Page 104 of Those Two Words

“I’m yours,” I say between kisses.

“And I’m yours. Forever,” he declares.

We lose ourselves in the kiss but never loosen our hold. Only when the sun is about to wink out of the sky do we stop, not wanting to miss the sunset. Patrick wraps me in his arms, and I lean into his strong chest, as we watch the fiery watercolors disappear behind the ocean.

By the time we get back to town, twilight has faded, and the stars twinkle and flicker high in the sky.

We tumble into my apartment, half of our clothes already gone from our journey up the stairs. We come together in a frenzy of limbs right there on my living room floor.

Hours later, Patrick wakes me up in the middle of the night and makes love to me slowly. With his body curled against mine, he whispers sweet promises of our future together, the children we’re going to have, and how he wants to watch me walk down the aisle with a bouquet of wildflowers.

I whisper my promises to care for him until the end of my days, how I’ll love Lottie like she is my own, and how I hope to make him even half as happy as he makes me.

I fall back to sleep in his arms.

Feeling so happy. So loved. And finally his.

For all the unspoken words, it took only two to put us back together.

forty-one

PATRICK

ONE MONTH LATER

I lean my head back as the sun beams down on me, the grass tickling my wrists, and sweet laughter ringing in my ears.

It’s not just any laughter, though. It’s the laughter from two very important ladies.

With one eye open, I squint over at them from across the picnic blanket. Lottie and Johanna are whispering and giggling to each other. My daughter is attempting to braid Jo’s long hair, the blonde locks shining the brightest I’ve ever seen them as the sun kisses the tops of their heads.

My girls.

I’d find the interaction sweet, if I wasn’t suspicious of them secretly plotting something against me.

“What are you two up to?” I ask, both eyes open now.

“Daddy, don’t sneeze-drop, it’s rude,” Lottie scolds.

“It’s eaves-drop, spud. And it can’t be eavesdropping if you are sitting right next to me and cackling away like a pack of hyenas.”

“It’s a need to know, sorry. And you need to be a girl to know,” Jo says. She’s lying on her front, head turned toward me as Lottie plays with her hair. She doesn’t seem to mind the knotted mess Lottie is causing at the back of her head and lies there looking serene and radiant.

Things have moved quickly since that initial meeting at the restaurant, and although it didn’t end conventionally, we all met up a week later to discuss the prospective buyer’s proposal. It didn’t feel right not to include all our siblings, so Graham came along to the meeting, and we dialed Florence and Harriet in. It was a unanimous decision, and a no-brainer. I still have my apprehensions, but for now no changes are being made and we take each day at time.

My mom and George are waiting for the final purchase agreements to be written up, and once signed, the restaurant will officially have a new owner. They’ve remained anonymous, and I don’t know if that’s a good or bad sign, but no one dares question it.

Graham has decided to take a step away from some of his bigger clients, handing them over to other accountants at his firm, claiming he wants to spend more time around the restaurant. He’s not the only one to be suspicious of our prospective new owner, but he’s been hanging around Robin Road an awful lot lately.

As for Jo and me, there was no big announcement about our relationship. There didn’t need to be, either, because it seems everyone knew what was going on before we did. We just took some catching up. And now that we’re all caught up, we aren’t wasting a second.

We’re not sad about the years we spent apart, because it only made us stronger. Time allowed us to grow and heal into the people we are today. That doesn’t mean I’m not making up for every missed smile, kiss, and night we could have spent together.

I show her exactly how much she means to me every moment I can. I’ll never stop showing her, and soon, I’ll show her by asking her to be my wife. By growing our family.

I won’t stop, even after my last breath.

I no longer have to guess where one of her new freckles is from, or what made her smile that day. Because I’ll be by her side the second a new one appears, and I’ll be the one putting that stunning smile on her face.

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