Dammit if that doesn’t spark some in me too.
“Hey, darlin’.” His voice is as smooth as a pint of cider on a cold winter night.
“Noah,” I respond.
He steps into me, but it’s not with the same confidence he had before. It’s a little stuttered and unsure, and I know it has to do with me pulling away from him last night. He’s afraid I’m going to run again.
I want to.
But I also want to stay.
“What is all this?” I ask quietly, acutely aware that we have an audience.
It feels like the whole town is packed into this barn, and all eyes are on us. Even the music stopped. Lydia and Brian stare at us with that same hope I see in their son’s eyes. My nonna, mother, and aunts all look on from their table.
Given the Chambers family history, I expected to see trepidation, but there is none. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of them look more confident than they do at this moment.
I’m not sure if that terrifies or encourages me.
I look back at Noah, who is watching me closely.
“This is your party.”
“My party? But this is supposed to be the liberation celebration.”
“It is,” he says. “But it’s not just to celebrate Izzy getting rid of that ass clown. It’s to celebrateeveryone’sliberation.”
I glance at my family. Is that why they’re wearing their old wedding attire? Are they celebrating their liberation too? Is it from ...
“The curse.”
“Yes,” Noah says, reading my mind. “They’re here to finally put that wretched Chambers curse behind them. And I think it’s time you finally face it too.”
“Face it? What do you mean?”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper I have stared at since I was twelve.
It’s wrinkled, so he handles it with care as he unfolds and flattens it out.
My wedding wish list.
It’s the same one I rolled into a ball and tossed aside. The one that I swore I was done with. The one I thought was lost forever.
He kept it.
I had no idea he went back to the living room and dug the paper out from under the couch, where I’m sure Beans inevitably took it. I never would have thought Noah picked it up and kept it.
“Noah ...” I say his name because I can’tnotsay it.
He drags his hand through his hair, and I don’t miss the way it shakes.
He’s nervous. I’ve never seen Noah nervous before, not even when facing down Detroit to win the Stanley Cup.
“Look, I know you say you don’t believe in marriage,” Noah says, “and I’m not here to try to trick you into that. That’s not what this is about. This is about giving you everything you ever dreamed of. I won’t lie to you—when you crumpled up this piece of paper and gave it to the cats like a toy, a tiny part of me was relieved. I was glad that we were on the same page. I didn’t want marriage, and you, a damn wedding planner, didn’t want it either. But I couldn’t help but feel this heavy weight that settled into my gut as I watched you throw it away. It was like you were tossing away all your hopes and dreams, and I couldn’t stand it. And I really couldn’t stand the fact that it was all because of the curse.”
His lips pull down into a frown.
“I know you think it’s real, and I can understand why,” he continues, then gestures toward my family. “I mean, they’ve had it rough as hell. Nobody denies that. But I think a part of you has hidden behind that for years. You’ve blamed your failures on that. You’ve closed yourself off so much because you’re afraid of what itcouldtake from you that you’ve forgotten how to live. And I ...” He rolls his tongue over his lips. “I’d like you to give it a try with me.”
