Page 170 of Until the Last Star Fades

He smiled lovingly. “You were like this rare, beautiful comet lighting up the dark sky. You helped me find my way again… helped me find myself again. You saved me.”

Her eyes dropped to the ground and her grin broke free, his kind words and the feel of his unwavering gaze raising a warm blush to her cheeks.

“If you’d left me in the shitty strip club that night, God knows where I’d be…what I’d have done.” He reached up, freeing a rogue leaf from her ponytail. “I owe you so much…”

Lifting her chin, she caught his eyes. “Well, I owe you more—Mom and I both do.”

A wistful look washed over his face. “That day up on the rock in Central Park, you went to get ice creams and were laughing with the vendor. I remember looking down at you and thinking I could never get tired of that smile. I pulled out my phone and saw Maggie’s crowdfunding page on Facebook. It floored me. I didn’t know what to do or say. All that fear, the helplessness I had when I lost my mum, it all came flooding back…”

Riley gripped Ben’s hand tightly as he continued.

“I know it was stupid, but I thought it was the right thing at the time, just a little white lie. I wanted you to know I’d been through something similar, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell you the truth. I didn’t want to be that person—the idiot who tells someone in the middle of the battle, ‘Oh, yeah, my mum had cancer. She had surgery, chemo, but none of it worked and she died.’”

He refused to be a Grim Reaper—he was just trying to protect my heart.

“You didn’t need to hear my unhappy ending, Riley. I wanted you to keep fighting for her, still have hope. So…I said Mum had beaten her cancer, because—God’s honest truth—I wanted that for you and Maggie, more than anything in the world…”

A surge of warmth—gratitude—filled her chest. Riley pulled him into a tight embrace, fresh tears in her eyes. “Ben, I don’t like lying, but…” He didn’t do it maliciously; he knows what it’s like—losing hope when the odds are against you. “I understand why you did it. You were sparing me more hurt. You were trying to be kind…”

Ben held her in his arms, his head on her shoulder. “I think…sometimes…it’s easier to help someone else with their pain than to deal with your own, you know?” Pulling back, a gentle smile softened Ben’s face again. “And I was already falling in love with you—so badly. That mad feeling…it knocked me sideways.” He laughed, playfully. “I was giddy and dopey, wanting to be around you all the bloody time. I’d fight dragons—NO!—I’d pick up spiders for you and…” His grin faded, a hushed tone imbuing his voice. “Lie about the worst day of my life…if it would help lift you up.” A sigh passed his lips as he let her go and slid his hand around hers, his thumb strumming her skin. “Riley, I love you so much, you know that, right? You’re my everything.”

And you’re mine. A rush of goose bumps rose underneath her parka. All the tender moments they’d shared, cherished in memory, wrapped around her heart. She gave his hand a squeeze. “I love you, too.”

Ben squeezed it back. “That day, when you told me Maggie’s blood type? I know we’d only been going out for a little while, but…I can’t really explain it. It’s like I knew I could help her, and it was maybe, you know…a second chance. There was nothing I could do for my mum, but I felt like maybe I was meant to meet you and Maggie when I did. Sounds daft, I know…”

“No, it doesn’t.” Riley’s offered an understanding smile.

Ben slowly shook his head in frustration. “I didn’t mean to do any harm, but the longer it went on, the lie sorta took on a life of its own. I was afraid you’d dump me the second I told you the truth. When you called to celebrate six months post-op, I behaved terribly, and I’m so sorry. I was actually over the moon that you might be moving here for work, but I was afraid you’d ask to meet Mum if you came. It all started to eat away at me. So, I decided if you didn’t get the job, I’d tell you and Maggie in June, face to face when I visited New York, and if you did come over, I swore I’d do the right thing and bring you…here.” He glanced at his mother’s gravestone, his face crinkling into a worried frown. “I can only imagine what Maggie will think when she finds out. If she doesn’t want anything to do with me, I’ll understand—”

“Ben, it’s okay.” Riley released his hand and stepped closer, her heart pounding, screaming in her chest—just kiss him!—but she didn’t, taking his face in her hands instead. “We’ll explain it to Mom. She’ll understand…just like I do.” As she stroked her fingers delicately over his cheeks, Ben’s worried expression faded, replaced by a soft grin. “But, please, no more secrets, okay?”

He rested his hands on her waist. “Definitely, no more secrets. It’s a huge relief, actually, telling you…” A soft breath left his lips. “Riles, I miss her so much.”

“Ben.” Riley gathered him in, desperate to ease his pain. “I can only imagine…”

Safe within her embrace, he gave in to his grief. “You know, it’s always there, under the surface. Some days—Mother’s Day, her birthday—I brace myself, knowing it’s gonna be bad, but it’s weird—a regular day can feel worse. I’ll be in a shop and hear a song she loved or see someone wearing a coat like hers and…” His voice cracked. “It breaks me so hard. It just comes at me and I can’t stop it…” His hand swiped tears from his eyes. “I miss telling her my good news and hearing her laugh. I know it sounds daft, but I keep our old number in my phone. I like seeing it there.”

Stroking Ben’s back, Riley nodded. “My mom carries her dad’s driver’s license in her wallet. She can’t part with it. She talks to him sometimes, too.”

“Oh, I do that—all the time. I don’t need a church or a grave, I just…wherever I am, I share how I’m doing, how much I love her, and…how much I love you.” He pulled back, meeting her eyes.

An ache stirred inside Riley’s chest. Five months, three days and…too many hours! Just KISS HIM! Slowly breathing him in, her lips joined his, the softness of his mouth feeling like home. Ben’s hands shifted upward, pressing through her bulky parka like he couldn’t hold her close enough. From the tenderness of his kiss, his eager embrace, Riley knew Ben was as devoted to her as she was to him. She leaned back, smiling as his hair danced in the wind across his forehead.

“I’ve never kissed in a cemetery before. Have you?”

“Um…” Ben bit his lip.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then!’ They shared a quiet laugh.

Ben gently swept a lost eyelash from Riley’s cheek. “But I’ve never been in love in one…until now.”

“Well, that makes two of us.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, the touch of her fingers reveling in his hair, eliciting a groan of longing from his lips.

“You don’t know how good it feels to hear that.” Ben nuzzled her ear and a new burst of goose bumps tickled her skin, causing her to shiver against him. “That wind is picking up. Want to head back?”

“When you’re ready.”

Ben pulled back slightly. “We could go to mine. Spencer’s away on a hen weekend—”