Chapter Nine
T he whole family arrived early the next morning. It was a beautiful, snowy day on the coast, a perfect white Christmas, and it was damaged because Colton wasn’t there.
It could never be perfect. Not without him.
“Why exactly did Colton leave?” her mom asked, leaning against the counter, while the two of them were in the kitchen by themselves.
“It’s complicated,” Lily said.
“Did something happen with him?”
“How did you... How did you know that?”
“Because you look heartbroken. And I’m not surprised that he still has the power to do that to you, even though... Obviously I hoped it wasn’t going to be like that with him. But... I always thought it was odd that the two of you broke up like you did. But you insisted everything was fine.”
“Well. I lied. And we were here by ourselves, and... Well, you don’t need to know the details.”
“You declining to give me the details tells me enough.”
“Well. At least I finished college. You don’t have to worry about me getting pregnant and not finishing.”
“But I have to worry about you having your heart broken.”
“It’s too late. So there’s that.”
There was a commotion in the other room, her half siblings were causing a ruckus, and she and her mom went to see what was happening. It was Colton. Coming through the door with a giant armload of gifts.
Lily felt dizzy. She could have been completely knocked over with a stick. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m here to fix things,” he said. “I’m here to tell you that I’m sorry. And that I’m an idiot. Also I brought gifts. Because I figured everybody else might be mad at me too.”
“Just me,” said Marigold. “Nobody else has heard.”
Buck came into the room then. “Heard what?”
“That I’m a dumbass,” said Colton. “And a coward.”
“Already knew that, bro,” said Reggie.
“Well. I really fucked up. And I’m here to fix it. So thank God for miracles and snow on the beach. And stores that are open all night on Christmas Eve for people who don’t have all the shopping done. And also hopefully for forgiveness.”
Everyone turned to look at Lily, because he was looking at her. “Well, go on,” she said, trembling a little bit inside.
“I love you. And I’m sorry.”
That earned a whole lot of shocked looks all around.
“We were snowed in together for two days,” Lily said. “Things happen.”
“A lot of things,” said Colton. “I found my mom.”
“What?”
“I’ll give more details later. But the important thing, the really important thing, is that I realized I’ve been trying to live without hope. And that is a damned foolish thing to do. I took a leap. I found my mother. I got to tell her how much she meant to me. I... I hoped, and it worked out. And so it makes me wonder why I don’t just try to have everything. Including you. I love you, and I hope... I have hope. That everything is going to be wonderful.” And then he got down on one knee, and her heart stopped. He had a small ring box. “This is just a stand-in,” he said. “Because shockingly, places that are open twenty-four hours on Christmas Eve don’t do the best with this kind of thing. But it’s something.”
He opened it up. It was a diamond ring. An honest to God diamond ring.
“We’re still young. But we were young when we fell in love. And I just think it’s right. I hope that... I mean, I can move where you are, I don’t need to keep the chickens. I don’t need to keep the farm.”
“Yes you do,” she said. “And it’s okay. I’ve been wanting to come home anyway. But it was never going to be home unless it could be with you.”
“Well, now it can be. I love you,” he said. “I’m sorry that I was dumb.”
“I forgive you for being dumb,” she said.
And she threw herself into his arms and kissed him.
“Well, I am totally lost,” said Buck.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” said Marigold, patting his arm.
“This is so weird,” said Reggie.
“So weird,” agreed Marcus. “Congratulations, bro.”
“Technically, I was dating her before... Never mind.”
“I’ll marry you,” she said. “I’m going to marry the hell out of you.”
“Well, it’s a Christmas miracle,” said Marigold. “Everyone is finally, finally together .”
Colton smiled, and Lily felt it echo in her soul.
Finally.