Till Death(98)

I hadn’t told Cole that I loved him.

And I was scared out of my mind to do so even though he’d been there for me. There was a part of me, probably a stupid part of me, that still feared he wouldn’t want to be in this for the long haul, because things . . . things were going to be rough.

Nerves filled my belly, but I wasn’t going to chicken out. Life was too short. “I want to tell you something and I don’t want you to feel pressured to answer the same, okay? I just want to get—”

“I love you,” he said, eyes a warm blue.

I blinked. “What?”

One side of his lips kicked up. “I love you, Sasha.”

My lips parted.

He cocked his head to the side. “You were going to say it first, right? And you were worried that I would feel obligated and say it too, so now you know a hundred percent that it isn’t because I feel obligated.”

I stared at him a moment and then I sat up, ignoring the twinge of pain along my side. Cole moved with me. “You . . . you love me?”

His eyes searched mine. “I loved you ten years ago, Sasha. I loved you the entire time you were gone. And I loved you since the moment I walked into the dining room and saw you standing there.”

Oh my . . .

The half grin appeared. “Or maybe you were going to tell me you wanted Japanese takeout and this is about to get really, really awkward.”

“No.” A laugh bubbled up in me. “I was going to tell you that I love you.”

“Was?”

My lips curved up at the corners. “Am,” I corrected, scooting so that our faces were inches apart. “I love you, Cole. I’ve been in love with you since our first date.”

His grin spread as he leaned in and when he spoke, his lips brushed mine. “I’m so glad this didn’t get awkward.”

“Me too.” I paused. “But Japanese takeout does sound amazing.”

Cole chuckled. “I do love you, Sasha. That’s something you never have to doubt.”

Tilting my head just the slightest, I pressed my lips to his. The kiss was soft and perfect. “I won’t.”

Carefully, he eased me back down onto my back and he shifted so he was on his side beside me. “I’ll call your favorite in—steak and shrimp, correct?” When I nodded, he slid the tips of his fingers down my arm, leaving a trail of acute shivers in their wake. “But first I want to make sure you’re doing okay.”

Cole had been doing that a lot this last week. Checking in, making sure I was processing everything. Truth was, this was a work in progress. Nightmares were going to linger longer than the aches. It would be some time before I didn’t expect an officer to walk through the inn doors, but knowing I still had all this goodness inside me, all the love around me . . .

I had Miranda.

I had my mother.

I had Cole.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” I took a deep, cleansing breath. “It’s really over now.”





Epilogue




In the standing oval mirror that belonged to Grandma Libby, tears showed brightly in my mother’s eyes. She stood beside me, one hand clutching the front of her pale blue blouse and the other hovering over her mouth.

“You look so incredibly beautiful, honey.” Her voice thickened. “I feared I would never see this day. It’s like a dream come true.”

“Mom,” I whispered. A knot burned the back of my throat, a messy and amazing knot. “Don’t make me cry. I’ll ruin all of Miranda’s hard work.”

“And that would make me very unhappy.” Miranda appeared at my left. She winked when her gaze met mine in the mirror. “You do look amazing.”

Miranda was in a pale blue dress, a color that was absolutely stunning on her, and the Grecian style was beyond flattering. Her braided hair was pulled up in an elegant twist, just like my mother’s. I smiled at her, and fought the urge to apologize for the hundredth time, because there were still shadows in her eyes. I was getting better at not doing that, because deep down I knew what happened to her, to all of us, wasn’t my fault.

It had been the Groom’s.

It had always been Jason and his father’s fault. No one else’s, and eventually I knew I wouldn’t feel the need to apologize. One of these days, I supposed, but today wasn’t going to be a day I spent focusing on the past.

“Today’s about the present,” I announced out loud.

Neither woman was surprised by what I said, because they understood where my thoughts had gone. Mom folded an arm around my bare shoulders. “It’s about the present and future.”

Exhaling slowly, I stared at my reflection. My dress wasn’t white. That was still never going to happen, but the gown I’d found was a beautiful champagne color, and moved like silk and water. It was a simple gown with a pearl-beaded heart-shaped bodice that gathered under the breast and then flowed out. Miranda had curled my hair earlier, parted the mass down the middle, pinned the sides back behind my ears, and let it fall in loose waves down my back. I wasn’t wearing any jewelry. No veil. The dress was a huge step. Everything else felt like too much.

“You ready?” Miranda whispered.

Finding it hard to speak, I nodded. She moved over to the table in Mom’s kitchen and picked up the bundle of champagne-colored roses. A pale blue ribbon dangled from the stems. Placing the wedding bouquet in my hands, she stretched up and kissed my cheek.