Chapter 35 #2
I laughed—choked, breathless—and pressed my face into Birdie’s fur.
It was small. Imperfect. And a little chaotic.
But it was me.
And standing in the middle of it all, smiling like he’d been holding his breath all day, was Noah.
Birdie wriggled in my arms, squirming as I put him down and he launched himself across the room towards Noah, wiggling and wagging his tail happily, proudly, like he himself had played a big part in this gesture.
“Hey,” Noah said.
I didn’t speak. I couldn’t, not without crying.
“This isn’t going to be your real office, obviously” he said, his hands shoved awkwardly into his pockets. “It’s not even a real building. But I thought… it could be a start. A placeholder. Until we find you the right one here in Maple Grove. Or any other small town that might appeal to you.”
I stepped farther into the room, my fingers grazing the arm of the nearest chair. It was real. All of it.
“I didn’t know how to ask you to stay,” he went on. “So I figured I’d show you why you should.”
My eyes burned.
Noah smiled, but it was tentative. “I want a quiet life with you. A real life. Not just for a weekend or a few months or a year. I’ll give up New York.
I’ll quit acting. I’ll live in a treehouse and walk Birdie around the lake every morning if that’s what it takes.
As long as I have you . I’ll follow you anywhere, Rosa Alvarez. ”
I shook my head slowly. “There’s one really big problem,” I said, pulling a Sharpie out of my purse.
I walked over to the sign he had printed out and scribbled on top of it, fixing it.
“It’s Dr. Rosa Alvarez Tripp, PsyD.” I put the cap back on the marker and turned just in time to catch the way his relieved grin spread along his face.
I looked at him—and my heart cracked. This was all almost perfect. Almost .
Because I loved him.
But this wasn’t the answer either.
“But Noah,” I whispered, “I can’t let you do this.”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean? You don’t want to stay in Maple Grove?”
“I do,” I said quickly. “God, I do. I’ve never wanted anything more.” I stepped closer. “But I don’t want you to give up what you love for me.”
“I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“I know,” I said softly. “That’s what scares me.”
He looked confused. Hurt. But he didn’t interrupt.
“My mother gave up acting when she married my father,” I said.
“She said she chose stability. Safety. A life that mattered. But I never saw her light up the way she did when I would watch videos of her on stage and in interviews from when she was an actor. And sometimes, I think she resented him for being the one who still got to chase his dreams while she gave up hers to be the senator’s wife. ”
Tears burned at the corners of my eyes. “I can’t do that to you. I love you too much to let you disappear. To let you give up your dreams.”
Noah stepped forward, closing the gap between us. “Then what do we do? Where does this leave us?”
I reached for his hand. “We compromise. We dream together. You act when it matters. I practice psychology in a way that fills me up. Maybe we split time between Maple Grove and New York. Or Maple Grove and California. Maybe we build a life that doesn’t look like either of us imagined, but one that’s ours. ”
Birdie barked from between our feet and I smiled down at him. “Yes, that includes you, little man.”
Noah’s thumb brushed the inside of my wrist, slow and steady like he was grounding both of us.
“And you’d be okay with that? Being married to an actor? Dealing with paparazzi and gossip and?—”
I didn’t let him finish. “I’m not married to just an actor. I’m married to you ,” I said, voice quiet but sure. “That’s the difference.”
He blinked, caught off guard by how certain I sounded. So was I, honestly.
I took a breath. “Before, all I could see was the chaos—the headlines, the whispers, the judgment. I thought loving you meant losing myself in all of that. But I was wrong. It’s not the world I’m scared of anymore. It was being unsteady in it. It was being yours while still unsure of who I was.”
I looked around the small space, at the crooked sign, the cozy chair, the little stack of books that knew me better than some people did.
“But I’m not unsure anymore,” I said. “I know what I want. I know what I can handle. And I know who I am—because you never tried to change that.”
His hand tightened slightly around mine.
“So yeah,” I whispered. “I’m okay with the noise, the press, the weird fans who want you to play a vampire forever. Because I’m not just surviving it anymore. I’m choosing it. I’m choosing you .”
His hand tightened around mine—and I didn’t wait.
I leaned in and kissed him.
Not soft. Not tentative. Not like someone afraid of being seen.
I kissed him like I’d been waiting my whole life to do it right. Like I finally knew what “yes” felt like in my bones. Like love didn’t need perfect timing—just the right person and one brave moment.
Noah groaned low in his throat, hands threading into my hair as he kissed me back like he’d been holding it in for years. And then a shout from the grass below us shattered the moment like a fallen champagne flute.
Noah and I broke apart, startled, as a distinctly exasperated voice rang out from below the treehouse. I blinked, breathless, and leaned toward the window.
“Okay, you two!” Callie stood at the base of the tree, hands on her hips, holding a tangled spool of white satin ribbon like she was ready to strangle someone with it. “Is there gonna be a wedding today or not? Because I’m not tying hundreds of these damn ribbons for nothing!”
Cam stood behind her with Lydia in his arms and Maddie grinning up at us in front of him. Steve held a folding chair over one shoulder, trying—and failing—not to laugh. Lex was adjusting a string of fairy lights on a nearby fence post.
Ronnie cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “For the record, Mom saw the whole thing and cried.”
Noah’s mom, standing just off to the side in a floral sundress and pearls, dabbed her eyes and beamed up at us.
And then my parents came into view—my mother clasping her hands to her chest, clearly touched, while my father raised his phone up and snapped a picture like this was a campaign stop.
Hazel lifted a mimosa toward me in a toast with her arm around Reid’s waist and West stood off to the side smiling up at us. “What do you two say?” Hazel yelled up. “Can we get this show on the road?”
I smiled, cheeks aching. “Are you ready to do this?” I asked Noah.
He nodded. “A small ceremony with just our families and best friends? Absolutely.”
But I held up a hand, eyes sparkling. “Actually… we’re waiting on a couple more people.”
Before he could ask, a distant gate creaked open. From across the yard came Kristen—Noah’s publicist-turned-frenemy—flanked by two well-known photographers with gear slung over their shoulders. A third assistant carried a white-draped stool like she’d crash-landed from Vogue.
Noah blinked, staring. “What’s this? I thought you wanted out of the spotlight?”
I shrugged, brushing imaginary dust from his shirt collar. “Compromise means we can’t always hide in the shadows. If I’m going to marry the Noah Blue, we need to give the magazines some publishable moments.”
He grinned, stunned. “I can’t believe you set this up? I mean, hell, I was planning on firing Kristen after what she said to you?—”
“Don’t. She was just trying to protect you. We both were.”
He turned to face me once more and took my hands. “Her job is now to protect both of us. We don’t need to hire any exclusive magazine photographers for our wedding.”
“I know.” I shrugged again, trying not to smirk. “But guiding the narrative is easier than cleaning up the mess. Let them get their cover shot. Let them see that the blind item didn’t break us. Let them see that we had this beautiful, quiet day, surrounded by people who love us.”
His arms encircled my waist with an unwavering grip, providing a gentle yet steadfast anchor and drawing me closer until the space between us vanished.
As our lips met in a tender, lingering embrace.
An intoxicating blend of warmth and affection surged through me, sending a delightful shiver cascading down my spine.
When we finally pulled apart, I whispered, “Let’s get married… Again .”