Tom stood with his hands jammed in his coat pockets. His breath came out in steady clouds. For a moment, they both stood there silently.
Then he pulled a folded envelope from his pocket and held it out. “This is for you.”
Lauren stared. “What is it? Another check?”
The words came out sharper than she meant.
“No,” he said quietly.
He ran a hand over his jaw, the movement tight, frustrated. “I was such an idiot, Lauren. I didn’t get it. I thought that taking care of you meant paying for things, solving things with money.”
He gave a shaky laugh, one without humor. “I should’ve written you a letter the first time.”
Lauren’s throat tightened. “Tom?—”
He shook his head. “I should have bought you a necklace. I should have fastened it around your neck on Christmas Day. I should have cherished the quilt you made. I do now.”
He touched the scarf around his neck, the gray-and-green yarn dusted with snow. His fingers lingered on it, reverent. “An item that was handmade by someone you love means everything.”
Lauren’s breath hitched.
He took a step closer, holding the letter out again. “So no, this isn’t a check. It’s the words I should’ve said at Christmas. I should have done everything I could to show the world that you’re the person I love. That you’re the person I fell in love with six years ago and keep falling in love with every day since.”
She hesitated, her gloved hands cold, her heart colder.
But she reached out and took it.
The envelope was warm from his pocket, edges creased from where he’d held it too tightly.
Tom’s eyes stayed on hers, steady despite the wind. “Whatever happens,” he said quietly, “I needed you to have that.”
Lauren nodded once, unable to speak.
Snow began to fall again, slow and soft, catching in the fibers of his scarf—her scarf—and melting into the paper she held between them.
CHAPTER 42
Tom
Tom watchedher fingers break the seal on the envelope.
His heart was hammering so hard he could feel it in his throat. In his fingertips. In every nerve ending that screamed at him to look away, to not witness this moment of her seeing him completely exposed.
But he couldn't look away.
Lauren pulled out the pages.
He'd bared himself to her. Every failure. Every regret. Every moment he'd looked at her and felt shame when he should have felt pride. It was all there in black ink, unflinching and raw and more honest than he'd ever been about anything.
Tom had never felt more naked in his life.
Lauren had seen him physically naked hundreds of times. Had touched every inch of him. Had known his body in a way nobody else ever had.
But this was different. This was worse.
Standing here watching her read his words felt more intimate and terrifying.
Lauren's eyes moved across the page. Her brow furrowed. Her lips pressed together.
