“Why were you at the bar?”
“Looking for you. I wanted to apologize.”
“For what? You have nothing to be sorry for.”
She held out her good hand, and he took it. Damn, he’d missed her.
“I may have a problem of being too judgmental. No scratch that, I’m way too freaking judgmental,” she said.
“I meant everything I said, Hannah. I don’t know why I went to the bar last weekend, but it made me realize that I really am truly done with the bar scene. Done with the one-night stands.”
“I know, and I’m sorry I doubted you. I’ve decided Icanput the past behind us, and I want to try a relationship.”
“Oh, thank God. Hannah, I never thought I’d say this to a woman, but I love you. I’ve loved you since the first time we went out, and you stopped my advances. I respected the hell out of that. It hurt, but I needed it. That’s what got me thinking about a lot of things and why I am the way I am. I realized I didn’t give anyone a chance to get close because I was afraid of hurting them and terrified of getting hurt myself. Until you, there wasn’t anyone to make me rethink my decisions in life, my way of life.”
“I’m the same in a lot of ways,” she said. “Nobody wants to get hurt, but that’s a risk you take when you love someone.”
“I want to try this for real. I want you to be my girlfriend. That sounds a little junior highish, but I don’t want to see anyone else. If you want to move back to your place, that’s fine, but if you want to move back in here, I’d love to have you. We can get you a car so you can get around. We could even turn the guest bedroom into a home office for you.”
When he sat back to gauge her reaction, she was crying. It didn’t scare him. It didn’t put him off at all. He gathered her into his arms and hugged her close. “Can I take that as a yes?”
She nodded and wrapped her arms around him. “I’ve missed you so much.” She kissed him tenderly at first, then climbed onto his lap and deepened the kiss.
Yes. This is what he wanted for the rest of his life. Now that he knew what love was. He could do this.
EPILOGUE
Hannah sat staring at a perfectly decorated Christmas tree the size of a two-story house. It had only been a few months since Zach tried to kill her, but so much had happened in that short time.
She’d graduated from college, purchased The Grinder’s Café, turned thirty, made amends with her family, and best of all, moved in with Jake and Lucky.
Amidst it all, she’d carved out the time to claim some of her trust fund money. Not for herself, but to help Zach’s grandparents and do what little she could about the drug addiction problem plaguing so many.
After seeing the horrifying effects of addiction up close, she’d decided to use some of the money to help. She hired an attorney to set up scholarships for addicts who wanted to go to rehab but couldn’t afford it and gave generously to drug prevention programs in the local schools. In her mind, prevention was key. Never using drugs in the first place seemed way easier than trying to stop once you’d started.
She also planned to research how her money could best be spent to help the homeless. Having been there and done that, and knowing that the two causes often went hand in hand, she wanted to do some research and find out the ways her money would best help. Once life slowed down a little, both she and Jake wanted to devote more time to philanthropic activities.
Jake’s brothers and mother had flown in from New York City, and they were celebrating Christmas at Sam and Annie’s home on Lake Washington. The house had been professionally and elegantly decorated. Brightly wrapped presents surrounded the tree, and a Christmas breakfast feast covered the kitchen island. Out the massive floor-to-ceiling windows that faced the lake, fat, white snowflakes had begun to fall. She felt like she was sitting in a TV commercial.
Sam and Annie shared their wedding plans over a brunch of egg casserole, crepes, fresh fruit, and coffee cake. It was going to be a destination wedding on an island near the Caribbean, at some fancy resort that a popular self-help guru owned. The way they described it, it sounded like a perfect and majestic place for a wedding.
Cranberry juice mimosas contributed to the relaxed, merry atmosphere. Well, for everyone but Mitch and Maggie. Maggie was pregnant, and Mitch was abstaining in solidarity. He was also fawning over her incessantly, driving everyone crazy. Including Maggie.
“Honey, I appreciate your offer to help. I really do. But I’m only five months along and perfectly capable of taking my own plate to the sink,” Maggie said to Mitch. “You’re not my servant.”
“I gotta take care of my girls,” Mitch responded. As soon as he said it, he snapped his mouth shut and turned wide-eyed to Maggie in panic.
“Whaaaat?” screamed his mother.
“Oh, shit,” he said. “Heh, heh. Surprise everyone. We’re having a girl.”
Maggie tried to give him a stern look but couldn’t contain her smile as she nodded and rubbed her barely there belly.
“Sorry, Abigail. One of our presents to you is how we weregoingto tell you,” said Maggie, giving Mitch the side-eye. “But I guess the cat’s out of the bag.”
“Oh. No matter,” said Abigail, wiping a happy tear from her cheek. “I’m so excited, it doesn’t even matter.”
Jake and all his brothers gave Mitch a congratulatory slap on the back, and then a much gentler hug to Maggie.
