“Letting you walk away without fighting for you was the biggest mistake of my life, and trust me, I’ve made plenty.”
“You weren’t the only one who didn’t fight, Henley. I—I didn’t want to leave you, but I did anyway.”
“Yes, but I thought I was doing what was best for you when I told you to leave.”
I reach up and frame his jaw with my hand. “What’s best for me is having you and Remy in my life. You two are my family, my purpose.”
“What about music?” he asks, a hint of hesitation in his voice. “You belong on a stage, singing and sharing your songs with the world. Your words—they’ve changed me in ways I can’t even explain. I can’t imagine how many more lives you could touch.”
I scoot closer to him, which he takes as an invitation to slide my legs over his hips, straddling him now as he leans back so he can still see my eyes. “You see, while you were figuring out a way to push me away, I was figuring out what I could do to show you that I would never stop fighting for you and what we have. You’ve changed me too, Henley. You and your daughter showed me that some dreams are meant to shift and morph, to form something new and different from what you envisioned, but still equally beautiful.” I frame his face with both of my hands. “You are worth the fight, Henley, so I fought for a contract this week that allows me to keep you with me. My life with you is my new dream, so why can’t I have both?”
“What do you mean?”
I prepare to tell him what I planned on saying eventually, after this whirlwind of a week was over. “Sandra was fully intent on signing me as a new recording artist with the label, but I realized during my lastperformance that I don’t want the spotlight. I just want to write songs, words that make people feel something. So, instead of being the one singing them, I’m now on the label as a songwriter, which means I can work from anywhere.”
“Anywhere?” His lips curve into a smile.
“Yes, even somewhere like Blossom Peak.”
“Fuck, Elodie.” He brings my face to his, kissing me softly. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Henley. I want a quiet life, but I still want music to be a part of it. You and Remy helped me figure out what I wanted, even though you thought you knew what that was.”
“Watching you walk away fucking killed me, sweetheart. But your absence was what I needed to realize a few things.” He kisses my cheek and then my lips. “First, my daughter is the luckiest girl in the world to have so many people in her life that love her, even if her biological mom isn’t one of them. Watching Meghan walk away from her made something else click for me—how selfish I’d been to hold a grudge against my parents for leaving me, when I had two of the best foster parents a kid could have asked for.”
“Carol and Nick are one of a kind, Henley. I could have told you that.”
“Yeah, well? I finally told them that I loved them. How’s that for growth?”
I gasp. “Are you joking?”
“I think you should know better than to assume I would joke about saying words like that.” Pulling him to me, I kiss him again—deeply and with every fiber of my body. “You made me a better man than I was before you crashed into my life,” he breathes out when we part. “I want to go to therapy, to bury these demons of mine once and for all. I feel like I can now, knowing you’ll be there cheering me on. I’m yours,Elodie, in every essence of the word.” He brings one of my hands to the center of his chest. “I’ve never asked someone to stay, but I want you to be the first. Will you stay with me? And Remy? And give me the family I couldn’t imagine living without now?”
“I love you so much, Henley Clark,” I whisper against his lips.
“Is that a yes?” he whispers back.
“What do you think?”
“I think you need to use your words.”
“I just did. How about you use yours?”
“I gave you all of mine, Elodie, even the ones that no one else got to hear.”
“Then I’ll give you mine for the rest of our lives. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like love.”
I rest my forehead on his again. “That’s exactly what it is, Henley. The type of love that songs are written about.”
***
“Mmmm.” The soft flick of a tongue against my clit pulls me from sleep. As my eyes flutter open, I see Henley staring up at me from between my legs. “Henley…”
“I’m here, baby. I had to fucking taste you again the second I woke up. Make sure this was real.” His tongue returns to my clit, slowly circling the nub before he slides one finger inside me.
A moan escapes me. “So good.”
