"But what if happiness is this?" I gesture around us, the cabin, the mountains, the life we've created together. "What if success is waking up every morning next to someone who loves all the parts of me I used to try to hide? What if it's writing stories that matter instead of chasing bylines that impress people I don't even like?"
"Is it enough for you though Cass?" he says.
I blink against the sting in my eyes. "It is. You are. But is me just being with you enough for you too? If I turn down thisopportunity I won’t get another one like it. Am I enough without the awards and opportunities for you?"
He cups my cheek, thumb brushing away a tear I didn't realize had fallen. "Cass, the only opportunity I care about is the one where I get to love you for the next fifty years."
Suddenly, I know.
It was never really about Paris, or Enid, or proving anything to anyone.
It was about being brave enough to choose the life I actually want instead of the one I thought I was supposed to want.
It was about choosing love over fear.
It was about choosing him.
"I'm staying," I say, and the words feel like coming home.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. This is my life now. You're my life now. And I wouldn't trade it for all the assignments in the world."
He kisses me then, soft and sure and full of promise. When we break apart, he rests his forehead against mine.
"So, keep writing the articles then?"
I grin, suddenly excited about possibilities I hadn't even considered an hour ago. "Well, I've been working on this novel. About a city girl who falls for a mountain man and discovers that home isn't a place, it's a person."
"Sounds like a bestseller to me."
"We'll see. But first, I need to call Enid back."
"What are you going to tell her?"
I look around at the life we've built.
"I'm going to tell her I already found what I was looking for."
***
