Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Cyrus came to me, held my face in his hands, and pulled me down for a kiss. “It’s all going to be okay. For the first time in my life, I know it’s going to be okay.” He kissed me again. “Come on, Crow. Let’s go home.”
“Home,” I told him. We put the bags in his car, then went home together, to the mountain, where we both belonged.
EPILOGUE
Cyrus
One year later
“Hi. How can I help you?” I asked the customer who stepped up to the counter at Tranquil Brew.
I’d started working here last year. Melody hired me part-time for summer and fall before the snow came. It was an adjustment. Neither Crow nor I were good at being away from each other, but I believed it was important. Crow struggled with it in the beginning. He feared I would want to leave him, that he wasn’t enough for me, but we’d worked through those fears together.
The woman ordered her latte and a smoothie for her child. They paid, her son hiding behind his mom’s leg, peeking at me around it with a shy smile. I’d been like that when I was young—quiet, hiding behind Mom because it felt like she could protect me from anything.
I signaled to the customer, quietly asking if I could give him a cookie. When she nodded, I pulled one out, wrapped it in a napkin, then handed it to him. He gave me a huge smile in return, one that looked too big for his face, and gave me a quiet thank-you before they went to sit down while I made their drinks.
I didn’t make a lot of money at the coffeehouse, but I liked the independence. It was important to me that I made some money too. Even though Crow mostly refused to take it, I needed to chip in.
And as much as I loved being on the mountain with Crow, the social aspect was good for me too. Or at least, that’s what my therapist said. Crow and I had both started virtual therapy sessions. It wasn’t something I was unfamiliar with, but it was definitely new for Crow. He was struggling with it a lot more than I was and still didn’t completely trust his therapist. When she’d mentioned that our obsession with each other might not be the best—that we could love each other, but that Crow shouldn’t be my reason for existing, nor me his—he’d nearly lost it. But she’d tried to make him understand, and it helped when I told him my therapist said the same thing. It was something we were both aware of and would work on. We were trying, and that’s what mattered. One step at a time. That’s all we could do.
I made the drinks and handed them over. There were more customers now, sitting at tables with their computers or talking with friends.
Melody came out of the back, wiping her hands on a towel. “Izzy and I are going furniture-shopping this weekend. I can’t believe I’m getting a house with my girlfriend. How exciting is that?”
“It is.” I liked Isabelle a lot. She was a nurse, and incredibly kind, and most importantly, she adored Melody and treated her great. My friend deserved the best, and she’d found it in Isabelle. I hung out with the two of them often, and a few times Crow joined us. It was different for him. He still didn’t eat at restaurants, and being in town made him uncomfortable, but we did things like go to quiet parks or spend the day at the lake.
But I could tell that Crow was getting more comfortable around them. The first couple of times, he didn’t speak at all, but now he would, though he was quieter than the rest of us. Melody and Isabelle were great about it, though, supportive, and never treated him like something was wrong with him. Again, one step at a time.
“I want to ask her to marry me. Will you go ring-shopping with me?”
“God yes. Just let me know when, and I’ll tell Crow.”
“Thank you.” She squeezed my hand just as someone came into the coffeehouse.
I felt Crow before I saw him, my skin immediately tingling and my insides feeling more at peace the way it always was around him. I looked up and gave him a smile, Crow returning it, and damn, it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. There was nothing like being the person who could make him do that, nothing like being the one he aimed it at.
“Stop drooling,” Melody teased, and pretended to wipe my mouth.
“Ha-ha.”
Crow approached the end of the counter, where we stood. He used to not come in at all, but now he did, though he never ate or drank anything from the coffeehouse, even if I was the one who made it.