Things were different now, and as I looked into her eyes, seeing worry and tears shimmering in them, I realized it was time to let her off the hook. I hated what they’d done. Sure. There was no escaping that, but I understood where they’d come from, and in the end, I hadn’t sacrificed nearly as much as I’d thought I would have to.
I smiled, even as my eyes stung with unshed tears of my own. “I’ve been in love with Nate for a long time. It just took me a minute to realize it. It’s okay, Mom. I can’t say we’re all good, but I know we’ll get there. I promise.”
Her eyebrows swept up. Relief bloomed across her face so quickly it almost hurt to see. “Oh, sweetheart. That’s the best news I’ve heard in a very long time. When did this happen, though? You’rein lovewith him?”
I nodded. “It’s complicated, but in a weird, slightly deranged way, this was a love match. No matter how we got into it.”
Mom reached for my hand, squeezing it tight, and the sound of Nate’s laughter carried faintly through the open doors from the terrace. I glanced in that direction, but then I pulled my mom into a long overdue hug.
None of this had been simple and yet, right now, it felt right. I still wasn’t sure if the ends had justified the means, to be fair, but I’d meant what I said to her. Ididwant to try. All three of them, her, Dad, and even Abram, had had good intentions going into this.
The road to hell might be paved with those, but the path I was on because of them felt different. Like maybe it was leading me to exactly where I was always meant to be.
CHAPTER 41
NATE
We said goodbye to her parents early on Saturday morning. They dropped us back off at the quiet airstrip. The jet’s engines were already humming as they warmed up.
“Thanks for coming out, Nate,” Pete said, shaking my hand with the same kind of warmth he’d been showing me since yesterday.
Kate’s mom hugged her twice before letting go, and I couldn’t deny that seeing them obviously having reconciled was a relief. From what I knew about her—as Emma—she’d always had a good relationship with her mother.
Although we hadn’t gone into any identifiable details about our families, she’d often told me about shopping trips with her mom and their brunch rituals. Girly getaways and having their nails done together.
That kind of bond was sacred. Especially to someone like me, who’d lost my mother much too early. Part of me had been afraid that the pressure they’d put her under to marry me had put an irreparable crack in that relationship, but I should’ve known better.
It would take more than that, I supposed.
When they finally broke apart, the morning was still cool and pale, the sky barely awake. Kate took my hand as we boarded, squeezing my fingers tight and turning to wave at them before the door was sealed behind us.
“Are you okay?” I asked as she settled into the seat across from me, tucking one leg underneath herself like she was already at home anywhere I happened to be.
She smiled, and although I could see she was a little sad to be leaving them so soon, she didn’t seem devastated or anything. “Yeah, I’m fine, but for interest’s sake, would it have mattered if I wasn’t?”
“It’s still the weekend,” I said. “We could’ve stayed with them until tomorrow or even Monday morning. If you ever miss them or you’re homesick?—”
“I know, Nate,” she said, her voice surprisingly gentle. “Thanks, I’m sure that time will come, and when it does, I’ll tell you if that’s what I need, but I’m actually pretty happy to be leaving.”
“You are?”
She held my gaze for a beat before she shrugged. “It turns out I might like thisbeing in our own little bubblething we’ve got going on at the moment.”
“I like it too,” I admitted as the jet started taxiing. “Actually, that’s an understatement. I’m kind of fucking loving it.”
She laughed. “I love that you say stuff like that to me now.”
I grinned as we took off, feeling good, lighter than ever and cautiously optimistic that she and I had finally really turned a corner. The deal was done. There would be no more negotiations, nasty surprises, or deadlines hanging over us, tightening like a noose.
Plus, Kate was sitting across from me, staring openly with genuine warmth in her eyes—and not for CB. For me. As Nate.
“What?” I asked finally when she was still staring as we reached cruising altitude.
“You’re smiling,” she said.
“I do that sometimes.”
She rolled her eyes. “Not like this.”
