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I cock my head, wondering why she wants me to stop comforting her.
“That’s what you said. You said to wait. You were yelling, and my head was all over the place, but I remember you said to wait, and if I still felt the same way tomorrow, I could always come back.”
I shake my head in disgust. “Well, that’s stupid advice. Wait to kill yourself until I’m not there to see it?”
“It wasn’t stupid, Asher. It saved my life. I was embarrassed, so I ran back to my aunt’s house. And when I went back to the bridge the next day, I looked over the edge into the peaceful ravine, wanting to jump, but hesitated. I heard your voice in my head urging me to wait. Wait until tomorrow. So that’s what I did. For weeks. I’d go to the bridge, contemplate jumping, but then I’d wait until tomorrow.”
I lower my forehead to hers, my tears dripping onto her face. “Thank God tomorrow never came.”
“You saved me.”
“After you ran off, I patrolled that damn bridge all night, sure you were going to come back. I think I’d have staked it out the next day, too, if I didn’t have to catch a flight back to Orlando. And though I couldn’t remember what I said to make you run off, the image of that night never left my mind. I scoured the internet for weeks for any news of a bridge jumper in Klamath Falls, Oregon. I remember being so relieved that I didn’t ever come across a story.” I chuckle. “That was just a few weeks before I proposed to Stella. Maybe that’s why I didn’t give her the ring. It’s because even then, somehow I knew that girl on the bridge would alter the course of my life.”
“Oh my god, Asher. What are the odds?”
I cup her face and smile. “I’d say pretty damn good when you’re two people who are destined to be together.”
“But why not then? Why didn’t we meet all those years ago?”
“It wouldn’t have worked then. You were grieving your son. I was about to get engaged.” I inwardly roll my eyes. “Not to mention I’d have been close to being arrested as you were only nineteen and I was thirty-one.” I push her hair behind her ear. “We met when we were supposed to. After you went through your shit. After I went through mine.” My eyes close briefly, still not believing this. “In the car at the winery—the first time I saw you—there was something in the back of my mind that said‘that’s her.’I didn’t know what it meant. I assumed it was my imagination going wild and telling me I was experiencing love at first sight.”
She bites her lip. “You really thought it was love at first sight?”
I nod. “Oh, yeah. Obviously, I never said anything. I was sure it would drive you away. But I knew… somehow I knew that no matter how long it took, we’d end up together. So I was patient.”
She chuckles, eyes sparkling as she gathers my face into her hands. “You must be the most patient man on the planet, Asher Anderson.”
I gesture to the twins. “I guess I was waiting on them. They seemed to know more than we did when we were ready.”
She looks away from me, her gaze settling on the twins. “You think they were always meant to be?”
“Yes. They were just waiting for the right time.”
Her arms come around my neck. “Do you know how much I love you?”
“I do.” I motion toward the door. “But I wouldn’t mind you showing me.”
She takes my arm, leading me out of the room. “Right this way, Mr. President.”
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