Page 47 of Meeting Me, Loving You (Hearts of Maple Lake #1)

“But you are. You’re perfect to me. You’re perfect for me.

And I was an idiot to run from you at all.

I just… I want you to have the best of everything, but you’re like sunshine, and I’m a torrential downpour.

I’ve been filled with so many misconceptions of who I am and what I deserve.

I have things I know I have to work on, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to?—”

“Hey,” she says, gently guiding my face with her hand until I’m looking into her eyes. “I love the rain. And when it comes, I’ll be here. I’ll dance with you in the rain, I can promise you that.”

The spark I felt earlier catches in my chest, and I swallow.

“I won’t be able to change overnight, Jules.

It’s ingrained into my very being that I don’t deserve good things and everything I do falls short.

Since I was a kid, it was proven to me over and over that I can’t trust anyone to love me.

” I scoff. “The word ‘love’ doesn’t even have the same meaning in my family as it does in yours. ”

Memories of Tyler and Jules, in the kitchen with their parents, flash through my mind. They’re all joking and laughing, as I stand on the sideline, wishing this was my family.

“Remember when you saw Ty and me talking earlier?” Jules asks, and I nod.

“He was telling me he’s forgiven Natalie.

And, after thinking about it all afternoon, I’ve decided I should too.

It doesn’t change that she’s gone or that she may never speak to us again, but forgiving her, at this point, is more for me than for her. ”

I lift my eyes to hers. “I don’t know if I can ever truly forgive my parents.”

“You don’t have to. What I’m trying to say is, I would never ask you to change.

And, although I miss Natalie so, so much, I’ve realized maybe getting her to come back to us would be asking her to change, and I can’t do that to her either.

As long as she’s safe and happy, I want that for her. Wherever she is.”

Jules doesn’t want me to change. She’s never given any hints to the contrary, but until now, it has never sunk in as absolute truth. If she’s able to work on the hardest thing in her life and work past her problems with Natalie, then she’s capable of anything. Even loving me fully.

Everything within me bends under her words, and her soft touch on my cheek does me in.

Jules is speaking into every space in my body that was broken, and she’s offering healing and comfort.

I’ve seen Jules struggle with the fact Natalie left her behind, and now I’m getting a front row seat to her transformation.

She’s growing before my eyes, becoming all the things I already knew her to be: resilient, forgiving, strong, determined.

Everything that I want her to see in herself as well.

A chasm opens in my chest and all the darkness flees while Juliet’s light takes its place.

The weight of rejection I’ve carried around with me my entire life slips off my body to bury itself in the ground beneath us, hiding from this new hope welling up in my chest. It’s as if I’ve always lived in a shadow, and suddenly, the blanket of darkness that I’d accepted as normal has lifted, and I’m floating in the clouds, weightless. Jules glows beside me.

I stare into her beautiful brown eyes, and I see everything. I see the future. I see happiness and healing, family and love. I see the whole world and everything I’ve ever wished for as she holds my gaze. Tears fall freely from her eyes, and I reach out and wipe one away with the pad of my thumb.

“Why are you crying?” I whisper softly.

Her lips pull into a sweet little smile. “I think I just realized something.”

“What?” I ask, attentive to her every word.

“Maybe destiny kept me here for someone other than my sister. I always stayed in Maple Lake thinking Natalie would come back and I’d need to be here for her, a soft place to land when she finally needed a place to rest after being away.

But,” tears stream down her cheeks, but she’s smiling, “maybe it wasn’t Natalie that needed me, and I just didn’t see it until now.

It was you. You came home and you found me, because this is what I was meant for. I was meant for you. ”

She continues to amaze me, always saying just what I need to hear. And she’s right. It’s like she was waiting for me to return to Maple Lake, only neither of us knew our paths would cross.

“You’re the home I was craving when I was away, Jules.

You make me feel seen and loved and whole.

Even as a child, that’s something I’ve always craved and never found.

So I think you’re right, I was meant to find you and this was how our stories were designed to fit back together again.

Like two parts of a puzzle.” I sweep the back of my fingers against her jawline.

“I’m just so sorry it took me this long to see it and that I pushed you away at first.”

“Just promise me you won’t ever push me away again. I’ll always be here, waiting for you as you fight your demons, Cameron. And I’ll be here to help you, always.”

“Jules, nothing could make me pull away from you again. You are everything to me. I won’t leave you.”

“And I’ll always stay with you, no matter what,” she says. She takes my hand from her face and presses her lips to my palm. “I love you, Cameron Dunne.”

Those three words hold more weight than anything I’ve ever heard in my lifetime.

I’m blown away by her promise to stay with me through everything, even though I’ve put her through torture, pushing her away from me because of my own fears.

I was raised to accept criticism, but never love.

I’ve been trained and conditioned to always give, give, give of myself, but never to receive.

But receiving Juliet’s love is easy. Why did I think this was so hard before? Why did I doubt her feelings toward me? It’s strange for me to be on the receiving end of love, and for the first time, I feel like I can truly breathe.

Jules has never been like my parents, and she never will be.

She’s not going to abandon me or dictate my life.

She’s caring and generous, and all that I want.

Jules is home to me, and she just gave me the key to a mansion.

The love that Juliet has for the world around her pours from her like liquid gold, never running out and always unconditional.

Before she even knew it, she helped me to find myself.

Because of her, I became a teacher, and because of her, I will have the chance to know a once-in-a-lifetime love… forever.

I lean into her space until our lips barely touch. The warmth of the fire rests between us and her tentative breath is a caress against my face.

“I love you, Juliet Berns,” I whisper against her lips.

Then, I’m pressing my mouth to hers. This kiss is more than passion and desire, it’s forgiveness and a promise.

My lips move against hers, slowly opening to her as she takes my jaw in both hands, turning her body to fully face me.

In one swift movement, I wrap her in my arms and lift her, pulling her close and setting her on my lap.

Our kisses are slow and languid as we explore one another, her hands reaching around my neck to play in my hair.

I move my hands from her hips to her lower back, feeling her warm skin against my rough fingers as her sweatshirt rides up slightly.

Without breaking contact, Jules gently pushes me back at the shoulders, silently requesting that I lay back onto the sleeping bag.

I comply, and soon, she’s straddling me.

She pulls her lips away to look at me, and I rest my hand behind her head.

I tug her close, pressing kisses to her cheeks, over her round nose, and down her jawline.

Her eyes close in pleasure, and I love the way she looks peaceful in the firelight.

Jules has skin like porcelain, making me want to be gentle with her, while at the same time, I want to be the reason she breaks open as we give over to our passion.

I take her mouth once again, kissing her deeply.

We’re not frantic in our kisses, but rather, we take our time.

We’ve had time to grow this love, but we never took the leap to call it what it was until now.

It’s more than attraction and more than desire.

It’s a pairing of souls, like good wine and aged cheese, and I’m willing to taste test with Jules for the rest of my life if she’ll have me.