Page 32 of Seeing You

When she finally stopped laughing, she reached over and placed her hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Marcus, it’s time for us to leave the past in the past. I washonestly dreading tonight a little bit; I was afraid of having to go back through all the painful memories. And the thing is, it doesn’t matter if you never found the letter—even though I wrote it and put it on your desk…”

“It wasn’t there!”

“The point is…we’re both doing what we love. You’re happy, right? I mean…you’re living your dream! You’re a fancy financial bigwig, traveling the world, and living in your ultra-modern penthouse. That’s what you always wanted.”

“You wanted that too at one time,” he reminded her.

“I did,” she said, nodding. “Then I realized it didn’t make me happy. What I do now—the baking and investing in the local businesses—that makes me happy. Being close to my family? That makes me happy. So really, we should both be happy that we were free to be who we genuinely are.”

“I suppose,” he murmured after several long moments. “So…this is closure, huh?”

Her smile was sad as she squeezed his arm one more time. “It is.”

It was.

For the rest of the drive back to her house, they talked about old friends and caught each other up on things that didn’t really matter. When he pulled into her driveway, he was both relieved and incredibly sad.

This was it.

This was…goodbye.

Billie twisted to face him. “Take care of yourself, Marcus. Be happy.”

Nodding, he turned and got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side, opening the door for her.

“You didn’t need to do that, but…thank you,” she said softly.

“A gentleman always opens a door for a lady,” he said. “My mother taught me that from an early age.” And as much as heknew his mother would be proud of his manners, she probably would be less than thrilled with the rest of his life.

A depressing thought for another time.

At the front door, Billie pulled out her key and looked up at him. “I appreciate you walking me to the door.”

He nodded.

“I hate to ruin this mini truce,” she said cautiously, “but I can’t help but feel like there’s something you want to say.”

Another nod. “First, thank you for agreeing to go out with me tonight. I know it didn’t exactly go very well, but…like I said…this was for closure. So…thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome. It’s the same for me.” She paused. “I should go in. Four-thirty comes way too early.”

Marcus took a tentative step back. “Goodnight, Billie, and…you take care of yourself too.”

“Goodnight,” she whispered.

When she turned her back to him, he didn’t move. He couldn’t. He didn’t get his answers, and there was still a part of him that felt like there was supposed to be more. It took mere seconds for him to realize exactly what he needed.

“Billie?”

Glancing at him over her shoulder, she replied, “Hmm?”

Maybe he should have asked for permission, but if this was going to be the last time he saw her, then he wanted a better memory than a ring on the corner of a desk.

Moving in close, he spun her around, cupped her face, and kissed her with all the pent-up emotion and longing he’d been too afraid to unleash. She moved in closer, pressing up against him even as her arms went around him, and kissed him back with equal fervor. It was hot and passionate and almost brutal, and then…

It was over.

He pulled back first and stared at her lovely, dazed expression. “Goodbye, Billie,” he whispered before turning and walking back to his car.

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