Page 46 of It Happened Back Then (Nilsson Family #3)
Blossom: are you working tonight?
Me: No.
Blossom: I’m coming over.
Me: I’ll be naked.
Blossom: Incorrigible.
Me: It’s why you love me.
I was expecting this call. Cole was working when Savannah showed up, so I knew it was only a matter of when, not if, he told Meadow. And I knew as soon as Meadow knew, she’d tell Blossom.
Either way, I don't care. I’m almost happy she heard it from an outside source.
And now that she's here, in my arms, I’m at peace.
The small fireplace crackles softly. I love the smell of a wood fire. Outside, the rain falls, not hard yet, but it’s spring, so it’s never ending.
Blossom is curled against me on the couch, her head on my chest, my fingers lazily tracing circles on her back. The TV is on, but neither of us is really watching. It’s just background noise.
She shifts slightly, her voice soft. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
She picks her head up giving me a dull look. “You know what.”
I smile and pull her closer to me. “I figured you heard.”
She nods. “Have you heard from her again?”
“No but Cole said the place she was staying had a FOR RENT sign in the window.”
I let out a breath, one that I’ve been holding for ten years. It feels good to just be us again.
"You ever think about it?"
"About what?"
She sits up and looks at me, eyes a little uncertain. "What it would be like if we were married already? What the last ten years would have looked like?”
I’ve been thinking the same thing since she told me what happened between her and my dad. "I think I always wondered about it, but lately, it’s been every day," I admit. "I think about how great it’s going to be waking up next to you for the rest of my life."
She nods, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "You think people would freak out if we just announced we were married?"
"Oh, without question. Meadow would riot. January would dole out some kind of big sister speech chastising us. Your mom would cry happy tears. Lief would probably kick my ass. He’s definitely looking for a reason to."
She laughs, and god, I love that sound .
“Bennett?”
“Yeah?”
“Screw the pact!”
I laugh and rub her belly. “You’re mine now anyway. I don’t care about the pact.”
“No, I mean we’re only a few weeks away from that pact taking effect anyway.” Her voice lingers and my eyes go wide.
“You want to get married now? What about January and Drake?”
She shrugs with a scandalous look in her eye. “So we don’t tell them.”
I sit up straighter on the couch. “You're serious?”
She nods. “Just you and me. We can do the wedding later, make it official according to them, but we’d have our own little secret.” Blossom leans in and kisses me, slow and sweet, tempting me into saying yes.
I deepen the kiss, an immediate decision coming to mind. I pull her close and whisper against her lips, "Let's do it.” She squeals as she climbs into my lap now, wrapping herself around me. I wrap mine tighter. "You look like a Mrs. Hayes," I tease her.
“Well thank god for that!”
We settle in together again, silence falling across the room as the rain hits harder outside.
“You know,” she begins quietly, “I died a little that day. A piece of me was already lost when my dad passed, but losing,” she swallows hard and I squeeze her, “ more , was really hard.” She puts all her weight on me.
“But you’re putting my pieces back together again. ”
“Grief never gets easier, Peach. It just becomes tolerable, bearable, when we do it together.”
Her dad’s death shocked the entire family’s straight and narrow path into one that’s curvy, winding, taking the long way around in life. It’s been my job to be there when she gets lost, redirect her when she takes a wrong turn.
“I love you, Bennett. I love that you gave me a home. I love that you hear me. I love that you waited for me, never giving up, and I love that you know me better than I know myself some days.”
“Forever, Peach. I’ll love you forever.”