“I think at this point, we can survive anything.” He swept a fingertip over the underside of my wrist.
“Jake, can we start over?”
“No,” he said, glancing over my shoulder at the group. “Let’s just . . .” His lips brushed by my ear. “Keep going.”
I closed my eyes against the torrent of emotion and the shudder of pleasure his quick touch evoked. “It shouldn’t be this easy.”
“I doubt it will be,” he said, resigned. “I work too much, and I know you do, too. And we’ll have to figure out how to be together when we live so far apart.” He looked over the lake, his expression a little sad. “It’s probably going to be hard.”
It terrified me I wasn’t going to be interesting enough to sustain the connection between us. I was worried he might walk away from me or I’d try to push him away again. I paused, thinking back to my sessions with the counselor.
I need to pay attention to how much this self-doubt creeps in.
I followed his gaze across the water, our fingers mingled in the sand between us. “I’m nervous, but not as much as I would have thought.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t think of anyone else I’d want to try with.” I angled my body to his. “It’s taken me too long to say it, far too long, but I’m in love with you, Jake . . . toe-curling, dancing-in-public, don’t-care-who-knows-it, point-out-I-snore, and tell-me-another-joke in love with you.”
Trust a man. Check.
His eyebrows dipped, a grin spreading across his face.
“Say something . . .”
He smiled, his blue eyes bright and dancing as he stroked a finger down the back of my hand.
“。 . . well?”
He glanced over my shoulder again. “I was waiting until the dietitians were distracted.” He brought my fingers to his lips, kissing my knuckles sweetly and holding my hand to his face. “And, for the record, I’m in love with you, too. Phobia-facing, pun-making, you-had-me-from-day-one, I’m-never-letting-you-go-again in love with you.”
“When I imagined you saying that, I pictured fewer dietitians,” I whispered back.
“I always assumed there’d be a gaggle.” He laughed, and, like that, it seemed we were back to where we’d been, making each other laugh and forgetting the rest of the world.
My spine relaxed in a way that made me realize how stiffly I had been holding myself. “Is ‘gaggle’ the technical term for a group of them?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask next time I’m at the library. Man, that will be awkward with Gladys, though.”
“It’s a hard life you lead,” I said.
“Not really.” He shrugged, his fingers slipping from my skin, the trace of his touch lingering on my nerve endings. He smiled at me, his eyes almost twinkling in the sunset. “It seems I have it pretty good right now.”
A slight breeze picked up, but it didn’t diminish the warmth between us. I had nothing to add to my list in that moment, but it felt like a whole world of things I could add had just opened up.
Epilogue
The cut of the pants and the way the jacket framed his shoulders left me in awe every single time. I wonder if Jake would agree to wearing tuxedos around the house or while mowing the lawn.
The ceremony took place on the top of a mountain overlooking a lush valley, and the smell of gardenia and lavender filled the air. Jake stood at the altar, his features bathed in the sunlight of the hazy North Carolina morning. His gaze moved to mine, and he smiled, the one just for me, before he turned back to face the happy couple.
Jake handed the ring to his best friend. They exchanged a tight hug before Tyson faced Eric and the officiant walked them through their vows.
I dotted a tissue at the corner of my eye. Jake glanced my way and winked—he’d been the one to give me a small package of them, even though I’d insisted I wouldn’t cry.
The ceremony was followed by cocktails while the couple took pictures in front of the stunning vista with their wedding party. Standing in this jovial crowd alone would have made me anxious a year before, but sipping the drink, I enjoyed the moment.
The last year had been a whirlwind. Davis was convicted but didn’t receive any jail time. He hadn’t tried to contact me, though. He’d stayed away from Jill, too. When we’d finally talked, she’d shared that her experiences had been like mine. We cried and shared, and it was horrifying and affirming to know someone else going through a similar healing process. We’d become close, and between her, the counselor, and Jake, I felt like I was finally moving out from Davis’s shadow.