And as soon as her Uber pulled up and whisked her away, I turned and walked to the gas fireplace and turned it off, then leaned on the mantel.
From the time I was eighteen years old, my father had dictated most of the important choices in my life.
The one time I had chosen to rebel against him by asking Kristy to marry me, he had jeered at me and thrown it in my face.
And who could ever have known what she'd do?
But he swore he called that out long before we were that far in.
He rubbed that in my face and made me feel like less of a man—part of the reason I was still single at nearly fifty.
But Ember didn't feel like a mistake or a bad choice.
Albeit, neither had Kristy at the time.
Still, everyone in this town had an opinion and all of them thought it was a bad idea even though none of them knew the extent of what was going on behind closed doors.
What if Ember wasn't a mistake and my father and the festival committee were all wrong?
And what if she was exactly what I needed after all this time?
And what if I let them pressure me to push her away when she and I needed each other?
I was too old for any of this.
I'd finally met a woman I adored and time was running out for me to find the love of my life and grow old together with her.
I refused to let them manipulate me out of fear for my future.
If it took everything I had, I intended to fight for Ember Harrison and make her a permanent part of my life until the day she no longer wanted it.
And perhaps a few days after that, too.
11
EMBER
The bistro was tucked into a quiet corner across the city, far enough from Beacon Hill that we wouldn't run into hospital colleagues or committee members.
I'd chosen the location deliberately, scanning online reviews to find a place that was intimate without being too fancy, busy enough to provide cover but not so crowded we'd be overheard.
It was harder than I thought, but it was nice to be out with Nate instead of cooped up in an office or one of our homes.
Nate was already seated when I arrived, positioned at a corner table with a view of the door.
He stood when he saw me, pulling out my chair before I could reach for it myself.
The gesture was a little old-fashioned but I appreciated a man who knew how to treat a lady.
"Have you been waiting long?" I asked, setting my purse aside. It was chillier tonight, and I wore a sweater to offset the lower temps as summer started to fade into fall.
"Only five minutes. I ordered wine." He gestured to the bottle already open on the table, two glasses poured. "Red seemed appropriate for the weather."
I liked his thinking, though my stomach wasn’t really feeling like wine tonight. But I sipped it and indulged him.
He was paying for this and I didn't want to be rude. "I did some research today."
"About what?" he asked, sipping his own drink. The half smile he gave me made me swoon.
