Charlotte nodded against her shoulder, her breath hitching before she exhaled in what sounded like relief.
“What happened at the lake made me realize I still have some trauma from the accident. PTSD, maybe,” Marin said. “I’m going to start seeing a therapist, and ... maybe you should think about it too.”
“Me?” Charlotte peeked up at her through her hair, then sighed. “Maybe I do need help, so I can process what happened to my mom and truly stop running, because I want to be able to keep my promises to you, Mare. I really do. Okay, let’s both look for therapists.”
“Our healthiest couple decision yet, I think.”
“Yes.” Charlotte pulled back far enough to meet Marin’s eyes, her own still brimming with tears. “Most of my life, I’ve felt adrift, like I was just ... looking for something. I needed to find my mom, but it turns out she was here all along, and I ... I think my journey was meant to lead me to you. It all comes back to you, doesn’t it? We met on that bus, and somehow that horrible day led us to the same small town in Vermont, where I happened to be your Realtor, and you’re it, Marin. You’re what I’ve spent my life searching for. It’s you.”
Tears spilled over Marin’s cheeks. “Oh, Charlotte ...”
“I feel like I say this a lot with you, but what are the chances? Of us meeting on that bus? Of reconnecting like we did? What are the chances ofanyof this?”
“Not very high, that’s for sure.”
“One in a million, I think,” Charlotte declared.
“If you want to be particular, based on the current world population, it’s one in eight billion.”
Charlotte’s eyes crinkled with a wide smile. “Then you and I are meant to be. There’s no other explanation.”
“I can’t argue with that.” Marin leaned in for a kiss, as everything inside her seemed to settle. “I love you so much.”
“Same.” Charlotte smiled against her lips. “I’m so glad fate brought us together.”
“Me too ... and that you convinced me fate is real.”
“It all started with a horoscope ...”
“And it ends with you ... naked ... in bed with me.”
Charlotte’s eyes heated. “Yes, please. Take me. Right now.”
Epilogue
Nine Months Later
The water was a shade of turquoise Charlotte had only seen in photos before she and Marin arrived at their waterfront bungalow on St. John in the US Virgin Islands. It was the first week of January, winter break from the university for Marin and a slow period at work for Charlotte, so they’d flown out for a week in the Caribbean. This was their first real vacation together, but also the first time in years that either of them had taken a vacation at all.
Too many years, for both of them.
“I can’t get over how beautiful this is ... or how relaxed I am.”
Charlotte turned her head to stare at her. Marin sat reclined in a lounge chair, wearing a blue-patterned two-piece swimsuit that revealed a thin strip of skin at her waist. She had a tropical drink in one hand, while palm fronds overhead shielded her from the sun. She looked so sexy, and indeed, so relaxed.
They had been going up to the main resort for meals, but otherwise they were enjoying the seclusion of their private villa. Powdery white sand stretched out before them, and there were no people in sight, only a couple of seagulls pecking along the waterline.
Yesterday, they’d chartered a boat to take them out so they could scatter her mom’s ashes at sea. Charlotte had given it a lot of thought in those first months after receiving her mom’s remains. She’d discussed it with her dad and with Marin, and in the end, they’d all agreed that Charlotte should set her free in the place she’d died trying to reach.
Charlotte had said a few words and tossed some flowers into the waves, and it had been overwhelmingly peaceful. It had also brought her a sense of closure. Now she could look ahead to the future, which shone as bright as the Caribbean sun.
“I understand why people enjoy tropical vacations so much.” Charlotte slipped off her lounger and climbed onto Marin’s. She lay on her side, cuddled against the woman she loved, and it was bliss. The air was warm but not unpleasantly so here in the shade.
“Distracting, having you pressed against me in that adorable little bikini,” Marin said, her voice lower, slightly throaty the way it got when she was aroused.
“Oh yeah?” Charlotte reached down to tug at the bust of her purple bikini. She was displaying a lot more cleavage than Marin, a lot more skin in general, but Marin’s modest two-piece was sexy as fuck.
Marin might give off the appearance of being reserved, but Charlotte knew the truth. Marin had a spine of steel, the heart of an adventurer, and she was brimming with passion. After waiting so long for a fulfilling relationship, Marin was ready for anything and everything when it came to love.
