Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Griffin
We step into the shop together, the bell chiming overhead like it is welcoming her home.
Ruby pauses just inside the doorway, taking it all in.
I watch the way her shoulders relax, the way she seems to breathe deeper here.
This is her world. She looks radiant standing in it again.
She belongs here, among the petals and color.
I explain where we’ll wall off the space for the drama club. She asks a few questions, nodding along with my answers. The light is back in her eyes, absorbing everything like she’s afraid it might disappear. I never again want to be the reason she dims.
When Ruby turns toward me, there is something open in her expression. Without a word, we step closer, drawn like magnets.
And that’s it. The end of every excuse I’ve made to hold back. I lean in, picking up her scent. Lilacs and vanilla.
I kiss her, softly, slowly. The feeling spreads from my head to my toes. To my heart.
Ruby sighs against my mouth, hands on my chest. The kiss deepens and I’m lost in her. Completely absorbed by this remarkable, unique woman who wears her optimism like a second skin.
When we finally pull apart, I say, “I’m done running, Ruby. I’m done pretending I don’t—”
Her gray eyes search mine. “Don’t what?”
I cup her cheek with my thumb. “Don’t love you.”
Her lips part, a stunned sound emerging.
I go on, because she deserves every word. “I love the way you see the world. How you make everything brighter. I love you, Ruby. Completely.”
She exhales a laugh. That bright, snort-laugh that makes the whole room lighter. That I missed the second it was gone.
“You’re saying this two weeks after Valentine’s Day?”
I grin. “What can I say? I’m a late bloomer.”
She throws her arms around my neck. “I love you, too, Griffin.
When she kisses me, I know I’ve found my place. Here in Silver Pine, in Oopsie Daisies, in Ruby’s arms.
This isn’t the end of anything.
It’s the beginning. Of us.