Page 51 of Best Laid Plans
She stared at him. ‘You’d be willing to do that?’
‘Yes. For the woman I love.’
‘Love…?’ She could barely say the word as her throat filled with happy tears.
‘Oui.’ He nodded. ‘I’m in love with you.’
‘Oh, thank goodness,’ she said in a rush, ‘because I’m in love with you too.’
There was a look of acute happiness in his eyes as he slid his hand into her hair, angling her head towards him and crushing his lips against hers, kissing her with such passion it took her breath away.
When he eventually pulled back, she almost growled with frustration, until he cupped his palms around her jaw and looked deep into her eyes.
‘Yes, I’m in love with you, Indigo. I love you for your strength and your determination. Your generosity even when you have nothing left to give. Your kindness to a stranger who needed someone to take an interest in him and make him feel like he had something left to offer. That’s why I love you. Because you remind me of all the good things about me that I’d forgotten about. You’re the person I’m supposed to have my happy-ever-after with. I believe that now.’
‘I believe it too.’
‘Good.’
He kissed her again, even more thoroughly this time.
‘I want it all with you, Indigo,’ he said, kissing her nose, her eyes. ‘A home, a family…’ He kissed her forehead, her cheeks. ‘A future.’ He drew back and smiled, deep into her eyes. ‘But mostly I want you.’
She experienced a surge of pure joy at his words, knowing for certain now that this was meant to be. That this was fate, and she could give him everything he wanted.
And more.
Much, much more.
EPILOGUE
When pondering what to do for your next adventure, you might want to consider something that has it all: excitement, good society and a plethora of opportunities for personal discovery…
Two years later
Indigo paced back and forth, quickly covering the floor space of the home that she and Julien had bought together after he’d whisked her off to Paris to propose, just six months after moving to London.
They’d fallen in love with the bijou but funky flat situated in a warehouse conversion in Brixton as soon as they’d walked into it. Since moving in, they’d had great fun decorating it simply but stylishly, haunting the antique and flea markets in both London and Paris until they’d managed to put together a collection of furniture that suited and reflected both of their tastes.
With the two of them sharing the mortgage, Indigo had been confident she could comfortably afford her half of the repayment with her wage from the Welcome Cafe and she loved walking through the door and knowing that this place was just as much hers as it was Julien’s.
It seemed like a long time ago now that she’d been worried about having to give up working at the cafe, but she still felt grateful every day for the grants that had turned up just in the nick of time, allowing them to expand and, more recently, open up new branches in other parts of the city. Even though she’d known Julien would have stepped in and given her as much money as she needed had the grants not appeared, she would never have taken it from him, needing to maintain her financial independence for her own sense of pride.
As it turned out, he’d needed to invest a lot of it in his not-for-profit affordable housing scheme, which had already brought happiness and security to a large number of people who had previously believed they’d never be able to afford their own home.
She was so proud of him for what he’d achieved in such a short space of time. He’d worked tirelessly to make it all happen and was full of positivity for expansion in the future.
It made her heart swell to see him so fired up and happy.
Even though they both led very independent working lives, they’d made sure they were around for each other whenever support was required – either as a sounding board to bounce ideas off, or just to be there to listen to each other talk about the vexations or achievements of their day.
Since they were both incredibly busy during the week, they made sure to take regular breaks away from the city at weekends, when they’d walk and camp and explore the most beautiful parts of England, and occasionally other European countries.
It was a solid and equal partnership, with both of them working hard to make sure they communicated any worries or frustrations they had well before they became an issue.
It worked.
But then she always knew it would. Because they both wanted it to.
