Chapter Forty-Three
Keeley
The two-mile drive back to The Serendipity takes approximately seven hundred and fifty-nine years.
First of all, Ezra insists on driving no more than five over the speed limit. Which is preposterous, given our circumstances. You’d think a shaven-headed, tatted-up dude who’s just been directed to “drive as fast as your Toyota can manage!” would have a little Fast and Furious in him.
But no.
Ezra drives like a half-blind octogenarian who forgot to wear his glasses.
And as if that wasn’t enough, we hit every red on every single traffic light along the route and stop no less than three times for pedestrians on crosswalks. One of those pedestrians, of course, has a puppy who decides to lay down mid-crossing for a little rest.
I roll down my window, half considering sticking my head out and yelling at the guy to pick up his dog and move it!
Ez, from the driver’s seat, grabs my arm and yanks me back down. “Dude, chill. Isn’t his flight later tonight?”
“Yes, but…” I cross my arms and glare. “That’s not the point.”
Ezra’s lips tick up. “What is the point, then?”
“I’m trying to make a statement! Profess my undying love!” I throw my arms out to accentuate my point.
Which, in combination with my current under-eye bags and bedhead, makes me look not unlike Becks’s beloved banshee.
Ezra snickers. “Becks is a lucky guy.”
“Drive faster, grandma!” I retort.
When we finally get to my building, Ez hardly stops the car before I’m flinging the door open, calling, “Love you, byeeee” as I race inside The Serendipity.
The sound of his laughter follows me, which makes me smile. I’ll buy him a burrito or something later to make up for being such a brat this morning (and also to thank him for all of his infinite wisdom). But right now, I am a woman on a mission.
Inside the lobby, I run for the stairs, racing up the grand staircase to the second floor and veering towards the hallway that leads to our apartments.
Ping!
The elevator chimes, and I turn my head to see the doors slowly closing on Beckett.
Without giving a single fraction of a thought as to what I’m doing, I one-eighty and bolt for the elevator.
Throw myself through the doors… and promptly run into something hard.
Not again, I think as I fall forward, weightless for a moment before?—
“I’ve got you, Keeley,” comes Beckett’s achingly familiar and comforting voice as his arms circle around me, catching me mid-fall.
I look up into my favorite hazel-green eyes in the entire world, which belong to my favorite person in the entire world, as the elevator lurches to life and starts moving. Smile as I relish the feeling of being in his arms again.
Safe. Cared for. Cherished. Totally at ease and comfortable and at home.
Home.
The word has me crashing back to reality as I see the guitar case I just tripped on (again) sitting next to a backpack and a suitcase.
Panic builds in me.
He’s on his way to the airport already.
“Beckett!” I cry, scurrying to a stand before leaning over and jamming the emergency stop button.
The elevator shudders to a rickety, shaky stop, and Becks peers at me, his expression halfway between quizzical and amused.
“Keeley!” he replies, matching my tone. His eyes are twinkling. “Want to tell me why you just did that?”
“Because fate can only do so much! The building can only do so much!” I’m yelling. Probably sound half-frantic. And I don’t care. “But I can choose to do the rest. To make the right choice. And I choose you , Becks. I choose to stick with you. Get stuck with you. Over everything, I pick you. Whatever that looks like. Wherever this goes or whatever ends up happening, I’m not going to run away. I’m going to face my fears.”
I’m out of breath, talking in half-garbled, quick, gibberish-adjacent riddles.
“I just want to be with you. Maybe I could buy a plane ticket and come with you while we work out what’s next? Or even just ride with you to the airport or…”
I trail off.
Because he’s laughing at me. The jerk is laughing at me… again.
“It’s not funny! I love you!”
He smiles a smile brighter than a thousand burning suns. “I love you too, Keeley, but I think we can pump the brakes for a second on all your grand plans. I’m not leaving for the airport. I was just going upstairs.”
I blink at him. “I… I… what?”
He indicates the elevator panel, where the “up” arrow is indeed flashing as we stay stuck. We’re somewhere between floors two and three, I now realize.
“Why are you bringing your guitar and bags upstairs?”
“Because Mr. Prenchenko is coming back later today, so I can’t stay at his place anymore.”
“You’re making even less sense than I was a second ago, Becks.”
“Nah,” he says with a shrug, but his eyes are dancing. “Nothing has ever made more sense. I’m taking my stuff to Cash’s place so I can crash on his couch for a bit until apartment 2C officially becomes available.”
My feet feel glued to the floor, yet my legs feel precariously wobbly, all at once. “But… that’s where I live.”
“Yes. Until you find and move into your new place in Boston, and then, 2C will be where I live.” He smiles. “And where you come visit on your days off.”
I shake my head. “I don’t have to take the job, Beckett. I don’t want to leave you.”
He puts a hand on each of my arms and looks me dead in the eye. “You’re taking the job, Keeley. And I’ll be right here in Serendipity Springs, teaching lessons and recording more music with Ezra and helping Cash with baseball, which will be a learning curve to say the least.” He chuckles. “I want the best for you always, and this job is going to bring you joy and help you grow—so I think you should take it. With the reassurance that you’re not leaving, you’re moving forward. With me. Because we’ll continue to be together, still spend every moment we can together… if that’s what you want, that is.”
“Is this real?” I ask dumbly, my heart picking up so much speed that it’s in danger of imploding. “You’re actually moving here? Into my apartment?”
Beckett looks down at me like I am the center of the entire universe. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”