Chapter 29 #2
“He’s over there,” I say, my throat working hard. This time, I let myself look. I take in the face of the man who betrayed and hurt me in so many ways. The man who, despite it all, is, down to his bones, still my father. And then I step into the elevator and let the doors close on my past.
Matt and Daphne are waiting for me on the porch, Daph holding out a bowl of half-melted ice cream.
“I told you we would be ready to welcome you back with ice cream.” Matt hits me with his trademark smile.
“We started the movie because I really wanted to watch it,” Daph says.
The sight of their beaming faces lights up my whole heart, and the weight of the past few months evaporates from my shoulders like smoke in the wind. For the first time in thirty-two years, it feels as though I have something to come home to.
The realization wells up in my chest too quickly, too big to hold in, and as I hit the top step, I burst into tears, my legs turning to jelly.
Matt catches me before I fall to the ground, worry clouding his features.
“Whoa, Zoé, honey. What’s wrong?” He cradles me in one arm, brushing away the hot tears rolling down my cheeks.
I bury my face in his chest, clinging to him.
“We can go back to the beginning of the movie,” Daphne says, her tone a little panicked. “You don’t have to be sad.”
I laugh through the tears. “No, sweetie, it’s not that. I’m sad, but I’m also relieved. It’s a bit complicated. Come here.”
I step away from Matt and pull her into a tight hug.
“Why are you crying if you’re relieved?” she asks, her voice muffled in my hair.
I look up at Matt, whose eyes glisten under the porch’s light. He swallows hard and sniffles, a comforting hand rubbing circles on my back.
“People cry for lots of reasons,” I explain, keeping her snug against me. “When they’re sad, when they’re happy, when they’re angry. And I guess I’m feeling a bit of it all right now. I had to say goodbye to someone important to me, so I was sad. But mostly, I’m relieved. And happy.”
She pulls away, still holding my… well, at this point it’s more cream than ice cream. “Why are you happy?”
I smile, my eyes filling again. “Because I get to stay with you guys.”
Her legs start to bounce. “ You do ? Perfect. Do you like anime?” Before I have time to answer, she says, “We’re watching Mary and The Witch’s Flower . I can tell you what happened already if you want.”
“Why don’t you go back inside?” Matt says. “We’ll join you in a minute, okay?”
“Okay! I won’t restart the movie until you come back!”
And she’s off.
I chuckle. “I love her so much.” I sniffle, my gaze lingering until she vanishes inside.
Matt wraps his arms around me and pulls me close. “She loves you too. I love you too.” He brings his forehead to mine. “Are you okay? Everything went… well? As well as it could go, anyway.”
I thread my fingers through his hair. I still can’t believe he’s mine. My new beginning.
“It’s done. I’m sure it’ll be all over the news in the coming days, and the investigators will likely have lots of questions for me.
But I also have so much to do here. I need to mend things with Rob and the town and explain that the company is probably going under, and that the hotel will not happen.
But I have an idea I want to float to Ruth for the Butterfly Inn.
If”—I grimace—“she’ll speak to me. While I stayed there, it got me thinking.
We could develop something great there. Since she voted against the project in the first place, I imagine she’ll be happy when she finds out the deal is imploding, and anyway, I want to keep the promises I’ve made and—”
“Hey, hey, hey. Shh.” Matt presses his lips on mine. “Take a breath, beautiful.”
I laugh and then I do. I breathe him in, firewood and daisies, that scent of his I’ve come to crave. It curls around my heart like a cooling relief, settling the beat in my chest and slowing the pulse in my veins.
He clutches my waist, drawing me to him until there’s not an inch of space between us.
“I know a lot of things are up in the air right now. Lots of things we need to tackle. Lots of loose ends to tie up. But not tonight. Just for a while, the rest of the world can wait.” He cups my face, tilting me to him.
“Tonight, I want to savor the happiness of finally having you all to myself. Of being able to think about tomorrow without fighting the fear that you won’t be there.
I want to take my time and love you all night, knowing that there are countless more ahead of us. ”
He kisses me, sealing his words on my lips like treasures he wants to keep. Unable to resist him, I tug on his hair, pulling him closer. Always closer.
His groan drowns out my own when our tongues brush. I have to force myself not to get carried away, because waiting for us inside is the other love of his life.
After a few minutes, we break apart, both a little out of breath.
Inside, we spend the rest of the evening with Daph on the couch, watching the movie and eating ice cream with popcorn sprinkled on top.
When she falls asleep halfway through, Matt carries her upstairs and tucks her into her bed before we slip into ours.
He keeps his promise.
All night, I lose myself in him, in his love, in his warmth, in the kisses he presses against my hipbone and thighs and all my secret places.
Over and over, he tells me things that make me shake with pleasure.
“I love you so much,” hushed into the shell of my ear.
“I want you again,” groaned between my legs.
Until we eventually fall asleep, drunk on all this love we’ve finally found.
And tomorrow, we’ll go back to square one with Pine Falls, with my life, with his business, and everything else that comes our way.
But I’ll never have to do any of it alone ever again.