Page 645 of Manhattan Bossholes

I smiled at her, and she took a deep breath and headed for me.

“Hi,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “I’m glad you’re here.”

I was way more than glad, but I didn’t want to scare her off by being overeager.

Her mouth went tight. “I’m not sure why I came, to be perfectly honest with you.”

I ignored the wariness in her voice. “There’s so much I need to say to you, but before I do, I want to show you something.” I resisted the urge to take her hand. “It’s right over here.”

She frowned but followed behind me anyway. I led her to a vine-camouflaged door in the iron gate on the far corner of the park.

“This is for you,” I said as I swung it open. “And everyone.”

Felicity stepped through the entrance and sucked in a shocked breath. “What?”

I watched her expression as she walked closer to the fairy tale treehouse perched about three feet above the ground, between two old trees.

“This was the empty patch of land…did you…?”

I braced myself for the speech I’d practiced a dozen times.

“I know you and I have a terrible track record when it comes to parks. I wanted to change that. I thought this might be a start.”

It was like she couldn’t hear me as she examined the treehouse.

“It’s magical,” she said. “Like gingerbread, and the Swiss Family Robinson, and Peter Pan, and Tarzan, all wrapped into one structure. It’s incredible!”

“I’m glad you like it.” I still refused to allow myself to be hopeful. I pushed on. “This patch of land was basically forgotten, so I did some research to figure out who owned it. I made the offer to buy it with the stipulation that I would donate the land to the city, so long as they let me design and build what went on it.”

Felicity had turned away from the treehouse to watch me as I explained. I didn’t dare hope that I saw softness in her eyes.

“I know that a treehouse was a special refuge for you when you were younger, and I wanted to provide that same sort of space for children in the neighborhood. And you too, if you ever felt the urge.”

She hid a smile.

“This treehouse is designed by a former Disney architect, and if you look closely, you’ll see characters from all sorts of fairy tales and books worked into the design.”

She stepped closer to it to examine the details along a railing. “May all of your dreams come true.”

Her smiley expression slipped for a moment, and I wished I knew what she was thinking. That perhaps it was possible for her? Or that her dreams were out of reach?

Felicity climbed up the steps to check out the inside. I let her explore on her own, hoping that she was as taken with it as I’d been. When she came back out, she had tears in her eyes.

“It’s wonderful. And incredibly generous.”

“It’s just the beginning, actually. Come sit with me.” I pointed to a bench tucked between two shrubs. “There’s more I’d like to say to you.”

Felicity walked like she was in a daze.

“First, I want to apologize for how I acted that day in Central Park. I was childish, and rude, and hurtful. There’s no excuse, but I would like to give you an explanation. I told you about my relationship with Carolina. Well…Central Park was where I proposed to her.”

Felicity’s eyes widened. Whatever she’d been expecting, it hadn’t been this.

“Being back there had me thinking about my relationship with her,” I continued. “How perfect it seemed at first, how awful it was when everything fell apart. How much I hated myself in the aftermath for getting caught up in all the parts that felt good and ignoring all the ways it was bound to self-destruct. So when Lucy thought I was about to propose to you—be spontaneous and romantic and reckless the way I was back then—I flipped out. I lashed out at you when you were the last person who deserved it. I’m mortified that I put you in that position, in front of so many people. I obviously can’t take it back, but I want you to know that I regret every second of it.”

Her eyes welled. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear that,” she whispered.

“I know,” I said, my voice raw with emotion. Damn it, I needed to keep it together. I had so much more to get through. “And I’m sorry it took me so long to say sorry.”