“I didn’t say I wanted tomarryyou the day we met, I said I knew I wasintoyou.”
“Then why didn’t you call me?” I ask. “Or ask for my number?”
“Because you were leaving,” he says. “I was still thinking about it. I think I probablywouldhave called. But then…”
“Miles asked you to marry me instead,” I say, and Carter grins.
“Best decision I ever made.”
I shake my head, chuckling as I drop it back onto his chest.
“What about you?” he asks, hand moving to my hair. “When did you know?”
“I think I knew I loved you when you kissed me hello at my art show. But I fought accepting it until Anna called and told me Theo was hurt.” I shift, pushing up on my elbow one more time so I can look at him.
“Why then?” he asks, and I shrug.
“When I first answered the phone and I heard her voice, I could tell something was wrong. My first thought was for you. If you were hurt, I just realized there was nothing in theworld that would keep me from getting to you. No hockey game. No scary memory. Nothing was more important than finding you, putting my eyes on you, doing whatever it took to make you well again.”
“I should send Theo a thank you card,” he teases. “If all that came out of his injury.”
I roll my eyes. “I would have gotten there eventually. I just needed a little nudge to believe I was capable of being what you need. What you deserve.”
He rolls onto his side to face me. “You are so much more than I deserve,” he says, and I nod.
“I really am, aren’t I?” I lean forward and press a kiss to his mouth. “That’s exactly why we’re going to sleep with the windows openall night long.”
Theo picksus up from the airport, which is perfect because I need him to be at the house for Carter’s surprise too.
When Theo was recovering from his surgery, he and his mom both stayed with us for a few days. It meant that Carter and I had averyfrantic hour moving everything in my bedroom intohisbedroom so it didn’t look like we’d onlyjustspent our first night together as a married couple. But then it meant that I got to spend quite a bit of time with Carter’s mom. She loved spending time with me in my studio, chatting with me while I worked.
That’s when I got the idea for the painting I wanted to do for Carter. HisSarah Stoneoriginal. I knew it had to incorporate his relationship with his dad, and there was no way to do that without also including Theo.
Fortunately, Carter was so busy with playoffs that itwasn’t hard to keep him out of my studio. I finished the painting in a matter of weeks, let it dry, then hid it behind a few other canvases and crossed my fingers he wouldn’t get nosy.
Theo stops his SUV in the driveway, idling while he waits for us to get out.
“Hey,” I say, reaching up to nudge his arm. “Can you come in a sec? There’s something I want to show you.”
Theo looks at me, then looks over to his brother.
Carter shrugs. “No clue. She’s been hiding something from me for days.”
I roll my eyes as I climb out, shifting my bag up to my shoulder.
“It hasn’t beendays,” I say. “It was yesterday. And it’s not that big of a deal.”
I hope my words sound convincing, because I’m practically dying on the inside. My hands start to tremble as I climb the front steps, nerves making me twitchy. This is almost worse than my first solo show at the Second Light.
From a technical standpoint, I know the painting is good. And I showed it to Carter’s mom on a video call, and she loved it so much she cried. But for Carter—and for Theo, too—it’s gonna feel more personal.
“You okay?” Carter asks as he opens the door for me.
“Yep,” I say with a nod, not trusting myself to say more.
Inside, Kim is standing in the living room, right by the fireplace, like she’s waiting for our arrival.
I maybe wish she wasn’t beingquiteso obvious, but at this point, it can’t be helped. Also, the canvas is four feet tall. It’s not like we can ease into this. The second Carter is in the living room, he’s going to see it.
