Page 71 of The Location Shoot
“You did?” he asked.
She nodded. “He got his wish: he died in Margaret’s arms. The day before he passed, he told me that he felt bad burdening her that way, leaving her with such loss, but he chose to look at it as a gift. The pain she would feel was in direct proportion to the lifetime of love they shared.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “He was right. When he was gone, all she could do was talk about him and look at photos of their life together. Every tear was laced with love. Those memories brought her peace, even pleasure.”
They stared at each other for a long, intimate moment, as if no one else were there. Finn finally broke the silence. “How have you been?”
“Not well. It’s been really hard, being without you,” she said softly as tears filled her eyes.
“Ella . . .”
“Please, Finn. I need to tell you how deeply sorry I am for what I did. I know I hurt you terribly, and I would do anything to take it back.”
He took her hand and said, “The worst part was that, as devastated as I was, I knew you were hurting just as much and I couldn’t help you.”
“Finn, you were right. I was scared,” she said, tears trickling down her cheeks.
He used his thumbs to gently wipe away her tears. “Ella . . .”
“Please, there are things I have to say to you. I realize you may be with someone else and that I’ve probably lost my chance, but I need you to know how profoundly sorry I am and how much I love you, how much I’ve always loved you. I love you simply because I can’t help but to love you,and I don’t need another reason.” He inhaled sharply, ready to speak, but she continued. “When you left, I spent twenty-four hours crying hysterically. It was the most agonizing pain of my life. The next day, I got up and found a therapist.”
“You did?” he asked.
She nodded. “I wanted to reach out to you so many times, but I knew it wasn’t fair to you. I needed to deal with my own stuff first so I could be certain I’d never hurt you again.” He smiled at her softly. “I even got a kitten. She’s very sweet.”
“A kitten?” he asked.
“I needed to know if I could take care of someone else.”
His smile grew. “I like kittens. What’s her name?”
“Sweden.”
“Oh, Ella.”
“There’s not been a moment that’s gone by that I haven’t thought of you and wished I could turn back the clock. All I can say is that I was terrified, but I’m not anymore. The only thing I’m scared of is living my life without you. If you’ve moved on, well, I’ll have to find a way to live with it. But Finn, if there’s any part of you that wants to give me another chance, I love you. I love you body and soul, and I always will. I trust what we have with all my heart.”
He took a breath, smiled widely, and knelt down on bended knee. Witnessing the scene, reporters scurried to get closer, igniting a frenzied storm of flashbulbs. Finn slipped a small velvet box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a blinding oval diamond engagement ring on a sparkling band. “Ella Sinclair, you are the love of my life. Together, we can live an adventure of our own making. Will you marry me?”
Her eyes flooded. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you,” she gasped through her tears.
He slipped the ring on her finger, rose, and swept her off her feet, whirling her around in the air. The sound of cameras clicking and fans cheering was deafening. Their friends all turned and joined the chorus of enthusiastic applause. When he set her down, he cupped her cheeks and they kissed passionately.
“Oh, baby, I missed you so much,” he whispered.
“I’ve never been so happy in all my life. Tell me it isn’t a dream,” she said.
“Sweetheart, when I got back to LA, Savannah was waiting for me. I broke up with her on the spot. I bought you that ring the very next day. I decided that whenever we saw each other again, if you had figured out what I always knew, that we belong together, I’d know you were ready for me to propose. After all, I promised you I would.” He stroked the side of her face. “Baby, I haven’t been with anyone else. I could never be. I was waiting for you.”
She leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his, melting into his familiar embrace.
“So, where do we live?” he asked.
“I don’t care where we live, only how we live: with nothing but love.” They both smiled and she said, “I live where you live.”
“And I live where you live,” he said, kissing her softly again.
“The room you told me about in your house sounded nice, the one I could use for an office,” she said.
He smiled. “I had that room cleared out a week after I got home from Sweden. Every day since, I’ve walked by that empty room, hoping one day you’d choose to fill it.”
