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“Next month. Everything is really coming together, and I couldn’t be happier about it. It feels surreal that it’s finally happening.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Olly.” Her smile lit up the room. “So, get this, I think my parents are going to reconcile.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Really? How did that happen?”
She explained how she’d arrived home to find her mom there, having second thoughts about her relationship with Bryce Griffiths and wanting to work things out with her dad.
“I’m still pretty upset with my mom for all she put us through, but Dad seems to be way more forgiving. I went to their house in Beverly Hills a couple weeks ago and found them making out like teenagers on the couch, which was definitely not something I wanted to see, and now it’s burned into my memory.”
Oliver laughed at the way Adelia’s face screwed up.
“They actually ripped up the divorce papers and are going to marriage counseling together instead. Can you believe that?”
“I think that’s great. They obviously believe what they have is worth the fight.”
Adelia’s eyes met his and her hand drifted across the space between them and rested atop his. “Totally worth it.”
They stared for long moments, not saying anything, just looking at each other with their hands touching. Adelia moved first, her fingers intertwining with his.
“I hated not talking to you,” Oliver finally admitted.
“Really?” Her expression turned soft.
“I thought it was best to just let you go.”
“I wish you hadn’t.”
“Well, I didn’t. Not really. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
Her lips parted at his admission.
“I sit on my porch swing and remember holding you there when you sleepwalked. I close my eyes and you’re in my arms again, and I can’t shake the memory of how that feels, to hold you, to kiss your perfect lips”—he reached over and brushed her bottom lip with his thumb—“and it drives me insane thinking I’ll never get to do that again.”
Their breaths hitched at the same time, and they came together in one swift motion, mouths connecting, lips moving, limbs entangling, kissing, touching, breathing each other in like their lives depended on it.
“I missed you,” she said between kisses.
“I missed you too.” He pulled her close against him and deepened the kiss.
Suddenly, it was them who were like teenagers, making out on the couch, and there was nowhere else he’d rather be.
Their kisses soon slowed, and Adelia’s lips traveled across Oliver’s cheek and pressed a soft kiss next to his ear. “There has to be a way to make this work,” she whispered.
All the reasons that stood between them came flooding back, and he leaned away to look at her. “I want to, but we want different things.”
“We can figure it out. Together. Don’t you think we’re worth it?”
He took her face in his hands and pressed a firm, yet gentle kiss to her lips, hoping she’d feel every ounce of love he had for her. “Totally worth it.”
After Adelia reluctantly said goodnight and headed to the Schultz’s home, Oliver was in a state of bliss. There were still big issues to deal with, though, and as he lay in bed that night, he thought about what it would take to have Adelia there beside him every night. He needed advice, and a visit to the man who had always given him the best of it was long overdue.
In the morning, he made a call then drove north to Muskegon to the home of his ex-in-laws.
“Oliver!” Fay Barnes came out of the house as he stepped out of his car and greeted him with a hug.
“Fay, it’s good to see you.”