I jump up, but I can’t quite reach the glass to knock. He doesn’t turn toward me. I’m not even sure he can hear me, or maybe he’s still upset.
“Miles, I read my mother’s journal, and do you know what I realized? I’m terrified of change. So much has happened that’s been entirely out of my control, and I thought, well, I felt if nothing ever changes, then everything would be fine. If nothing ever changes,nothing can get worse. Then you came, and everything changed. You really did change my world, but for the better.”
People are turning to look. My cheeks grow hotter than they already were from the exercise. A few more of the windows have come down on the train.
The train makes a loud noise just as I say, “Miles, I love you.”
Little lights on phones twinkle like stars. I’m sure this will be all over the internet. I think of that picture of us walking into the bookstore. How mortified I was to see my face onYHF. But right now I couldn’t care less. Film away. Post it all over Instagram, TikTok, and any other social media I’m not hip enough to know about. The whole world can know.
I scream it this time to make sure he hears me. “I love you, Miles Casey.”
The train starts to pull away, and I run after it. I swear I’ve never run this much in my whole life. He starts to turn in the window. I see that bright-purple hat standing from the seat, then fiddle with the window.
“Miles, you can’t leave. I mean, of course you can, but I’m asking you to stay. We don’t have to stay here. I’m asking you to stay with me. We can decide where we want to live or how to date long distance.”
The figure in the purple hat leans out the window, and I see clearly now it’s not Miles.
It’s Minnie. She points and makes her hands into the shape of a heart. I stop, my shoulders slump, my chest heaves, my breath ragged. All that, and it wasn’t even Miles.
A deep voice behind me says, “We?”
I turn to see Miles standing behind me, smiling ear to ear, slightly out of breath himself, with a small crowd around us, some with phones out.
“I was trying to catch you, but you were so focused.”
I laugh. “That I was. Did you hear any of it?”
He nods. “All of it.”
He picks me up and swings me around, the world a blur of white and Christmas lights. The crowd cheers. He sets me down, pulls me close, and we kiss. It is a proper, knees-to-jelly, leave-the-world-behind kiss. We would have kissed longer, but the wolf whistles from the crowd signal it’s time to find a more private location for this conversation. The conductor announces another train arrival, and some of our adoring fans dissipate.
“Miles, don’t go.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not. Well, I do have somewhere I need to be, but I’m not getting on a train.”
“You’re not?”
“Nope. Minnie has family in London. She quit, and I was just giving her a ride.”
He pulls me closer, and I laugh into his neck. “So, I didn’t have to run after a rolling train and pour out my heart in front of a bunch of strangers?”
He shakes his head. “No, but I liked it.”
“Youlikedit? Do you see how many bloody people I just yelled like a nutter in front of…”
He kisses my neck behind my ear, and I let my sentence trail off. He takes my hands in his. “I loved it. I love you. You’ve changed my world, too.”
I smile. “Coo-Coo-Ca-Choo, babe.”
We kiss, and the train station falls away. Nothing exists but this man and his lips, his smoky-sweet scent, and his broad chest. After an eternity, yet not long enough, our lips part. He smiles his most charming smile. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Miles, I love you.”
Miles’s handfeels solid and strong in mine as we make our way into the pub. We returned the rental car and took my dad’s Jeep all theway to Fort Augustus, but as much as I pester him, Miles won’t tell me what we’re doing.
“Is it a good surprise?”
Miles laughs. “Of course it’s good. Why would I keep something bad from you?”
