Page 52 of Meet Me in Paris

A quick transfer and it was done. I couldn’t give more without an inheritance, but at least it was something.

Then I pulled up Hunter’s name, my fingers flying over the keys.

There’s nothing in the world more important than being with you right now. I’m coming. It will take me a couple of days, but I’ll be there.

I added a heart emoji and sent it before I could think twice.

All the breath in my lungs left at once as I sighed in relief. I loved my sisters, and I loved Hunter, and I would do anything it took to keep all three.

A familiar tune drifted across the night air, bringing my mind back to the Paris Opera House. A melody from the romantic scene inPhantom, when Raoul urged Christine to reject the Phantom and choose him. One of my favorite scenes. Random that I would hear it on a cruise ship, though. They usually played happy, upbeat tunes, not melancholy, soul-searching ballads.

The music grew louder, and I realized someone played it in real time, though it sounded a little off, a little “plucky”? The notes were right, but the overall tone felt way too happy. Like a sad, longing melody turned happy while sipping margaritas on a beach in a tropical paradise. A ukulele instead of a guitar?

I whirled to find a figure moving my way in the darkness, a lean, tall figure with an unmistakable floppy hairstyle holding what indeed looked like a ukulele. The dramatic, romantic song felt ridiculous played on such a happy, plucky instrument.

“I’m afraid I can’t accept your offer,” Hunter said, pausing the music to hold up his phone. “Your leaving now would be rather unfortunate after everything I’ve done to get here.”

“Hunter,” I breathed as we stood looking at each other in the dim light at the front of a massive cruise ship on the open ocean. I had a hundred questions, but one stood out more than the others. “Why the uke and not your guitar?”

“Couldn’t fit the guitar in my suitcase.” He fought a smile and lost, letting a sheepish grin cross his face.

I folded my arms, the night feeling surreal once more. “You’re supposed to be on a plane home.”

“Dad woke up, and he’s recovering. As far as they can tell, he’s retained all his verbal, mental, and physical acuity except for some of the feeling in one pinky finger. They say he’ll be able to come home soon. He’ll need a few weeks to recover at the very least, so I talked my sister into handling the first shift and told her I’d come in about a week.”

“But how did you find us? I never told you where we were going.”

His grin widened. “You know my mom and Eleanor VanGardsen are best friends, right? They tell each other everything.”

“Eleanor, Grandpa’s attorney?” She told her about our trip? But then it made sense. We were sworn to secrecy, but not Eleanor. And with Hunter’s mom being the gossip queen of the town, our secret was bound to come out sooner or later.

“The trip, the inheritance, everything. I became aware of it only a few hours after you left Paris. I never would have asked had I known what you would have to give up. Of course you need to stay with your sisters. There’s no question. I’m awed you even considered turning that down.”

I steeled myself and looked into his eyes. “I put a deposit down on a townhouse in Paris.”

“I know, and I’ll never stand in your way when it comes to following your dreams. We’ll figure it out.”

“I canceled it.”

He blinked. “You . . . what?”

“I mean, I do love Paris. It’s charming and beautiful, andI hope I can go back. But love means knowing where your heart is, and my heart isn’t there. It never was. It took traveling there to see that.” I took the ukulele from Hunter’s hands, lifted the shoulder strap over his head, and set the instrument on a lounger. Then I took his hands in mine. “Hunter, my heart is at home, where my family lived and where my mom spent her last days. It’s with my sisters, one of whom I’ve already wasted too much time living without. It’s with the town that helped raise me and the neighbors I care about. One in particular.”

I lifted a hand to touch the face I knew so well, and I sensed a shudder run through him.

“A lovesick idiot who’s tired of waiting for the girl he’s loved for over a decade?”

I shrugged. “Actually, it’s this neighbor who’s in the hospital right now. But I think he’ll be fine.”

A deep chuckle rumbled through his chest, but he managed to keep it inside. Even in the dim light, I saw the pain etched into every line of his face. I wanted to kiss each one away.

“Kennedy Travell,” he whispered. “I’ve spent the past few years trying desperately to find someone who can replace you. I’ve tried to distract myself, to forget you, even hate you. But my fate was set that day your family moved next door. I knew you were the only one for me when we almost kissed under the stars on the night of graduation, and I know it even more now. I moved half a world away to escape you, and I’ll travel around it ten times to find you, but I can’t live without you. Please. If you don’t feel the same, put this man out of his misery for good.”

I took a step forward until only a hair’s breadth lay between us. I could sense the mint on his breath and smellhis old cologne. I wanted to enjoy the intoxicating combination forever.

Leaning forward until our lips practically touched, I finally spoke “One condition.”

He looked like a man under a spell. “Anything.”

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