Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
A final resting place for the past.
Once the last one is gone. I take Aiden’s free hand in mine, and we look out across the lake, happy to be free. To be together.
“I love you,” I say to the side of Aiden’s head as he continues to watch the horizon.
He turns toward me, and for the first time in my life, I see so much love shining back at me. So much adoration. I hope he can see it reflected in me.
“I love you too.”
We both look out at the water once more. I take a deep breath, and with the exhale, I feel completely at peace.
“Now, let’s go,” Aiden says, grabbing my hand and pulling me back to the car. “We’ve got places to go.”
I quirk a brow. “Oh, do we?”
He grins. “Always.”
The shackles that have tethered me to this place are gone, and with that, I feel lighter. Happy.
Excited for the future.
Because my future is Aiden.
And I am his.
Fifteen minutes later, we’re back in the car, the trailer long behind us, when Aiden pulls the car over in the middle of no-man’s-land on the way back to Ohio.
I turn to face him, my brow raised.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” A silly smile lights his face, and my eyes are wide, waiting for him to explain the sudden stop.
When he doesn’t appear ready to spill, I ask, “So then…why did we stop?”
I stare at him, eyes narrowed in confusion and amusement. He leans forward, and I think he might kiss me, but then he pops open the glove compartment.
“What’s going on?” I ask, as I hear him rummaging, but he doesn’t answer.
This is so unlike Aiden. The suspense is killing me.
“Do we have a flat?”
He chuckles, shaking his head and pulling his hand out of the glove compartment, and my heart beats frantically in my chest.
“Pip.”
He doesn’t call me that often, but when he does, it no longer makes me sad. Instead, I feel safe and loved.
“From the moment I first saw you, I knew you were different. Back then, I saw you as my best friend. A kid who understood me and was there for me when nobody else was.” His head drops on a small laugh. When he looks back up our eyes meet, his are shining bright. “Then you came storming into my life, a woman who set me on fire. Someone who made me feel safe. A woman who, when things got hard, I knew I never wanted to lose.”
He takes a deep breath before continuing. “When I bought this jeep, it took me three whole months to find the symbol.”
“You remembered that they had a symbol?”
He chuckles. “Of course I remembered. I got this car because of you, Pip.”
“You did?” Tears well up in the corner of my eyes, and my lip trembles.
“Yep.” His one word answer is enough to make my vision fog.
“What did you find?” I whisper.
“An apple. Do you know what an apple means?”
The first drop of wetness falls. “No.”
“It means unconditional love.” He places one hand on my cheek, wiping away the wetness, and I close my eyes, breathing in deep. “I want you to be my wife.”
My lids flutter open and I meet his stare.
All I see is love.
He lifts the lid of the box, and a beautiful oval diamond sparkles up at me. “Now that we are both living in the present, with our pasts behind us, I just want to live…with you. Marry me, Pip.”
I laugh, unable to stop the burst of emotion bubbling within. “It’s not even a question. I’m head over heels in love with you, Aiden Slate.” I throw myself forward, crashing my lips to his, but he cuts it off far too short.
“Cass…”
“Of course, I’ll marry you.”
“Pinky promise?” A grin spreads across his face, and I bite my lip, trying to contain the need I have that’s building for this man.
“On your puck.” I laugh, and with that, he places the ring on my finger.
A new beginning.
A promise.
An epic ending for two people who were always destined to make each other whole.