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“I came to find you, Rylie. I flew to Boston because I won’t continue pretending we aren’t meant to be together. I know you came to my house and Caden’s mother was there.”
She opens her mouth to speak but I hold up my hand to silence her until she hears me out. A sharp intake emanates from a few of the female guests. Whatever.
“I was putting the little guy to bed,” I continue. “He’d had a nightmare. While I was comforting him, his mother was lying to you.”
Her face softens a little, presumably in empathy for my son. But her mother glares.
“You never told me he has a child,” she hisses.
“Mother, please,” Rylie interrupts, “let him finish. He came a long way to ….speak to me.”
“I never had any intention of reuniting with her. Never. Never will. She lied to you and I knew nothing about that until she let it slip that you’d come over.”
I can see Riley starting to relax. Her body is limp with emotion and I wish I could scoop her up and carry her the fuck out of here. This isn’t her at all.
“I've never been more sure of anything in my life, Rylie. We’re meant to be together. I love you utterly, completely, and crazily. I want to prove to you I can make you happy. You have so much to offer the world, too, Baby. Think about the animals and the environment you love and want to help save. This life here is not you.”
I wave my arms indicating the fancy table, the expensive fixtures, and the antique paintings on the wall. The assembled crowd draws another disapproving breath. I don’t give a shit. I’ve found my stride and I will get my girl back.
Rylie pauses, looks around at the group and then says, “I don’t know—”
“You do, Rylie, I believe you do know. You know what your heart tells you and what your mind confirms. We’re right for each other.”
“But.”
“No buts,” I tell her and stretch out my hand. “Come here, baby. Come home.”
She stands and shakes off her mother’s attempt to clutch her shoulder. The crowd stares silently as she approaches me.
She stops short of allowing me to pull her into my chest but picks up both outstretched hands.
“I’m still scared, Ethan,” she admits.
“Everything worth achieving is scary. Love requires risk, sacrifice, and devotion. I’m in love with you Rylie Cole and I’m here to ask you to return to the islands. Together we’ll live the life you know you’re meant to live.”
I step towards her and she lifts her face to mine.
Her smile opens like a rising crescent moon. Now, brooking no more doubts, I take her into my arms and lower my mouth to hers.
Again the inhalation, now mixed with a few ahhhs from the softer women in the crowd.
When our bodies reconnect, I feel alive again. Her kiss resurrects my soul from the inside. The fire spreads from my center to the tips of my fingers which gently caress her face as if we’d been transported to a lonely mountaintop and had all the time in the world.
