Page 97 of One Sweet Day I Found You

His heart began to pound. The emotional strain of the past day and the past week had taken its toll. Her touch made it all go away.

“It’s been a really rough day,” she said.

“It’s been a rough week.” He ran a hand softly through her hair and thought back to the night before, which now almost seemed like the distant past. He wanted to be close to her now, just chill out, hold her, and most importantly, make sure they were on the same page. “Listen, I know it’s late and we’re both exhausted, but can we talk for a little while before I head out?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” she replied. “Do you want to come in for a bit?”

“Yeah.”

He turned off the engine and they headed for the cottage.

Inside, Nick helped Courtney put away the nonperishable groceries she’d left out on the counter. They made sandwiches and sucked down a few ice waters. Finally, Courtney turned off the bright lights in the room and flipped on a soft lamp. Nick kicked back on the couch, and Courtney wiggled in next to him, arms around her knees, and leaned into his chest. It felt so good just to relax there with her.

He sighed heavily. “So I still need to ask you something, Courtney.”

“Sure, what is it?”

Courtney sat up and turned to face him. He ran a hand across her shoulder gently, as he rested against the back of the couch.

“Look, Courtney, I really, really like you, and I want to move forward with you. I’m glad we talked about this a little, but I want to figure out how to communicate in the future so we don’t misunderstand each other again.”

Courtney nodded and looked down for a moment then back into his eyes.

He held her gaze. “I mean—I don’t want to go through this again.”

“Neither do I. And I really, really like you too, Nick. I promise I’ll be more transparent about things. And I’ll be better about chilling out when you haven’t called me back right away.”

He put a hand over her arm. “Okay. And I promise I’ll do better about letting you know when I get called out—or whatever might come up.”

“You can call me or text me any time of the day or night. Don’t ever worry about waking me up. I’d rather know what’s going on.”

“Okay. Thanks. I’m really sorry about that.”

She reached out for a quick kiss then sat back.

Nick gazed at the floor. “There’s one more thing.” He sighed again. Would she understand? “I have to apologize about the Chicago thing. I only said it because I was angry. You had hurt me, and after everything else that went down—well, it was just a terrible knee-jerk reaction.”

Courtney sat up, staring at him.

Nick pushed forward, difficult as it was. “I’m so sorry. I never should’ve lashed out at you like that.” He ran a hand nervously over the back of the couch. “I mean—it wasn’t a total lie. My parents have been on my case about moving back for months, and I started seriously thinking about it this week when things between us got so bad.”

It felt good to get that off his chest. “But I’ve thought about it a lot since last night, and I’m not going anywhere. I can’t leave.”

“You can’t? Why not?” Courtney was listening intently but she now looked confused.

Nick looked her in the eye and took her hand. “Because you’ve stolen my heart.”

Courtney began to smile. “I’ve stolen your heart?” she said softly.

He nodded.

“And you’re not leaving?” Her eyes were getting moist but her voice was eager. “Really?”

He shook his head. “Not if you don’t want me to.”

She wiped away a tear and threw her arms around him. “Wantyou to? Are you kidding me? I never want you to leave!”

Nick pulled her in tight and they held each other. Finally Courtney pulled back.

“Don’t worry—these are happy tears.” She sniffled. “And it’s okay, Nick. I understand. I just want to put this all behind us now.” She wiped her eyes. “So you’re staying for sure, then? We don’t have to put an expiration date on this?” She wiggled a finger from herself and back to him. “I mean, not any time soon, at least?”

The chance that her contract wouldn’t be renewed after the winter holidays still threatened their relationship, but it was far enough away not to worry about it yet.

“No, we don’t.”

“That makes me the happiest girl in the world!” She threw her arms around him again.

He squeezed her tightly then leaned back and brushed his lips across hers. No, he definitely wasn’t going anywhere. He was all in again. No expiration date.

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