Page 63 of A Touch of Magic at the Comfort Food Café

‘About my dad?’

‘About everything. About the way I left things. About being me.’

He frowns slightly and shakes his head. ‘Don’t do that. Don’t make this a thing about how you’re just broken. I hate it when you do that.’

‘I know,’ I say, gulping. ‘And I won’t. But I’m trying to explain and I’m not doing very well. So, imagine that I’m a lot younger.’

He raises his eyebrows. ‘Sarah, I’m too tired to have yet another conversation about your age.’

‘No, no, honest, that’s not what this is! Imagine I’m so much younger that I’ve never been in love. Imagine I’ve never understood what it feels like to need somebody. Imagine everything that’s happened to me since I met you has been new, happening for the first time…’

‘You’re not a virgin, Sarah.’

‘No, but emotionally, I kind of am. Or at the very least I’m… I don’t know, immature. This is nothing to do with our ages. Because, frankly, you’re the grown up here. You’re the one who is wise enough to know what he wants and to ask for it. You’re the one brave enough to talk about love, despite everything that you’ve gone through. I’m… a baby. A big, fat, crying baby.’

His lips start to twitch, and I see a flash of amusement in his eyes.

‘You’re not fat,’ he says. ‘But maybe you were a bit of a baby.’

The dogs are still winding around his legs, tails whacking, shoving their heads beneath his hands. I push my way gently through them so I’m standing right in front of Aidan. I place one hand on his chest, over his heart. I feel it thud beneath my palm, and look up into his eyes.

‘I got scared, Aidan,’ I say simply. ‘I was scared and confused, and I ran. I regretted it so much. I did come back to tell you that, but Melody was here…’

I see him put it all together, and he nods in understanding. ‘And you assumed she was… consoling me?’

‘I did. And I know I was wrong, and I also know that if I’d bothered calling you back in the day, none of it would have happened. So, I’ve suffered like I’ve never suffered before, but I have nobody to blame but myself.’

‘You suffered, huh? How?’

He lays his hand over mine, and that small amount of contact makes my heart leap. It gives me the encouragement to go on.

‘I suffered because I was miserable without you. Because I thought I’d lost you, and that broke me. Because I don’t want to go back to a life without you in it. Because I love you too, Aidan. With every part of me, I love you. And if you can forgive me, if you can bear to give me another chance, then I promise to show that to you every single day. I won’t be perfect, but I will do my very best.’

He slides a hand around my waist and pulls me towards him. I land against his body and dare to hope.

‘I knew you were here,’ he says, his eyes running over my face. ‘Melody messaged me, plus your car was outside. I knew but I didn’t know what to expect. I walked in, and you were surrounded by the pack. They were all asleep with you. Juno on one side, Argent on the other. Frost and Mabel at your feet. You were just lying there, in my home, curled up in the middle of my dogs. It made me realise that they’re actuallyourdogs now. It was… It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’

‘Really? I wasn’t drooling or anything?’

‘Maybe a little,’ he says, moving closer and nuzzling my neck. ‘But I don’t care. It was perfect. Seeing you, seeing them, it was perfect. It was exactly what I needed to see. And of course I’ll give you another chance. Of course I’ll forgive you. That’s what we do for people we love.’

I sink into him, the joy and the relief flowing through me in an almost physical sensation. He loves me. He still loves me. I lift my lips to his and kiss him. His arms tighten around me, and we lose ourselves in the moment.

The dogs howl around us and our world is finally whole. Three words come to mind: Special. Excited. Safe.