44. Chapter 44
Kylie
The silence once everybody is gone hits differently. I stop in the doorframe to my living room. Somehow the air feels lighter.
Abby darts around the room, checking the corners, confused.
"I think we did it," I whisper, shoulders sinking in relief. "No more jump scares." I glance at Erik. "I think I might even miss them."
"That's okay. I can slam a door occasionally if it makes you feel better." He kisses the side of my head and brushes past me to the kitchen. "Come on, today calls for a hot chocolate."
"You have the best ideas." I trudge after him.
Abby has no interest. I played catch with her along the lakeshore before we went to the funeral, and apparently, it was enough for her to still be exhausted.
Or, maybe it's the fact that Kieran let out Dick so the two of them could play together.
Two dogs do a way better job tiring each other out than a human ever could.
When the hot chocolates are done, Erik doesn't hand me my mug. Instead, he nods toward my porch.
"Come on. Fall is almost ending. Let's enjoy it a little more outside. Grab your blanket."
Wordlessly, I pull it off my couch and drape it around my shoulders like a cape.
"Do you want to come with us?" I ask Abby, but she barely even blinks her eyes open. I smile. "I'll take that as a no."
By the time I'm outside, Erik is already on my porch couch and placed our mugs on the coffee table beside it. With a smile that makes my heart melt, he opens his arms, and I waste no time getting on the couch and cuddling into his side, draping the blanket over the two of us.
"What a wild ride," I mumble and let out a deep sigh. The clouds have gotten heavy, the sky now hidden under a thick wall of cotton-ball clouds.
"Like a roller coaster or a free fall?"
I glance up at him. "Roller coaster," I declare with a nod. "The best kind." He hands me one of the mugs, and I take a sip of the velvety hot chocolate. Why does his taste better than mine?
If you told me this is where I'd be one year ago, I would've laughed. Kylie from a year ago probably wouldn't have dreamed of taking the leap and putting herself first.
It's the best decision I ever made for myself.
I'm proud of past Kylie. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her, in the loveliest small town that holds autumn festivals to honor tragic love stories.
I wouldn't have found new friends, and even though I've known them for barely two months, I couldn't imagine not having Kieran, Nic, and Lauren in my life anymore. I was never fortunate enough to have siblings. However, the three of them more than make up for that.
If it weren't for past Kylie, I wouldn't have met Erik.
I watch him from the corner of my eye. The wind blows through his sand-colored hair, and he runs his hand through it to get it out of his face. It doesn't work, though, falling right back into his eyes.
Sometimes it still feels too good to be true. He still feels too good to be true. But I'm realizing it's just… him. He's not putting up a mask. As soon as he decided he's all in, he was. He showed me everything, the best and the worst.
I don't think I've ever seen Zach cry except for our wedding day. Erik makes me feel that he's all in. Not just empty words he might forget two days after saying them. He's here.
From the moment he offered me his guest room and cemented on the day he came over because the ghost was freaking me out. I quickly glance away because emotions are starting to tighten my throat, and the golden and red leaves are turning blurry as my eyes fill with tears.
"Hey, what's going on?" Of course he'd notice. Because he notices.
"Nothing." I giggle and quickly wipe over my eyes. "I'm just happy."
"Yeah?" He pulls me tighter against him and kisses the top of my head.
"Yeah." I lean against his shoulder and take another sip of my hot chocolate. "I was just thinking about how moving here was the best decision I ever made."
"I second that." He chuckles and holds me a little tighter. "I'm so glad you did."
"Trust me, I am too."
We stare at the lake, both lost in our own thoughts, when suddenly—
"Is that snow?" I whisper and point at one of the little flakes falling from the sky. It’s barely there, the faintest white, but I see it.
"Already?" He sounds as if he doesn't quite believe it, but more and more flakes join the first one.
How fitting. I'm glad we buried Elizabeth with her husband while it was still fall.
Something heavy yet warm settles in my chest. This is the first season change in my new life. The first of many. And I hope every single one of them will be as precious as this one.
Right here, cuddled against Erik and so excited about our future.