Page 153 of The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love

Hours ago, I told Ashleigh I was going to start calling Mrs. Lundy, Hildy. Now, I’m silently promising that if she can help these two understand how great Ashleigh and I could be together I’ll call her anything she wants.

I glance at my watch and as well as noting the time, am reminded how patient I’ve learned to be. Carlos and Oz are important to Ashleigh. I can take the time to explain I intend to be as good to her as she is to me. I’ll explain it over and over, if I need to. But when I glance back at them, I’m struck with how immovable they look and just how huge Oz is.

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake,’ Mrs. Lundy says to Carlos and Oz. ‘He’s got totally the wrong idea. Hold your signs up.’

The three of them shuffle into a line and I see now that Mrs. Lundy – Hildy’s sign says:

Two words, 7,4: On Your Return

Carlos and Oz are holding up a page each that has hand-drawn crossword grids and Hildy is holding a marker out to me. I relax and my grin re-forms as I reach forward to write in Welcome Home. This is above and beyond the welcome home I used to get when I was with Anya, which mostly consisted of a text along the lines of:

Working. Rain check?

But Ashleigh doesn’t rain check anything and I love that about her.

And then, suddenly, Carlos is being pushed one way, Oz the other, and there Ashleigh is, breathing hard, her beautiful big brown eyes drinking me in.

My heart stops mid-beat and then re-starts. It’s going to do this every time I see her now and how can I be mad about that when it feels so damn good?

‘You’re here,’ she whispers.

‘I’m here,’ I whisper back.

‘No, I mean, you’re here,’ she repeats and in a split second she’s launching herself into my arms to claim my mouth with hers.

Hell yes to kisses first, news later, as I drop my bags to the floor and wrap my arms around her, returning her enthusiasm with my own. No jetlag on earth could win out over the sparks created by her mouth on mine, in turn soothing and wakening every cell in my body and making my heart pound with life.

When she finally draws back, we’re both breathing hard. ‘Wow,’ I finally manage. ‘Totally surpasses the Welcome Home banner.’

Ashleigh lowers herself awkwardly back down to the floor and clearing her throat, says, ‘Sorry – I guess that was maybe a lot?’

‘Not sure it could ever be enough, actually,’ I tell her, and then, already missing touching her, I reach out to drag my knuckles gently down the velvet smoothness of her cheek. That’s when I notice her red eyes. ‘Hey, what’s this?’ I swallow hard. ‘You’ve been crying?’ The last time I saw her cry was at Jasmine and Rob’s wedding but that was also the time I saw courage that impressed me to my core.

‘It’s nothing,’ she says, flapping a hand dismissively.

‘It’s not nothing if it made you cry,’ I insist. At first my brain can’t catch up – it’s reluctant to leave Happy Land when I had her in my arms but as I watch her gaze dart away and it finally registers I don’t see any of the other passengers from my plane hanging around, my little grey cells start firing. ‘You’ve been waiting here for me but I didn’t come out with the others,’ I murmur, my mouth dry as it forms the words.

She looks horribly guilty as she admits, ‘I may have started wondering if you’d decided to stay in the UK and didn’t know how to tell me?—’

I breathe in deep, preparing to tell her there’s nothing that could have kept me from getting on that plane but she’s rushing out more words.

‘—but then I knew that’s not who you are. You said you were getting on the plane. And I believed you. Trusted you.’

My heart expands to accept her trust even while she stares at the floor and murmurs, ‘It’s just when you still didn’t appear…’

‘You thought something had happened to me?’ Slowly I tip her head up so that our gazes can connect and when she blushes deeply, I know it for certain. Swallowing, I explain, ‘I was making a call – that’s why I didn’t come out with the others. It was quieter where I was and I was so busy concentrating on what I was saying I ignored the call alert then afterwards, I was so wrapped up in when I’d get to see you and tell you my news…’ I take out my phone and look at it. Shit. ‘I’m sorry, Ashleigh. I see the missed calls. There’s a message too. I’m guessing it’s from you?’

I go to play it but in a surprisingly fast move given his size, Oz reaches out and whips the phone out of my hands. ‘Nope,’ he says, making my eyebrows shoot up to somewhere in the vicinity of my hairline. ‘You don’t need to hear that.’

My gaze slides to Ashleigh, who, if possible, flushes an even deeper crimson, making me guess she left an angry message she’s going to want me to delete without playing.

‘I hate I worried you,’ I tell her. ‘I know you have direct insight into how life can change in an instant. I also know that doesn’t just go away.’

‘I’m mortified,’ Ashleigh responds. ‘This was supposed to be a simple welcome home. I really thought I’d conquered the what ifs but what if the reality is that brave Ashleigh was only here for a flicker?’

I wonder if she has any idea how beautiful she is when she blushes.

Or when she looks into my eyes like I’m the only guy in the world.

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