I love you, Caitlin, with all my heart. Again. Still.
The ache had causedher chest to cave in a little more with each read.
Caitlin had become convinced that Gemma wanted nothing to do with her until the day her phone pinged with an incoming message.
When Caitlin read Gemma’s text, her stomach somersaulted as if it had joined its own cheer squad, bright and dizzy. Gemma hadn’t wanted her to leave New York. She felt giddy, electricity fizzing under her skin with renewed hope. It felt like a second chance, every wish on a shooting star suddenly aligning, and she knew what she needed to do. She had to give Gemma concrete proof that she wouldneverleave her again.
Caitlin sprang off the couch and paced the marble floor, heart knocking against her ribs as she typed out a group message to summon the cavalry—Maddie, Lara, and Sandy.
They brainstormed for hours, empty wine bottles growing around the coffee table until at last a plan materialized. The steps were mapped out, roles were assigned, and Caitlin felt the fierce calm of someone who finally knew how to fix what she had broken.
Getting Gemma to Paris would take finesse. Caitlin and Sandy had the awkward, delicate task of convincing Gemma’s agent, Eve, to help them without raising suspicion. Eve resisted at first, but once Caitlin looped in Hayley, both women agreed to help. She hadn’t expected Hayley’s generous support, but she didn’t press her luck by questioning it.
AFTER DAYS OF PULLING STRINGSin Paris—booking flights and lining up hotels—the pivotal night had finally arrived, promising to change Caitlin’s life forever, one way or another.
Caitlin stood at the pinnacle of the Eiffel Tower, which glowed like molten gold against an indigo sky. The air smelled of rain and warm metal as she waited, every muscle taut with hope and suspense.
As time stretched, excitement and anxiety braided together tighter and tighter until she could no longer tell the two apart. Still, Caitlin felt a calm certainty beneath the tremor. Gemma was everything to Caitlin, and she couldn’t bear another day without her.
When Gemma finally rounded the corner, a surge of something intense and exhilarating hit Caitlin so hard she forgot how to breathe. Honey-brown eyes met blue, and the world stilled.
Gemma looked divine, as fierce and timeless as a goddess. A form-fitting navy-blue suit traced the lines of her shoulders and waist, with a faint rise of goosebumps trailing down her bare chest.
Caitlin stood entranced, every memory of the girl who’dstolen her heart as a teenager folding into this single, life-changing moment.
“Hey you,” Caitlin said, twisting her hands in front of her body.
A gentle warm breeze rose from behind Gemma, nudging her closer to Caitlin in encouragement.
“Hi.” Gemma glanced at Caitlin, then at the easel beside her. “What…” Her voice drifted off, at a loss for words.
“I took it the day I left our dorm.” Caitlin’s gaze remained fixed on Gemma. “I couldn’t leave it behind. Then I couldn’t part with it, hoping that one day I could look at it and smile, instead of remembering what I had lost.”
Gemma let her eyes sweep the framed collage—photos, ticket stubs, tiny handwritten love notes—then looked back at Caitlin, searching her face for an explanation.
Caitlin’s nerves thrummed, and she took a deep breath to fortify herself. When she inhaled Gemma’s signature woody cologne, the knot in her chest unwound, and a quiet certainty settled over her.
“When we were seventeen, we had just watchedMidnight in Paristogether, and you told me that declaring your love from the top of the Eiffel Tower at night was the most romantic thing a person could do.”
“You remember that?” Gemma interrupted.
“I remember everything about you, Gemma. I’ve known you were my destiny since we were just fifteen years old. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but the one thing I got right was falling in love with you.”
Caitlin opened her left hand to reveal a gold, heart-shaped locket.
“Caitlin,” Gemma breathed out.
“I got this for your college graduation, but I never had the chance to give it to you.”
Gemma lifted the necklace and rubbed her thumb over the engraved writing on the front.
I love you.
“Open it,” Caitlin urged.
Gemma unclasped the tiny hinge, her face outshining the stars.
“The first picture we ever took together,” she said softly.
