Page 83 of The Paris Chapter

‘No, I like it,’ Ethan said, smiling back. ‘It is a new chapter for both of us. Your book will be a smash hit, I know it.’

‘You want to hear the title?’ I asked, excited to tell him.

‘Definitely.’

‘It’s going to be calledWe’ll Always Have Paris. What do you think?’

Ethan looked taken aback. ‘Are you serious?’

‘What you said to me by the river, I kept thinking about it. It’s perfect for the book, and for us. Whatever happens, I’ll never forget our time in Paris.’

‘Me too. We’ll go back there together one day,’ Ethanpromised me. He drew me in to brush my lips with his again. ‘I can’t believe you’re going to call your book that. I can’t wait to read it. Tessa, you’ve changed everything for me.’

‘You’ve done the same for me,’ I told him.

Ethan leaned close to my ear to whisper, ‘You know I’m falling in love with you, don’t you?’

I turned my head to whisper into his ear. ‘I’m falling for you too.’

We shared a deep kiss before we went back inside, arm-in-arm. I realised that I felt happy and content. I looked at our friends, who were listening to Luke testing out baby names for the twins with Carly, who hated all the ones he suggested, and I smiled. I loved my friends. I was enjoying writing again, which was and always would be my passion. And beside me was a man who I knew I was going to be head over heels in love with soon.

I couldn’t wait to spend more time with Ethan. To be with someone who was honest with me, who I trusted, who told me how he felt and who saw a future with me and who I saw a future with. But most of all, someone who wanted me to be myself, who I could be myself with, and who had seen me before I saw myself clearly.

I knew one day we would go back to Paris together. It would always be our place. Where we met and where we first started falling for each other. The first chapter of our story, which I really hoped would continue for a very long time.

EPILOGUE

THE FOLLOWING FEBRUARY

It was Valentine’s Day and I stood nervously in front of the packed room in Cinq in Paris. I knew that my bookWe’ll Always Have Parisneeded to be launched in the City of Love, and Juliette hadn’t let me go anywhere but her family’s restaurant for it.

I looked out at everyone as I read a passage from my novel. I didn’t exactly enjoy events; I was still an overthinker at heart and panicked that no one would like the story, plus my imposter syndrome was high, but it helped to see familiar faces rooting for me amongst the strangers. Juliette and our Paris friends, Carly and Luke with their double pushchair, my parents, and everyone from my publisher Turn the Pages including Gita and Stevie. Then my eyes fell on a familiar face. I did a double take, smiling in surprise to see the person I was happiest to find here.

Ethan gave me a reassuring smile, and calmness rolled over me as it always did when I was around him. I took a breath and carried on, finishing the paragraph to an enthusiastic round of applause. I then sat down and Stevie organised a line of readers who wanted me to sign their books. I saw Ethan go over to herhusband Noah and chat to him. They had got on well at Stevie and Noah’s wedding last autumn.

‘The story is so beautiful, I came to Paris because of it,’ a reader said to me as I signed her book.

‘Oh wow, that means so much to me,’ I said.

She told me that she was enjoying the city. I still marvelled at how much my trip this time last year had changed things for me.

When everyone had had their books signed, I got up and went over to Ethan, eagerly leaning into him. He gave me a soft kiss that sent warmth from my lips down my body. ‘What are you doing here?’ I asked. ‘You shouldn’t have come; what about Amour?’

Amour was Ethan and Juliette’s London restaurant. It had now opened and was generating great buzz. Juliette had wanted to keep the one-word tradition of her parents’ restaurant and Ethan had suggested the French word for love to represent their passion for food, Paris, the City of Love, and because my gift for them when they found their venue had been a large print of The Wall of Love in Paris. That print was the first thing you saw when you went inside their restaurant, and it made my heart soar every time I walked past it.

I had never been prouder of someone before as I was of Ethan making his dream come true. But with Juliette here helping me organise my launch party, I had told Ethan I understood that he couldn’t leave their place for the weekend to come to Paris too.

Ethan wrapped an arm around my waist, keeping me pulled in close to him. ‘We show up for each other.’

I looked at him and smiled. ‘I know we do. But what about your restaurant?’

‘Pierre has it covered,’ he replied. Juliette’s boyfriend was their manager and ran it as a tight ship. ‘Our sous chef deserveda chance to run the kitchen for the weekend too. It will all be fine. I had to celebrate your book with you.’

‘It’s really our book,’ I replied. We smiled at one another.

‘You were amazing up there doing your reading. As always.’

‘I was so nervous.’

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