“And you came back with a different question.”
“Yes.”
I looked at the windows. I couldn’t see the sea, but I could feel it in my bones. I took a few deep breaths, my thoughts whirling furiously. He waited. Somewhere along the way he had learned some patience. His expression was tight, his eyes wary as he watched me.
“I didn’t want to get pulled back into your life,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I didn’t want to vanish into it.”
“Then don’t,” he said. “I’m asking you to let me into yours. Sometimes at a microphone. Sometimes in your kitchen with a cup of tea.”
“It still scares me,” I admitted.
“That’s fine,” he said. “We can be scared and still try.”
We stood there in a room full of boxes while a party formed in the house. I could hear Shannon corralling someone into wearing a hat and Esther cajoling Daniel to give her the microphone. The sound of the party made the decision easier, not harder.
“I can’t promise every week,” I said. “I can’t promise a marathon.”
“Understood. But, my wildfire, I also didn’t ask for one,” he said. “I asked you to walk in sometimes and help me make something honest.”
My wildfire. How I’ve missed him calling me that.
I nodded. My throat felt tight. “We can try.”
He let out a breath like he’d been holding it since the day he left. “Okay,” he said, and his voice went soft in the middle. “Okay.”
And then his lips were on mine, and we were sinking, sliding, into each other, chasing the chorus line on a song we’d yet to write.
But now, at least, I knew we had time to write it. Together.
We went back to the big room because if we stayed in the quiet any longer, I might jump him on the rug. That was for later. If I knew anything about the Book Bitches, I knew we had limited time before one of them interrupted us to get the gossip. Laughing, I dragged Noah across the courtyard and back inside where the party had built itself in our absence. Coats piled on a bench. A long table strained under a mountain of food that looked like everyone in the village had emptied their fridges. Paper crowns were being passed about. Rosie had built a “Resolution Tree” out of branches in a vase and people were hanging tags on it with lies and hopes. Harper had set up a photo corner with a banner that read …New Year, Same Chaos.
For the first time in days, the ache in my chest eased. I didn’t know what the year would bring. I knew two things that mattered … I could keep my life. And I could let it grow.
“Happy New Year, Skye,” Noah said.
“Happy New Year,” I said back, and when I tilted my head up to accept his kiss, the party went wild.
“All right, folks, you saw it here first,” Esther crowed into the microphone. The opening strains of Marvin Gaye’sLet’s Get It Oncued up, and I groaned into Noah’s kiss, and then we broke apart, both laughing.
“Never change, Esther,” I called, holding up a glass of champagne someone handed me. “Never change.”
Epilogue
SKYE
“Ow!” Noah cried, as Wallace launched himself from the bar onto Noah’s lap, digging his claws in. “Is this why he’s called a warrior kitten?”
“No,” Cherise called, looking up from where she read a book with a half-naked woman being carried by an almost entirely naked man on the cover. “It’s because the warriors used to carry them into battle in their sporrans.”
Noah’s mouth dropped open and I bit back a grin as I cleaned some dirty glasses behind the bar.
“Aye, right they did. And me mum won gold in the Olympics.” Noah glared at Cherise, certain she was having him on. Cherise just shrugged, turned a page, and went back to her smutty story. Noah turned to me, an eyebrow raised.
“Did they really?” hemouthed to me.
I burst out laughing and leaned over to scratch Wallace’s wee head.
“Aye, they certainly did. Every good warrior kept a kitten with him, didn’t they?”
