Chapter 11
T hey returned to the lobby to retrieve Griffin’s suitcase behind the registration desk. With any luck, Edward would still have his nose in the reports and not be roaming the lobby.
They appeared in the lobby and upon seeing them, Darcy pulled Griffin’s suitcase out from behind the registration desk.
“I don’t want you to leave,” Meredith said. “I know I’m very late in saying that but it’s true.”
“What do you want, Meredith? Tell me. ”
She moved closer to him and fought the battle of fear and longing. She didn’t have the right to tell him to stay. She’d lost that right when she’d sent off that letter years ago.
“I… I want…”
He gazed down at her. “Tell me.”
“I…”
“She wants old people’s sex.”
Shocked, they both glanced at Darcy, who immediately clamped her hand over her mouth.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “That was uncalled for.”
“No, no, that’s good,” Griffin said with a big smile stretching across his face. “Old people’s sex, huh? How about mid-life sex? Starting over sex. And then old people’s sex.”
Meredith laughed. “Or just great sex. Oh, God, this is so embarrassing.”
“Why? You obviously told Darcy what you wanted. I wish you’d told me. I wouldn’t have minded.”
“I’m going to go…do something ov er at the Concierge desk with Raymond,” Darcy said.
She quickly walked from behind the desk and ran to the other side of the lobby.
“Edward will be fuming if he finds Darcy away from the desk,” Meredith said. “He’ll get over it.”
“Did you mean that?”
“You mean what Darcy said about old people’s sex?”
“Yes.”
“You bet. I want to make love with you every day until we are old and gray. Yes, I want old people’s sex.”
He scooped Meredith into his arms and kissed her on the lips with such passion she didn’t care who was watching.
“Come with me,” he whispered against her lips.
She gazed at him and tried to gauge his expression. Was he serious?
“And leave all this?” she joked.
“You love the beach. Hawaii has beautiful beaches.”
Wrapping her arms around Griffin, Meredith said, “Are you trying to butter me up with paradise?”
He held on tight. “This is paradise. You and me. I know it. I feel it with every fiber of my being. I have never known anything more completely. We’ve lost so much time together. I want us to have the romance we had. What we should have had all this time.”
“How can we? So much has happened since we were kids in high school.”
“We may have been kids, but we were in love, and that love still burns strong between us. Look, I don’t plan on playing fair. I’m telling you that right up front. I’ll use whatever I can to get you to say yes. I love you, Meredith. I have always loved you. That is never going to change, no matter how many miles and years you put between us.”
“I love you, too, Griffin.”
“Then come with me. We can leave all this behind in the past and start new.” He cocked his head to one side. “Hawaii. Beaches. ”
She laughed with a sob of joy. “You think the prize is Hawaii, Griffin Cole?”
“It’s paradise. You won’t find a more beautiful place. And you’ll love being on the boat with me and Lucas. You’ll love—”
“I was all in at ‘come with me.’ I don’t care where we go as long as I’m with you. The fact that we have a second chance with our son makes it all the more perfect.”
He picked her up and spun her around laughing.
“Meredith!” she heard Edward call out as Griffin put her feet to the ground and wrapped his arms tightly around her in a warm embrace.
“Save it, Edward. I told you, I quit!” she said, then laughed.
“You can’t leave me!”
“I already have.” She kissed Griffin and instantly transformed into a place that was so familiar and wonderful. His love filled her empty heart to bursting.
“When can we leave?” she asked .
“As soon as you say you’ll marry me.”
She placed her hand over her lips to keep from trembling. With tears streaming down her face, she said, “Of course, I will marry you. I don’t want to live another moment without you in my life.”
She called to hire a company to pack up her house while driving to the airport so she could get on that plane with Griffin. She wasn’t about to let him get away from her again. Many hours later, when they were flying over the Pacific Ocean on their way to Hawaii, her nerves began to get the better of her.
Griffin placed his hand over hers as they sat next to each other on the plane. “He’s meeting us at the airport. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind? I’ve been waiting for the three of us to be together for over thirty years. I never dreamed it would happen until you walked back into my life. You walked in, and my life was complete. Thank you. Thank you for loving me.”
“I plan on thanking you as soon as we touch down in Hawaii. Just so we’re clear.”
She giggled with anticipation. Love had walked back into her life. Oh, how sweet life could be.