Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Three months.
That’s how long it had been since she’d stepped off the plane from Raiatea in Tahiti and boarded the next one back to the States. The heat of the island air was still clinging to her skin, her suitcase was still full of sand-dusted clothes and her heart was still cracked wide open.
Russ had texted her the day after she’d gotten back.
I didn’t get fired. I’ll be finishing out my contract here.
That was all. A simple confirmation that he still had his job.
She’d replied, relief flooding her veins. I’m so glad to hear it. I hope everything works out for you. I hope you find what you’re looking for.
And that had been it.
She hadn’t texted again. Hadn’t asked where he was going next, or whether he’d ever make it back to the States.
He’d told her they were done, and as much as it gutted her, she’d respected that.
She wasn’t the kind of woman who begged.
She wouldn’t chase a man who’d drawn the line so clearly, even if he’d broken her heart in the process.
Still, not a day had gone by that she didn’t wonder. Had he found another job? Renewed his contract in French Polynesia? Or had he landed somewhere else? Had he moved on as easily as he said he would?
It was even possible he’d found someone else by now. Planning a life together.
Someone who wasn’t her.
It seemed she’d been right, after all. That this had just been a blip on the radar of her life. A moment. A love story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. And now, it felt almost like a dream.
Paradise. She’d found it. And she’d lost it.
Tessa was working hard—taking on new clients, growing her portfolio, keeping herself booked solid.
Distraction was her best friend. The girls had helped too.
Marin especially. They’d had movie nights, gone to dinner—all of them, spent hours at the beach on the weekends, helping her mend her broken heart. But it never really took the edge off.
Because everything reminded her of Russ.
He hadn’t just been some boyfriend. He was the one who’d made her see things differently. Who’d made her want to try harder, live braver. Who’d opened her world up instead of shrinking it down to something safe and small.
How did someone go back to indifference after that?
She stood in her bedroom now, tying her sneakers. Her gaze landed on the dresser .
Two tropical-themed picture frames stood side by side.
In one: the girls on the boat, all smiles and sunsets behind them. That had been her thirtieth birthday. She could still hear their laughter.
In the other: the group photo from the hike, all nine of them crowded together in front of the ridiculously green, lush mountains. Russ was in that one.
She hadn’t been able to display the photo of just the two of them at the dinner dance. That one stayed hidden—tucked behind the group shot, safe but out of sight.
The shell necklaces he’d given her were draped casually over the edge of the frame. She’d tried putting them in a drawer once, but it felt wrong. So they’d stayed there. Two bittersweet reminders that didn’t ache quite as much to look at as she thought they would.
She exhaled slowly.
No tears today. She didn’t cry anymore. Not really.
She tied the last loop on her sneaker and grabbed her keys.
She needed air.
Running helped. Exercise helped. It wasn’t magic, but it kept her moving. And movement, she hoped, would one day mean forward.
She stepped outside and shut the door behind her, locking it with a soft click.
The sun was low in the sky, but she still had some time before it dropped below the horizon.
Would he ever come back ?
She didn’t know.
But she was doing her best to live like it wasn’t the only question that mattered?
That she was.
The forest-green Jeep rattled a little as Russ killed the engine.
He gave the steering wheel one final pat—grateful the thing had made it from the Gulf Coast where his brother lived, to Miami, in one piece.
After all these years, after all those miles, it was back in his hands because his brother was a stand-up guy who’d always promised to give it back if Russ ever came home to stay.
The old Jeep had seen better days, for sure. But it was his again.
And so was the chance he wasn’t sure he deserved. Because, for all he knew, she might’ve taken comfort in the arms of her ex as soon as she’d returned from the trip. He was fully prepared for that possibility even as he gathered his things from the center console.
Russ slammed the door shut, locked the Jeep, then looked up at the building in front of him.
Stuccoed and pale peach, with palms swaying lazily beside balconies wrapped in wrought iron.
A narrow walkway lined with bougainvillea led to an open-air stairwell that branched toward quiet apartment doors.
Neither high-end nor run-down—just… nice. Comfortable. Clean. It fit her.
He ran a hand over the back of his neck.
Four months and five days .
Not that he was counting.
She’d given him her address when she’d given him her number. “If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me…”
He hoped she still meant it. Because he’d held onto that little piece of hope like it was a lifeline. Thought about it a hundred times. Wondered if he’d waited too long.
But here he was.
On the other side of the world, standing in front of Tessa’s apartment building.
Maybe it was crazy.
He’d only known her for eight days. Four months ago. But those eight days had changed him from someone who’d been damaged, closed-off, and lost, into someone who was ready to start over. Live again. Love again.
And no one else, since he’d left this state—this city, this beautiful country of his, heartbroken, all those years ago—had ever made him feel that way. And the four months since he’d lost her had only made it clearer.
He climbed the stairs slowly, heart pounding, every step echoing the nerves that jilted around inside him, until he found the right door. Apartment 3B. His hand lifted, hovered anxiously, then knocked.
The knock was so unexpected that for a second, Tessa thought she’d imagined it .
She crossed the small living room in a red cotton top, denim shorts, and her favorite black flip flops, which she’d changed into after work today. She peered through the peephole.
Then she blinked, inhaling sharply. And then her heart slammed against her ribs.
Was that… Russ? Her mind raced. She squinted and looked again. She was seeing things, wasn’t she? She’d conjured the love of her life magically to appear outside her door, and now she was seeing his image in the wide-angle view through the little round lens. She shook her head, her pulse racing.
Her hand went for the knob, and slowly, she opened the door.
He stood there, hair a little longer, face a little more sun-kissed, just as gorgeous as ever.
But completely real.
“Hey,” he said, his smile cautious.
