Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
Congratulations on your new home. I hope you’ll be as happy here as I was.
You’ve been running for a long time, trying to escape your pain.
You deserve a peaceful place to rest and heal.
Cape Split was that special place for me.
It’s where I met the love of my life and later where I found him again.
I know you must be hurt and angry that I didn’t include you in my life here. Bobby’s situation was complicated, and I had to protect him and his family. I hope you understand. I bought this house because it was one Nana and I had rented when you were a little girl.
Do you remember our vacations here, you riding your bike on the wraparound porch, pretending to be a race car driver, until Nana said you were making her dizzy? It was those memories that kept you here with me even when I couldn’t share this part of my life with you.
I am so proud of you, Hannah. Choosing to stay here in Cape Split tells me that you are ready to embrace life again.
There is something magical about the Outer Banks.
There’s no place like it in the world, and I think that choosing to stay means you’re ready.
You’re ready to live fully and completely again.
A tear splattered onto the page and I sobbed. I paused to let out the grief that had bubbled to the surface, then I took in a slow breath and wiped my eyes before I continued reading.
No life is without challenges, Hannah, but if you find your community, and can surround yourself with people who will care for you as you care for them, then the challenges become much easier.
I left this house to you, and asked you to live here for two months, hoping you’d find your community here as well.
Know that whenever you stand on the dock, stroll the beach, enjoy ice cream, or watch a storm roll in, I’m with you in spirit.
All my love, Pops
P.S. I know you’re sharing the house with Bobby’s grandson.
I don’t know how you two have worked out the house share, but I want you to know that I met Simon at Bobby’s funeral and I liked him.
I liked him a lot. He reminded me of his grandfather and it occurs to me that you could do a lot worse.
This is where your Nana tells me to mind my own business.
Fine. Be happy, Hannah, however that manifests for you.
I burst into tears and hugged the paper to my chest.
“Hey, darling, are you all right?” Simon stepped out onto the porch.
I couldn’t speak so I thrust the letter at him. I fanned my face and tried to pull it together while watching him read.
When he reached the end, his face crumpled and he looked up at me and asked, “He was at the funeral?”
“Yes, and apparently, he liked you…a lot.” The sobs took over then and Simon opened his arms and held me while I cried.
It took me some time to pull it together. When the worst of my crying jag was over, I pulled away to tuck Pops’s letter back into its envelope and faced Simon.
“I’m glad Pops was there. It’s bothered me that they weren’t together at the end,” he said.
“I felt the same way,” I said. “But I think everything worked out the way it was supposed to.”
“I think so, too,” Simon said as he tenderly tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “By the way, I came out here to tell you that you handled my father perfectly. Thank you.”
I put my hand on his face, cupping his cheek and admiring the sheer goodness of him. Never mind that his father was an awful person, that altercation had to have been difficult for Simon. “You were incredible.”
“Couldn’t have pulled it off without everyone here.” He gestured to our friends in the house and then threw his arm around my shoulders as he guided me toward the door. “Now, about our getting married.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know how I feel about marriage. I don’t want to tie you down to someone who can’t give you children.”
Simon stopped walking and waved his hands at Dude, who was staring at us through the front window. “We have a child.”
I burst out laughing. “In dog years, he’s older than we are. What are you really saying, Simon?”
“I’m saying I don’t care if we don’t have kids. All I want is you. You are everything to me. You are the reason I’ve found myself again, and I don’t want to give you up. Not now. Not ever.”
My eyes flooded. Simon became a blurry watercolor image. I blinked frantically but the tears rolled down my face until I was a drippy mess…again. I swiped my face with the backs of my hands, trying to get it together.
“You don’t have to agree to marry me,” he said. “Just tell me you want this. Tell me you want to build a life with me here in Cape Split as much as I want one with you.”
I sniffed. No one had ever loved me like Simon had over the past few weeks and I believed him.
I believed that I was enough for him. My throat got tight and a little sob bubbled up.
I steadied myself by leaning against him.
I knew he wouldn’t let me fall. This was my moment.
The moment everything I had ever longed for was mine for the taking.
I desperately did not want to mess this up.
“I have some conditions.” I turned toward him, put my hands on his chest, and stared up into his dreamy brown gaze.
“Conditions?” He leaned down and kissed me quick. “Such as?”
“Chickens.”
He closed his eyes and I couldn’t tell if it was exasperation or amusement or both. Probably both. “How many?”
“Four, no, six, maybe ten.”
Simon took my hand and led me toward the house.
“And I think some goats would do wonders on the lawn.”
“Goats?” His voice came out sounding strangled.
“Just picture them scampering around in pajamas,” I said. “That would totally go viral on our social media account.”
“Our account?” he asked.
“Yes, the artist and the writer on their mini farm in the Outer Banks. We’d crush that.” I might have been going too far but it was such fun to tease him.
“Oh, of course. Anything else?”
“A baby cow. Every woman needs her own cow.”
“Of course she does,” he agreed. He stopped in front of the door and said, “If chickens, goats, and a cow will get you to stay with me forever and ever then so be it.”
I grinned and threw my arms around him. “Then, yes, you just got yourself a life partner!”
A whoop sounded from inside that I suspected was Roland but as Simon leaned down and kissed me, our world narrowed to just the two of us.
I knew I’d finally found the life I was meant to live and I owed it all to the two men who fell in love as teens and when the chance came their way again, they grabbed on to love with both hands and never let go.