but at least it was something.
Then I pulled up Hunter’s name, my fingers flying over the keys.
There’s nothing in the world more important than being with you right now. I’m coming. It will take me a couple of days, but I’ll be there .
I added a heart emoji and sent it before I could think twice.
All the breath in my lungs left at once as I sighed in relief. I loved my sisters, and I loved Hunter, and I would do anything it took to keep all three.
A familiar tune drifted across the night air, bringing my mind back to the Paris Opera House. A melody from the romantic scene in Phantom , when Raoul urged Christine to reject the Phantom and choose him. One of my favorite scenes. Random that I would hear it on a cruise ship, though. They usually played happy, upbeat tunes, not melancholy, soul-searching ballads.
The music grew louder, and I realized someone played it in real time, though it sounded a little off, a little “plucky”? The notes were right, but the overall tone felt way too happy. Like a sad, longing melody turned happy while sipping margaritas on a beach in a tropical paradise. A ukulele instead of a guitar?
I whirled to find a figure moving my way in the darkness, a lean, tall figure with an unmistakable floppy hairstyle holding what indeed looked like a ukulele. The dramatic, romantic song felt ridiculous played on such a happy, plucky instrument.
“I’m afraid I can’t accept your offer,” Hunter said, pausing the music to hold up his phone. “Your leaving now would be rather unfortunate after everything I’ve done to get here.”
“Hunter,” I breathed as we stood looking at each other in the dim light at the front of a massive cruise ship on the open ocean. I had a hundred questions, but one stood out more than the others. “Why the uke and not your guitar? ”
“Couldn’t fit the guitar in my suitcase.” He fought a smile and lost, letting a sheepish grin cross his face.
I folded my arms, the night feeling surreal once more. “You’re supposed to be on a plane home.”
“Dad woke up, and he’s recovering. As far as they can tell, he’s retained all his verbal, mental, and physical acuity except for some of the feeling in one pinky finger. They say he’ll be able to come home soon. He’ll need a few weeks to recover at the very least, so I talked my sister into handling the first shift and told her I’d come in about a week.”
“But how did you find us? I never told you where we were going.”
His grin widened. “You know my mom and Eleanor VanGardsen are best friends, right? They tell each other everything.”
“Eleanor, Grandpa’s attorney?” She told her about our trip? But then it made sense. We were sworn to secrecy, but not Eleanor. And with Hunter’s mom being the gossip queen of the town, our secret was bound to come out sooner or later.
“The trip, the inheritance, everything. I became aware of it only a few hours after you left Paris. I never would have asked had I known what you would have to give up. Of course you need to stay with your sisters. There’s no question. I’m awed you even considered turning that down.”
I steeled myself and looked into his eyes. “I put a deposit down on a townhouse in Paris.”
“I know, and I’ll never stand in your way when it comes to following your dreams. We’ll figure it out.”
“I canceled it.”
He blinked. “You . . . what?”
“I mean, I do love Paris. It’s charming and beautiful, and I hope I can go back. But love means knowing where your heart is, and my heart isn’t there. It never was. It took traveling there to see that.” I took the ukulele from Hunter’s hands, lifted the shoulder strap over his head, and set the instrument on a lounger. Then I took his hands in mine. “Hunter, my heart is at home, where my family lived and where my mom spent her last days. It’s with my sisters, one of whom I’ve already wasted too much time living without. It’s with the town that helped raise me and the neighbors I care about. One in particular.”
I lifted a hand to touch the face I knew so well, and I sensed a shudder run through him.
“A lovesick idiot who’s tired of waiting for the girl he’s loved for over a decade?”
I shrugged. “Actually, it’s this neighbor who’s in the hospital right now. But I think he’ll be fine.”
A deep chuckle rumbled through his chest, but he managed to keep it inside. Even in the dim light, I saw the pain etched into every line of his face. I wanted to kiss each one away.
“Kennedy Travell,” he whispered. “I’ve spent the past few years trying desperately to find someone who can replace you. I’ve tried to distract myself, to forget you, even hate you. But my fate was set that day your family moved next door. I knew you were the only one for me when we almost kissed under the stars on the night of graduation, and I know it even more now. I moved half a world away to escape you, and I’ll travel around it ten times to find you, but I can’t live without you. Please. If you don’t feel the same, put this man out of his misery for good.”
I took a step forward until only a hair’s breadth lay between us. I could sense the mint on his breath and smell his old cologne. I wanted to enjoy the intoxicating combination forever.
Leaning forward until our lips practically touched, I finally spoke “One condition.”
He looked like a man under a spell. “Anything.”
“Put a plate of frogs in front of me again, and I really will throw it in your face.”
Hunter swept me into his arms, dipped me like a movie star, and kissed me until I couldn’t remember my name. A moment later, we were upright and wrapped in each other’s arms in the dark, our lips engaged in a dance older than time.
Here, in the middle of an ocean in a place I couldn’t even pinpoint and surrounded by strangers yet somehow unbelievably in the arms of the man I’d loved for longer than I could remember, I finally felt at home.