22. Chapter 22 #2
For a few moments, neither of us says anything.
The silence doesn't feel awkward.
It feels earned.
Finally she laughs softly.
"I had a whole speech planned."
"I figured you did."
She shakes her head.
"It was very organized."
"I'm sure it was."
"I even rehearsed it."
"What happened to it?"
She looks down at her hands.
"I forgot every word."
I chuckle.
"I've had that happen."
She glances up at me.
"You have?"
"The first time I asked a girl to prom."
She smiles.
"How'd that work out?"
"I married someone else."
The joke lands exactly the way I'd hoped.
She laughs.
A real laugh.
The kind I'd been missing all week.
When the laughter fades, she grows serious again.
"Eli..."
I wait.
"I owe you an apology."
I shake my head.
"You don't."
"I do."
She folds her arms tightly across herself.
"I thought I was protecting everyone."
"You were trying."
"I thought if Stacey came back..."
Her voice catches.
"...then there wasn't room for me anymore."
Hearing her say the words out loud hurts more than I'd expected.
"Maggie."
"I know it sounds ridiculous."
"It doesn't."
She looks at me, surprised.
"It doesn't?"
"No."
I take one slow step closer.
"I understand why you thought that."
"You do?"
"You love Sophie."
She nods.
"So much."
"I know."
"You deserve to have your family back."
I can't help smiling.
"My family?"
She nods.
"You. Sophie. Stacey."
I reach for her hand.
This time...
She lets me.
I lace my fingers through hers.
Then I gently shake my head.
"That's not my family."
Confusion fills her eyes.
"It isn't?"
"My family is an eight-year-old girl who thinks feelings require extra books..."
A tiny smile appears.
"...a stuffed giraffe named Gerald..."
She laughs through unexpected tears.
"...and a librarian who walked into the Prairie Rose carrying two overstuffed suitcases and somehow convinced both of us that blanket forts could change lives."
A tear slips down her cheek.
I brush it away with my thumb.
"You've been part of my family for a while now, Maggie."
She tries to speak.
Nothing comes out.
"I need you to hear me."
She nods.
"You never had to compete with Stacey."
Another tear falls.
"You never had to earn your place."
I step one little bit closer until only inches separate us.
"You already belonged."
She searches my face as though trying to decide whether she dares believe me.
"I've been so afraid."
"I know."
"I thought loving Sophie meant I had to let her go."
I smile gently.
"You know what Sophie told me yesterday?"
She shakes her head.
"She said love is like books."
Maggie's eyebrows lift.
I grin.
"I think she learned that from a very smart librarian."
A watery laugh escapes her.
"I may have said something like that."
"I think she was trying to teach it back to you."
She closes her eyes.
"I think she was."
I lift her hand and kiss her knuckles.
Then I say the words I've been carrying around for far too long.
"I love you, Maggie. I've loved you for weeks. Maybe longer. I was just too stubborn to admit it."
Her eyes open.
Bright with tears.
Bright with hope.
She looks at me as though every fear she's carried has finally begun to loosen its grip.
And I know, before she ever says a word...
We're finally telling the same story.
For a long moment, Maggie simply looks at me.
Not because she's searching for the right words.
Because she's trying to believe the ones I've already spoken.
"I've loved you too."
The words come out as little more than a whisper.
"I just..."
She laughs softly through her tears.
"I spent so much time trying to deserve you that I never stopped to wonder if you already wanted me."
My heart aches.
I lift my hand to her face again, brushing another tear from her cheek with my thumb.
"There was never anything to deserve."
She leans into my touch.
"You make that sound so simple."
"It is."
She smiles.
"No, it isn't."
"It is for me."
I shake my head, unable to stop smiling.
"Maggie, I fell in love with the woman who rearranged an entire lobby because one little girl needed a blanket fort."
A laugh escapes her.
"I fell in love with the woman who hid book recommendations all over town because she believed stories could bring neighbors together."
She laughs again.
"Some people thought they were treasure maps."
"I know."
"They kind of were."
"They were."
I take another step closer.
"I fell in love with the woman who convinced an entire town that its library was worth fighting for."
She lowers her eyes.
"I didn't do that."
"You did."
"The town did."
"You reminded them how."
Her eyes meet mine again.
"So if you're going to give someone credit..."
I smile.
"...I'm giving it to you."
She shakes her head with that familiar mixture of humility and stubbornness I've come to love.
"I don't know what I did to deserve Cedar Hollow."
I chuckle.
"There you go again."
"What?"
"Trying to earn things."
She laughs through another tear.
"I suppose I am."
I gently tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Maybe some of the best things in life aren't earned."
She studies me quietly.
"They're simply given."
The hallway disappears.
The celebration inside the council chamber fades into nothing more than distant applause.
All I see is Maggie.
The woman who somehow became home without either of us noticing exactly when it happened.
"I have one question."
She smiles.
"Only one?"
"We've covered most of the important topics."
She laughs.
"All right."
"What is it?"
I grin.
"May I kiss my girlfriend?"
Color rushes into her cheeks.
"Your girlfriend?"
"I was hoping."
She pretends to think about it.
"Hmm."
"I've waited a very long time for this answer."
"You have."
She takes one tiny step forward until only inches separate us.
"I suppose..."
Her smile grows.
"...it would be rather rude to keep you waiting."
I don't give either of us another chance to overthink it.
My hand settles gently against her cheek as I close the last bit of distance between us.
This kiss is nothing like the one beneath the oak tree.
That one had been filled with possibility.
This one is filled with certainty.
She rises onto her toes, her fingers finding the front of my shirt as though she's been reaching for me all along.
The kiss is slow.
Tender.
Unhurried.
Every smile we've shared.
Every conversation in the library.
Every bedtime story.
Every blanket fort.
Every moment of wondering if the other one felt the same.
It all disappears into one perfect moment.
When we finally pull apart, neither of us moves very far.
Her forehead rests lightly against mine.
She lets out a tiny laugh.
"What?"
"I think my knees forgot how to work."
I laugh softly.
"I was hoping I wasn't the only one."
She slips both hands into mine.
"I've never been happier."
"You'd better get used to it."
"Oh?"
I smile.
"I'm planning to spend the rest of my life giving you reasons to smile like that."
Fresh tears gather in her eyes.
"You know..."
She brushes her thumb across the back of my hand.
"You really do say the nicest things."
"I've had twenty-two chapters to practice."
She laughs, the sound bright and free.
Then, before I can say another word, she reaches up, wraps her arms around my neck, and kisses me again.
Longer this time.
With the confidence of a woman who finally knows exactly where she belongs.
When she finally pulls back, she smiles the smile I fell in love with. She looks at me for a long moment.
"I've spent my whole life believing love was something you had to earn."
"You don't."
"I know."
She smiles.
"I finally believe you."