Flo rubs her hands together. ‘Does she want you to dress up as Batman?’
He blanches, and we all laugh even though it’s terribly indiscreet of him to say anything.
‘I’m going to put this lot back in the children’s section.’ I pick up an armful of books. ‘Don’t go bonking anything while I’m gone.’
I’ve grown to love my library. The kids’ section is my haven, set off in a side room to contain the noise, with graceful bay windows overlooking the street. I’ve reshelved the books and tidied the tables, and I take a breather for a few minutes on one of the deep window seats to watch the rain-damp street scene. People coming, people going. I don’t realize there’s anyone else in the room with me until I turn back and find Jonah Jones leaning on the doorframe in his winter coat, watching me.
I’m held bone still by the surprise of seeing him here; we stare at each other for a few silent beats across the room. His dark eyes tell me he’s crossed the ocean to see me and now he’s here he doesn’t know how to play this, and I can’t help him because I don’t know either.
He breaks first.
‘I changed the ending.’
‘You did?’
He walks towards me, almost within touching distance. ‘You were right. There’s more than one happy ending for everyone.’
I swallow hard. ‘Did the studio prefer it?’
‘They love it,’ he says softly, his lashes rain-spiked as he looks down.
‘And you?’ I sit on my hands because they’re desperate to reach for him. ‘Do you love it?’
He lifts his eyes to mine again.
‘I was worried it might feel too fairy tale,’ he says. ‘Too clichéd. But it doesn’t. He tells her he’s loved her for as long as he can remember. That he wants her to be his Friday nights and his Christmas mornings, and that every love song he’s ever written has been about her. He tells her he wants to be the one who holds her to sleep every night. That he wants his happy ending to be with her.’
I slide off the window seat and step towards him.
‘And then, because she told him there’s more than one happy ending for everyone, he kisses her.’
‘Wow,’ I whisper. ‘It sounds like a smash hit. I love it.’
I reach for him and he folds me inside his coat, close enough to feel his heart banging against mine. The studio will probably set the final kiss outside in torrential rain and lay a romant
