Page 46 of My Only (My First, My Last)

H assani

“Oh, wow.” Ayla exhaled beside me. “ Wow .”

I snickered to myself, turning the steering wheel as I guided my car to the left.

That was all she’d been saying since we passed the Welcome to Greene Gardens sign.

“Whoa.” She sighed again. “That’s a whole park.”

I smiled, nodding. “A whole park.”

“And this is like… a real road.” She craned her neck, eyes peering through the passenger window. “And those are sidewalks.”

I grinned. “A road and sidewalks.”

She nudged me. “Shut up.”

I laughed with her. “What? I’m just saying—you’re amazed by my roads, sidewalks, and parks.”

“And houses, and businesses.” She gestured outside. “And, and, and…”

I hollered a laugh.

We’d landed only three hours ago from Saint Lucia. After dropping off our bags at home, I told Ayla I wanted to show her something.

We were still riding the high from our trip—the memories fresh, the energy light. Which made this the perfect time to drive out to Greene Gardens.

She shook her head, her cloud of defined coils shifting with the motion. “I wasn’t expecting this.”

“What were you expecting?”

“Vast land,” she replied, turning to face me. “Maybe two or three houses here and there. Dirt roads. Honestly, open spaces.”

I listened proudly, watching as her eyes shifted from one structure to the next.

“This is almost complete.” She turned back to the window, taking it all in. “ My man did this.”

“Well… I helped design it, with my team.”

“No, you did this.” She laid a hand on my arm, her fingers stroking my forearm. “I feel like I’m about to cry because we are literally driving through your doodle. We’re inside your vision. We’re in another one of your dreams again. This time on wheels.”

I peeked over at her just in time to see her eyes welling up.

Taking her hand, I brought it to my lips, kissing it gently.

“Now I see why you were working so hard in that office of yours.” She sighed. “An office I’ve never seen.”

I glanced at her, surprised. “That can’t be. You’ve been to the office.”

She shook her head. “I haven’t. I didn’t bother visiting because I figured you were working so hard on this .” She gestured outside. “And it’s not like you invited me or anything…”

Damn .

I scratched the side of my head. “I’m sorry about that, A. Boogie.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, we gotta change that before you head back to school in August.”

Like every school year, Ayla was set to return to Park Avenue Prep to set up her classroom, plan her curriculum, and attend staff orientation before the new term started in September.

“Hassani, you don’t have to do that.”

I took her hand again, kissing her knuckles. “I want to. Very much.”

Peeking over at her, I caught her smiling.

“The team would love to see you,” I added.

“All except one , I’m sure.”

“Well, that one I’m pretty sure you’re talking about? She’s not there anymore.”

Her brows lifted.

“Her office was cleared out before I left for our trip. She’s gone.”

“ Hmph .”

I knew that while our road trip and island getaway had brought us closer, it would still take time for Ayla to fully move past the Harper situation.

But we’d get there.

Suddenly, Ayla gasped. “ Ooh , that lake is gorgeous! It’s so scenic, like a painting in a museum.”

I slowed the car, pulling over a few feet from the shoreline.

“I’m glad you like it.”

She smiled softly.

“Because you’re gonna be seeing a lot of it.”

Her brows furrowed. “What?”

I gestured with my head. “Come with me.”

Grabbing my sketchbook from the side compartment, I stepped out of the car and made my way around to help her out.

I focused on her bejeweled sandals, realizing I probably should have told her to wear sneakers since the dirt might get into them as we walked closer to the lake.

As we made our way toward the water, I could feel her eyes drifting between me and our surroundings.

All of the custom lots had already been sold. I was one of the first—if not the first—to secure mine.

And I knew exactly which one I wanted from the moment I first toured Greene Gardens.

It was this lake.

The first time I saw it, I knew.

It fit the vision I’d been creating since 2017.

I led Ayla towards the grassy area near the water.

“This view is amazing,” she said softly. “It’s mad tranquil.”

I snorted. “Tranquil?”

“Yeah,” she whispered this time. “ Very peaceful.”

“It’s ours .”

“Huh?” She whipped her head in my direction so fast. “The lake is ours ?”

I laughed. “Nah, baby, not the lake.” I turned her to look at the land behind it. “This lot is ours.”

Ayla stood there for a moment, staring. “To do what with?”

I opened my sketchbook and flipped through a few pages until I landed on the sketch of the villa I’d been working on for years.

“To do this .” I held the sketchbook out in front of us.

“Oh my God,” she whispered at first. “Oh my God!” She said louder this time. “Is that the villa in Saint Lucia?”

She looked up at me, then back at the book, taking it out of my hand. “Did you sketch the entire villa, Hassani?!”

“I did.”

“Hassani!” She pressed a hand to her mouth. “This looks exactly like it. You drew it exactly like it.”

“Because we’re gonna build it.” I pointed out in front of us at the land. “Exactly like it. Right here .”

Her hand flew back to her mouth again. “What?!”

Ayla gasped and reached for the sketchbook, her fingers trembling slightly as she flipped through the pages. “Hassani...” Her voice was barely a whisper, her eyes darting between the sketches and the land in front of her. “You… you've been planning this?”

I just nodded, my eyes locked on her watering ones.

“I’ve been working on it for a while,” I told her. “Us going back to Saint Lucia was for us to reconnect and for me to sketch the parts of the villa I was unable to remember from memory.”

Ayla glanced at the land again, then at the lake.

I turned her by her shoulders and held up the sketchbook.

“We’ll put the infinity pool right here,” I explained, pointing ahead of us. “The wraparound balcony…” I turned her again. “Over there.”

She brought the sketchbook closer to her, her beautiful fingers leafing through the pages as I held it. “All these pages are sketches for the villa?”

“All of them in this part of the sketchbook,” I explained. “The ones in the other section are for home improvement projects for our house.”

She stopped leafing and rested on one of them.

“Wow,” she whispered. “I remember standing right here .”

Ayla touched the sketched outline of the infinity pool, her fingertips tracing the lines like she was memorizing them.

“On our last night in Saint Lucia during our honeymoon, we stood by the pool, and I told you…” She exhaled, blinking rapidly. “I told you I never wanted to leave.”

I kissed her forehead. “So, I made sure we’d never have to again.”

She parted her lips. “This entire time…” Ayla shook her head. “All this time, I thought you were working when you were sketching in this book.”

“I was,” I replied, wrapping my arm around her waist and bringing her closer to me. “On my most important work. This .”

Ayla blinked, and tears streamed down her face. I wiped them away, and she took a breath.

“This book.” I held it up beside us. “This isn’t work for work . This book is only for things that only we can enjoy, baby. Only us. Just us.”

Ayla closed her eyes and moved in even closer. She balanced herself on the arches of her feet to press her lips to mine. “My God, you’re amazing,” she said on my lips.

“Like attracts like,” I said back, pecking her twice. “Because baby you’re amazing, too.”

My hand was in hers as I walked us to the land where the villa would sit.

“We start building in a month,” I told her. “We are standing right now in our forever summer home.”

“Ayla wrapped her arms around me again, tighter this time, pressing her face to my chest as I closed my eyes.”

We had been lost, but we had found our way back.

Here, on this land we’d one day call our second home, I realized—we weren’t just healing.

We were building something new.

Something stronger.

Something that would cement our forever.