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His mind went back in time to the promises he’d made to her. He remembered the joy and love in Charli’s gaze as they had talked. So full of hope for the future they’d have one day.
This was not the road they had planned to travel to reach their future. That didn’t mean they couldn’t still have a future together. A different—better—future.
Blake looked at the woman sitting across from him, and for a moment, he saw the young woman she’d been twelve years ago. But he also saw the woman she was now. And that was the woman he loved.
“I want a future with you and Layla. I want Layla to know that I’m her father. I want to raise Layla and Amelia together with you.” When Charli’s beautiful brown eyes widened, Blake swallowed against the sudden flare of nerves. “I love you, Charli. I want everything you’re willing to give me.”
Charli finally moved her hands from her mug, but it was only in order to cover her face with them. When Blake heard her begin to cry, he got up and went around to sit on the chair next to her.
Blake hesitated for just a moment before he wrapped his arms around her. When she sagged against him, her shoulder pressing into his chest, Blake knew he’d done the right thing.
He rested his cheek on the top of her head and just held her. Tears weren’t something he’d shed a lot of over the years, but the charged emotion flowing between them made his eyes sting. His heart wept right along with hers.
His sorrow was for the lost years. For the mistakes he’d made along the way.
As the emotions began to ebb, Blake took a deep breath to loosen the vise around his chest. Charli held onto his arm with both hands, and Blake could feel her taking measured breaths.
“Do you forgive me?” Blake murmured. “I really am sorry for what I did twelve years ago.”
Without hesitation, she said, “I do forgive you.”
The knot inside him loosened at her words. Blake waited for her to ask if he forgave her, too. Instead, she lapsed into silence as she huddled against his chest.
Right then, Blake felt like he had the world in his arms. He hadn’t thought he’d ever be able to hold her like this again. “I forgive you too.”
“You shouldn’t,” she said, her voice so low he almost didn’t hear her. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness after what I did.”
“You did what you did because of what I did,” Blake told her. “If I hadn’t ended things the way I had, or if I hadn’t ignored your attempts to get hold of me, you would have told me. Bad decisions can set off a train of unfortunate results. I accept that.”
“But I could have told you sooner,” she said.
She could have. That was true. But she hadn’t. So he was left with the choice of holding onto that anger and hurt and losing the relationship with Charli, or letting it all go and embracing the future he wanted.
“Yes. You could have,” Blake agreed. “But I don’t want to dwell on that anymore. I want to focus on the future and what God has planned for us.”
Hopefully that would be a future together, but that was up to Charli.
“Do you really want to be with me?” Charli asked, her voice low and tremulous.
“Yes.” Blake said it forcefully, needing her to believe him. “I wanted that before I knew Layla was mine, and I still want it now.”
It was important that she understood that he didn’t feel that way just because he’d discovered Layla was his daughter. That definitely wasn’t true. Knowing that was just an added incentive to make this work. If that was what Charli wanted.
Charli tipped her head back, and their gazes met. Her eyes were still damp with emotion. “I love you too. And I want that future with you and Amelia. I want us to be a family one day.”
One day soon, Blake hoped. But he’d take the promise of a future with her, no matter how long it might take.
Blake couldn’t keep the smile from his face, and Charli smiled back, the tide of emotion slipping away from her eyes.
His love for Charli flooded him, and Blake whispered, “Can I kiss you?”
Rather than answer, Charli lifted her hand to the back of his neck. When their lips touched for the first time in twelve years, Blake had the most intense feeling of being home. Of being right where he was supposed to be.
He cupped her cheek, savoring the softness of Charli’s skin as he gently moved his thumb over her cheekbone. Blake didn’t know how to pinpoint what it was about Charli that drew him more strongly than any of the other relationships he’d had in the past, but he didn’t fight it.
When their kiss ended, they shared another smile, and this time, Charli’s fully reached her eyes.
“I’ve missed you,” he told her. “So much. Twelve years is a long time.”
