Chapter Forty-Four
Beckett
After we deposit my bags in Cash’s living room, Keeley and I make our way back down to the second floor. Almost as if by default, we walk through her— my! —apartment and climb out to the fire escape.
We sit side by side, upper arms and thighs touching, and Keeley rests her head on my shoulder.
I take a moment to soak in the fact that she’s here with me. That I’m staying here, too. And nothing has ever felt more right.
My heart is full.
“I have so many questions, but first, I have to say… I’m so sorry about last night, Becks. Sorry for panicking. Sorry for running. Sorry that, in that moment, I couldn’t let myself believe in you, or in me, or in us.” Her voice is laden with remorse, and I put my arm around her, drawing her close.
“You don’t need to be sorry,” I tell her. “I totally understand. But I am curious, what happened between then and now to change your mind?”
She looks up at me, blue eyes big and round. “I found something this morning.”
From her pocket, she extracts an envelope, and when she hands it to me, my stomach turns over.
Gran’s handwriting.
“What?” I turn to stare at her. “How?”
“It was tucked into the sleeve of that record I brought Gramps.” She gently nudges my arm. “I think you should read it.”
With trembling fingers, I extract a wrinkled, weathered letter. It’s from Gran, addressed to Douglas.
As I read, my heart goes through a whole series of gymnastics—pain for Gran being rejected by Douglas’s family, sorrow for her feeling like she had no choice but to leave, relief for reading her detailing that, even though it was painful, everything had turned out okay in the end.
I swallow thickly, my eyes a little glazed as I reach the end of the letter. And then, I turn back to Keeley, feeling a little raw. “This is what made you reconsider?”
“Noeleen left because she thought she wasn’t enough for Douglas.” Keeley sinks her teeth into her bottom lip. “And I realized that’s what I did last night. I left because I thought you’d eventually regret it if you stayed, and that would be my fault. I realize now that I was projecting onto you what my mom put me through.”
“I get it,” I say gently. “But I need you to understand something. Nothing about this could ever be your fault, because my decision to stay here is just that— mine. I’ve decided to stay of my own accord. Not because I felt obligated, and not because of anything you could or would potentially do. I’m staying because I want to be here with you. Forget fate, forget what’s meant to be or not meant to be… because I choose you, no strings, no conditions. Just love for you.”
What I’ve realized during my time in Serendipity Springs is that when Gran died, the magic didn’t die with her.
No, that magic has always been here, because I see now that magic is what we make it.
Gran made decisions that shaped the course of her life— her destiny —but she also decided to find joy and contentment in the little things in life. In the people around her who loved her. In the highs and the lows, she chose to always believe in better… and that belief starts in believing in yourself.
Just like Keeley and I both learned this summer. We had to believe in ourselves before we could truly believe in us . In the magic we’ve found together.
“I love you, Beckett.” Keeley’s voice cracks on the words, and my heart expands impossibly more for her.
“You were never going to be easy to leave, Keeley,” I tell her with conviction. “In fact, you were never going to be possible to leave. You’re my home now.”
She swallows thickly, and when she tilts her head so her eyes can meet mine, they’re shining with tears. “All I want is to be yours, Beckett… wherever this life takes us, wherever we might end up, I’m all yours.” She smiles. “And I know you’re mine.”
And if that isn’t the sweetest, most magical music to my ears.