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“Figured you would be.” I wink at her. “You worked hard last night.”
She gives me a sly look. “It takes two.”
She sits up, and I put the breakfast tray between the two of us. I butter her toast, and she pours me coffee from a carafe. We eat in amiable silence. It feels natural, and I fucking love it.
“I can’t wait to cook our first meal together in our new home,” she says with a smile. “I’ll learn, eventually.”
“You don’t have to. I mean, I could just hire someone.”
She shakes her head. “I want to.”
I squeeze her hand. “Me too.” Maybe people take domestic tasks for granted. I can’t fucking wait to have a lawn to mow and a fridge to fill.
“How are you feeling?” I ask when we’re done with breakfast and the tray’s been pushed aside.
“I’m alright,” she says quietly as she checks me over. “How are you? Are you hurt?”
I shrug. “I’ve got a few injuries but nothing that really bothers me. I’d have taken a hundred times worse than this for you.”
She strokes my arm and kisses my bare shoulder. “I know. And I love you for it.”
“I love you too.”
She smiles. “Nice twist there.” The way her eyes twinkle and a little hint of a dimple forms in her cheek makes my heart turn over in my chest. “I love you,” she says, her voice husky with emotion.
I squeeze her hand.
A beat passes before she continues thoughtfully. “Ollie, I think I want to talk to someone. Therapist or something, you know? I think I need to heal. Not just from what happened with Carlos, but everything. I need to learn how to be…me…but without all that…fear.” She sighs even as her eyes glisten.
I squeeze her hand, so damn proud of her. “I think that would be an excellent idea. Nikko’s Vera has a friend who works with us. Or did you have someone in mind?”
“No, that would be great. Thank you. I just… I know I’m mourning my brother’s death, but I’ve really been thinking about what you said. I’m not as sad about his death as I thought I would be, and I think it’s because I’ve already mourned who he once was, if that makes sense.”
I kiss her cheek. “It does, beautiful. And I’m proud of you.”
King Arthur circles the door and gives a littleyip,effectively ending our conversation as we race to pull on clothes and take him outside. It’s a little overcast and cloudy, with a slight drizzle. Renata inhales the clean air. “Wow, it’s beautiful out, isn’t it? I never thought a day like this—cloudy, raining—could feelhopeful.But it does.”
I smile at her and look to where the clouds break and light streams from the heavens above. I love that she looks at an overcast day like this and sees beauty. I see it too. “Yeah, baby,” I say, my voice soft but sure. “It’s beautiful.”
We walk forward, hand in hand, our fingers tangled like the past we leave behind. As long as we’re together, whatever comes next doesn’t scare me. Because the future isours.Our promise. Our story.
EPILOGUE
Ollie
"Thisone."Renata stands on the front stoop of the seventh home we’ve looked at in as many days. Nestled in a tree-lined neighborhood thirty minutes from The Cove, it feels like a private oasis. Set back from the road, shadowed behind imposing pines, it’s secluded and homey, and I knew before she claimed it by the look in her eyes that we’ve found our forever home. Some people buy their first home just to move to the next bigger option later, but we want to settle. Put down roots. Grow a family.
“Yeah, baby,” I say softly, surprised to find my voice husky with emotion. It’s nothing extravagant like the homes I grew up in, the ones our realtor took us to, but it’s homey. Comfortable.
"I can see us here," she says, gesturing at the woods. "Running around on the grass with our kids. Maybe we'll have a little… swing set or something. I don't know. But it's just so?—"
"Peaceful," we both say at the same time. Wordlessly, we walk up to the porch, the floorboards creaking under our feet. Theair is tinged with the scent of pine and cut grass. A gentle wind brushes her hair against my arm as I hold her to me. A bird tweets in the distance.
And what we don't have to say out loud is that it’s such a dark contrast to the turbulence we left behind, it feels right.
"I'm going to ask you to do something, Ollie, and I want you to think about it.” Her chestnut eyes bore into mine. She’s so cute when she thinks she can intimidate me. “Don't just snap off an answer without thinking like you usually do."
I shove my hands in my pockets and can't help but smile.
