Page 168 of Here and Now
“If you want, or we can just be a family, and whenever you want me to be more, I’ll be that.”
I’m pretty sure all of this is going over his head since I’m winging it, but Kai leaps out of his seat and wraps his arms around me. “I want you to be my dad.”
I hug him tight, so fucking grateful this kid is in my life. “It will be my honor,” I say, holding back emotions that are thick in my throat. “My absolute honor.”
thirty-seven
Penelope
I’m so excited. That was the best interview I’ve ever had.
“No, Eloise, she’s amazing,” I tell her as I’m driving back. As soon as I got in the car, I had to call her.
“I know, Nicole is great. So tell me about the job!”
I launch into the description of how her company works differently from other online design businesses. She has been doing this forever and really knows her niche. I’ll be working with higher end budgets and also some that need thrifting. Everything we do is custom and really creative.
“I’m just so excited.”
“And you don’t have to move? I know Nicole is in Tampa, so I didn’t know ...”
“Nope! Since it’s all online, it means I can do it from Ember Falls.”
Eloise squeals. “That’s amazing. Hell, I may go back to work for her.”
“You should!”
“Not yet, but I’m so happy for you!”
It’s been such a whirlwind of life changes. I’m living with my boyfriend-slash-fiancé that I can’t tell anyone I’m engaged to. Kai is thriving in school, and I’m going to go back to working in a field I genuinely love.
All of it feelstoo good to be true.
“Thank you again,” I say to her as relief and joy wash over me.
“No thanks needed, Penny. All of this is great, and it means that you’ll stay in Ember Falls, which is the best news ever. I think my brother would lose his mind if he thought you were leaving.”
“I would never take the job if I had to do that.”
Leaving Miles isn’t an option. I love that man with my soul, and having almost lost him once makes me never want to experience that again.
I’d do any job if it means I stay here. Although I know he’d move if I really wanted to go somewhere else, but I’d never ask him to do that. Ember Falls is just as much my home as it is his, and I can’t see myself growing old anywhere else.
She chuckles softly. “My brother is a lucky man.”
“I think we both win.”
“You know, I always worried about Miles,” Eloise says with concern in her voice. “He loves so deeply, but always held a part of himself back. I know that losing our parents wasn’t easy. Although we never knew our mom, we knew her through Gran. He struggled so much with thinking that having a family and being vulnerable was a risk that he didn’t think was worth it, even though he knew how happy I am with Doug.”
I stay silent for a second. “Do you think he’s happy now?”
“Beyond happy, Penny. He’s ... I don’t even know what to say he is because I’ve never seen the man like this. You really changed him. You and Kai. So, what I guess I’m trying to say in a very long-winded way is ... thank you. Thank you for making Miles see that love and family isn’t a risk, but a reward that never ends.”
I’m not sure what in the world she’s thanking me for. I didn’t give him anything, but the sincerity in each word settles over me. “He’s given me the same, and I’m just thankful we found each other.”
“Me too.”
Cora wails in the background and Eloise sighs heavily. “It never ends. Give me a call tomorrow. Maybe we can grab lunch?”
