How to Love Your Neighbour(98)

It isn’t paint on the walls or the furniture you buy. It’s who pulls you out of the couch when you’re stuck.

Grace laughed too loud, her eyes filling with tears.

The song continued to play, talking about loving no one else.

A beautiful slide with a picture of Noah’s house filled the screen.

This is just a house. Without you, it’s empty. Without you, I am empty. A house is a shell. A blank canvas. A home is a masterpiece.

Their paintings appeared on the next slide. The final slide was black. The words that came up made it hard to breathe.

You are my home, Grace. My everything. Nothing matters without you. I’m sorry I didn’t listen but I hear you and will do better in the future. I want a future with you. Finding you helped me find myself. I love you.

Grace was so blown away, she forgot to breathe. He moved toward her as she stood up and crossed the room. Their arms went around each other, and she buried her face in his neck.

His hands moved over her like he was making sure she was real.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“So am I.” She leaned back just enough to see him. “You want to protect the people you love. I should have been more understanding of that.”

“We’re both still learning.” He pressed his forehead against hers, his hands pulling on her hips. “It might take a lifetime to figure it all out.”

Her breath hitched. “That’s a long time.”

He nodded. “It is. About the same time frame for how long I plan to love you, make you happy, and keep my promises.”

Emotions swirled around like ballerinas. “I didn’t think you would come. It would have been my fault if you broke your promise.”

“It doesn’t matter because I didn’t. I won’t. I need you in my life. I know we have things to sort out and discuss but—”

She went up on tiptoe. “Not now. Right now there’s just us. Just this. I love you, Noah. I love everything about who you are. You keep saying I make you better but you’ve done the same for me. You’ve shown me happiness is okay to grab ahold of without guilt. You’ve taught me there’s life outside of work.”

“No,” he said, a silly grin on his face. “You taught me that one.”

Grace wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. “We’ll teach each other. We’ll learn. We’ll mess up. We’ll fix it. But we’ll do it together.”

“No more time apart,” Noah whispered into her hair.

With a sly smile, she pulled back. “You missed me.”

He shrugged. “Only as much as I’d miss air. You miss me?”

“About the same,” she said right before she kissed him.

“So, what now?” Grace asked as she laid her head on his shoulder.

Noah’s arms were her favorite place to be. “Now we go home.”

She looked up. “Which house is that?”

He kissed the bridge of her nose. “Whichever one you’re in, Gracie. Wherever you are, that’s where I’ll be.”

Grace couldn’t wait to go home with Noah. It felt like a beginning. The beginning of everything. They took their own vehicles back to their places. As she was hurrying out of her car, intent on nothing more than throwing herself into his arms, she saw he was on the phone.

His gaze heated when he looked at her, his arm extending to pull her in even as he carried on with the conversation.

“That’s fantastic. I can sign the papers right now. Yes. Yes. Great.” He ended the call, pocketed his phone, and framed her face with his hands.

Grace put her hands to his wrists. “What was that?”

“That was a foundation that wants to invest in the community center. They heard about it through Sergio so maybe the guy wasn’t a waste of time after all.”

She didn’t know she could feel so much happiness on someone else’s behalf. “That’s amazing.”

“It’s just a start but it’s something. Unfortunately, I need to go meet with them.”

She saw the indecision on his face, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up with him and shut the world away. But they had time. Lots of it. Going up on tiptoes, she squealed when he lifted her, bringing her closer.

“Go, do what you have to do. I have some things of my own I need to do.”

“Oh yeah?” He kissed the underside of her jaw, making her lose her train of thought.

“Yup. Just make sure when you get home, the rest of your day is cleared for us.”

He pulled back, still holding her around the waist, her feet dangling in the air. “I love you, Gracie.”

“I love you. So much it scares me.”

“Don’t be scared. I’ve got you.”

She nodded, her heart completely at ease. “I know.”





47


“Anything else?” Josh called as he wound the hose back up.

Grace looked around, thrilled with the transformation. Him having to run an errand turned into a blessing, and once again, her friends were right there when she needed them.

“No. This is awesome. He’s going to love it.”

Rosie wandered over to where she stood under the canopy. Grace eyed the table her friend had set up. “It’s perfect.”