Page 266 of The Havenport Collection

Bonus Epilogue

Eliza

I was so nervous. My brain was spinning out of control. I could do this. No, maybe I couldn’t? I retied my sneakers, sneaking looks at the other runners, who were stretching and chatting and seemed to not have a single care in the world about running ten miles.

Ten freaking miles. It was just like me to do something like this.

Sign up for Patriot’s Homecoming ten-mile road race on a whim.

My boss, Maggie, her husband Josh, and our entire team at the clinic was running to raise money to expand the health care services available at the Havenport Family Crisis Center.

It was an important cause, and I wanted to help.

So instead of signing up for the three-mile race like some of my coworkers did, I signed up for all ten miles.

Training had been brutal, and in addition to being physically punishing, running was absurdly boring.

I had to constantly fight the urge to fish my phone out of my sports bra to google something I had just thought about or check Instagram.

Running with others helped. Maggie was way too fast for me, but my new friend Lila was new to running as well.

So we started running together a bit, and Matteo and Val helped too.

As I started doing longer runs, Val would ride her bike next to me, cheering me on and singing the entire Frozen soundtrack to keep me going.

And Matteo, in addition to making time to train with me, insisted on giving me endless foot rubs and cooking me special meals to prepare.

I was beyond spoiled. Matteo was the world’s greatest boyfriend.

Kind, generous, and really bossy in bed.

Since starting over back in June, we had been taking things slow, spending time together and with Val, watching movies and cooking dinner.

He had taken me away for a weekend last month, to New York.

We stayed at Luke’s apartment and walked around the city, taking in all the sights and sounds.

We had been dancing around the topic of moving in together for weeks.

I loved his house and felt so at home there.

But I liked living with Gina and needed to take things at my own pace and make sure I was still making time for myself.

I didn’t want to rush anything; I wanted to make sure we were both ready.

The whiteboard was back with a vengeance, filled with things to do and places to go, and I had never felt better.

As we lined up to wait for the start, Maggie came over and gave me a hug. “You’re going to crush it! I’m so proud of you.”

My heart soared. In the few short months we had been working together, Maggie had become a mentor of sorts, helping me grow as a nurse and a professional and watching out for me.

She and Nora had insisted I meet with their friend Astrid to talk about what had happened at the hospital.

Turns out, my suspension was technically retaliation, which was illegal.

I had filed a complaint against Dr. Higgins and the hospital that was currently being investigated.

I was hesitant at first to involve myself with all that drama, but then I realized something.

Being a nurse means protecting my patients, even if I’m not treating them.

It’s not a job, it’s a calling, and one that means so much to me.

So I had an obligation to speak out, to make sure Dr. Higgins couldn’t endanger any more patients, and to make the hospital leadership finally deal with him.

It would take months, but Dr. Higgins had been suspended.

And with Matteo’s support, I was ready to fight to make sure he never came back.

The gun went off, and everyone started to shuffle forward.

I popped my headphones in and practiced taking deep breaths.

I had to pace myself and just focus on each mile.

I knew my friends and family would be cheering me on throughout the course, so I just had to keep my head up and look for the friendly faces.

By mile eight, I was losing steam. What had possessed me to do this?

I wanted to curl up on the sidewalk and take a nap, but the sun was shining and the crowd was cheering.

I had seen all my friends along the course, including the twins who had made a “Run Eliza Run” sign covered with glitter and a massive rainbow.

Every part of my body ached, and my mind was spinning with self-doubt as I pushed through to the ninth mile marker.

More than water, more than my bed, I wanted Matteo right now.

I wanted to jump into his strong arms and tell him that I loved him and that running was stupid and only lunatics did it for fun.

As I rounded the corner toward the harbor, I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

It was Matteo and Val, both wearing pink T-shirts.

As I got closer, I saw that they read “Team Eliza” on them.

Val was wearing a plastic crown and straddling her bike, which had been decked out with pink streamers for the occasion.

I ran over to them, so happy to see them.

“We came to help you with the last bit,” Matteo said. “You are doing so great.”

I bent at the waist, trying to catch my breath. “I am dying out here.”

“Nope,” Val said, “you are amazing and we’re so proud of you. And everyone is waiting at the finish line.”

She hopped on the bike and started to pedal slowly. Matteo ran into the road next to me and grabbed my hand. “We’re in this together,” he said. “As a family.”

And we were, crossing the finish line, Matteo and I running and Val riding her bike.

After the race and the after-party at Matteo’s restaurant, we were snuggled up in his bed after I took a very long and very hot bath.

“You inspire me, babe,” he said, kissing my knuckles. “Every day. You set a goal and you did it. You have no idea how important that is for Valentina to see.”

“Stop,” I said. “It’s just a town road race; I didn’t climb Everest.”

“Don’t tell that to an eight-year-old. You are her hero. You did something new, something scary, and jumped in with both feet. That’s what I love so much about you.”

He bent down and kissed me deeply.

“And that’s why”—he shifted and grabbed something off the nightstand—“I want you to move in with us.” He handed me a key hanging from a Princess Anna keychain. “Val picked it out,” he said sheepishly.

I looked up at his kind face and realized that, while slow was good, I didn’t want to spend another night away from this man for the rest of my life. That I was ready to jump in with both feet.

I was going to hold on to him for the rest of my life, and it was time to get started.