Page 91 of Merry Little Midlife Matchmaker

“It wasn’t a mistake to get involved with you,” he said, and this time he did reach for me. His hand wrapped around my wrist as he tugged me across the threshold into the cold winter night. “The only mistake I made was not standing by your side when I should have. Not shielding you from the shit your family flung at you.” His free hand slid over my jaw, his thumb stroking my cheek.

Confusion swirled around me like stray snowflakes caught in a twist of wind. “What are you saying?”

His shoulders softened. “I’m saying I love you, Lizzie. I love you so much I can’t stand the thought of spending another week without seeing you. You’re my sun. Apart from myson, I mean,” he added, which made me laugh. Sean let out a breath. “The two of you are all that’s good in my life, Lizzie.”

“But—” I blinked at him. My palm rested on his chest, and I could feel the pounding of his heart. “You said I deserve more than you can give me. You were letting me down gently.”

Sean’s strong arms tightened around me, and he let out a short breath. “You deserve more than I can give you, Lizzie, because you deserve the best of everything. Better than I am. But it doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.”

The snowstorm inside me settled in a dead wind. My hands slipped up to touch the stubble on his neck as my heart thumped so hard my vision went fuzzy. “You?—”

“I love you. I love all the parts of you that make you a good mother, and all the parts of you that have been hidden away. I love your eye for detail and the way you see the world through your photos. I love your dimples and the darkness of your eyes. I love your body, and your laugh, and your light. I love you so much that I can’t live without you, Lizzie. Please don’t make me try.”

His eyes were like chips of precious stones. Cold wrapped around us, but the heat of his body kept me warm. Behind me, the anchors on the television called out the countdown to ring in the New Year: “Five! Four!”

Sean tilted his head, listening.

“Three! Two!”

His lips curled into a dangerous smile. “You owe me a New Year’s kiss, Lizzie,” he murmured, tilting my chin with the tips of his fingers.

“One!”

Then Sean used his mouth to show me just how much he’d meant everything he said. It was a kiss made of fireworks and dynamite. It set me ablaze, destroying everything I thought I knew about him—and about me. It was a vow, and a promise, and everything I’d been trying to forget about the past week.

It was pure, blazing love, and I loved him right back.

When we pulled away, I was dizzy. His thumb stroked my cheek with gentle tenderness while the arm banded around my back tightened, as if he couldn’t bear the thought of letting me go but wanted me to know I was safe and cherished in his arms.

And I knew. Iknew. This was real.

“Sean?”

He leaned his forehead against mine. “Mm?”

“I love you,” I whispered.

His exhaled breath was pure relief. “Thank God,” he said, and I laughed as he kissed me again. I lost myself in his touch—or maybe I was finding parts of myself that I’d tried to pack away. All the pieces I’d thought were needy and dependent. All the weaknesses I’d tried to ignore while I kept my life together with spit and duct tape.

I didn’t need to hide them anymore, because Sean was here to hold them for me.

“Mom?”

Jumping, I turned to see Hazel and Zach in the foyer, staring at us with wide eyes. Sean kept his arm around me, but I felt him straighten behind me.

“Hi,” I replied.

“Were you just kissing Sean?” Zach asked, nose wrinkling.

“Um,” I said. “Yeah.”

“Are you in lo-ove?” Hazel asked, stretching the word into two syllables.

Sean’s arm tightened around me, and I couldn’t help the smile that stretched over my face. “Yes.”

I waited, breath bated, for my kids’ reaction. They blinked at the two of us, heads tilting in opposite directions as they processed the news.

Then Zach pointed toward the TV as his forehead wrinkled. “Did we miss the countdown?”

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