Her eyes were wide, disbelieving. How could he be standing there now, in front of her, in the flesh?
Silence. Because Tessa literally couldn’t speak.
Then, “Is this… a bad time?”
She shook her head, forcing herself to snap out of it. “No. No, of course not,” she said, still stunned, but where were her manners? She opened the door wider. “Hi. Come in. Please.”
She stepped aside, voice barely steady as she shut the door behind him. How long was he here? Why was he here?
Her apartment suddenly looked like a disaster. Mail, receipts, and a half-unpacked bag from the hardware store for her latest home-decorating project littered the kitchen counter. Her running shoes were by the door, a sweatshirt draped over the back of the couch.
She hadn’t been expecting company—let alone… him. She couldn’t peel her eyes away, taking in the firm ridges of his muscular chest beneath the collared white shirt he wore.
He tucked his hands into the front pockets of his khaki shorts and looked around. “You’ve got a nice place here.”
She swallowed, her eyes still glued on him. “I would’ve cleaned up if I knew you were coming,” she said quickly, brushing a set of keys aside. And then a stack of mail, her pulse skittering.
She wasn’t thinking straight, anxiously busying herself with unimportant things while she waited for him to explain why he was here.
He turned to her. “Tessa, it’s me. You don’t have to clean up for me.”
It was him, wasn’t it? Russ. Her Russell. He was here. She took a deep breath and let it out, a range of emotions still flooding her.
But she didn’t want to get her hopes up.
She had to know what this was about. “So… you’re back for a visit.
I’ll bet your parents are happy about that?
It’s a good time of year to come back. The weather’s been really mild…
” The words were just dribbling out of her mouth now.
She felt like a bundle of nerves. “How long are you in town?”
He met her gaze, steady now, and took a step toward her. “As long as they’ll have me. ”
Her heart skipped a beat. What was he talking about? “Who’s they?”
He grinned. “My new bosses. Key Biscayne Fleet. I took a job here.”
“You did what?” Her voice cracked with surprise and something dangerously close to hope. Did this mean…?
He nodded. “Started last week. Training’s done. I take my first charter out next Friday. Five days to the Keys. After that, to the Bahamas, sometimes. Depends on the season.”
She blinked. “So…” She almost couldn’t mouth the words. “You’re… working here now?”
He nodded.
She was almost too scared to ask. “And you’re… staying?”
His lips parted. “Yeah.” The words came out softly. “I’m staying.”
Tessa inhaled. The tears of joy came too fast to stop. She threw her arms around him before she could talk herself out of it. His arms wrapped tightly around her, grounding her like nothing else had in months.
“I missed you,” he murmured. “I missed you so much.” His voice broke as she ran her hands through his hair, across his shoulders. The same strong, capable shoulders she remembered. This was almost too good to be true.
He was really here. This was Russ, in the flesh. The man she’d wept over, missed, pledged her heart to. Wished things could’ve been different with, every night since she’d left him in Tahiti. And he was staying ?
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Tess’, I couldn’t breathe without you.”
She pulled back, her breath catching. “I didn’t mean to wait for you, Russ. You told me not to. But I didn’t want anyone else. Not when all I could think about was you. So, if you’re just here to say hello and be on your way again, I need to know now. I can’t… I can’t go through that again.”
He took her face gently in his hands. “I’m not here just to say hi.”
Then he lowered his head with a gentle gaze at her and met her lips. And she let him kiss her—soft and slow, like he had all the time in the world.
“I’m here,” he said, his forehead against hers, “because I love you.” They’d sat on her sofa for an hour, talking, catching up, holding each other, laughing, crying.
But Tessa gasped, her eyes filling again at his words.
“I love you, Tessa. I should’ve said it back then, on the island, when you said it to me. I loved you then. And I love you now. But I was scared back then, and I was stupid. I didn’t know what to do with something that felt so real when I knew you were leaving.”
This time, he was going all-in. He wasn’t going to lose her again.
He moved from the sofa and dropped to one knee.
Tessa sat up, and her hands flew to her mouth.
Yes, he’d surprised her. He’d been too afraid to give her fair warning, in case she might not agree to see him. It was cowardly—maybe—or it was fearless, reckless, even? Because sometimes, fearlessness was needed.
Before his nerves got the better of him, he pulled the small black box from his pocket that he’d stuffed there just hours ago. Then he opened it.
A pear-shaped diamond ring sparkled from inside, round on one side and pointed on the other, creating a stunning asymmetrical design, at least as far as he was concerned. Tessa’s eyes widened again. He smiled as she stared at him, speechless.
“I don’t want to do anything else in this life without you, Tessa. I want to wake up to you. Build a future with you. I want to ride every wave with you. Harness the wind with you. Explore every port together. And I don’t want to lose you—ever again. Tessa Reed, will you marry me?”
His heart thudded in his chest as he waited. Had he skipped too far ahead, asked her too soon? Maybe he should’ve simply told her he wanted to be back in her life, if she’d have him?
But he’d done it specifically, so that she knew he was serious this time. That he meant what he said. That he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. That he wasn’t leaving.
She erupted into tears and nervous laughter, and the worry inside him gave way. Breathlessly, her head bounced up and down as if she couldn’t yet speak. “Yes,” she finally blurted. “Yes. Oh my gosh, Russ, yes!”
His heart lifted as he slipped the ring onto her finger. He stood up, pulling her to her feet in front of him, and she fell into his arms again as they both laughed and held each other. Relief washed over him, and he squeezed her tightly. He’d made it. He’d made it back to her.
He kissed her then, a long, deep kiss full of all the love and passion in his heart.
He wasn’t going anywhere this time.
The woman he loved was finally standing right in front of him.
And this time, he’d never let her go.
THE END