“I was clearing out the clutter. The past. I came across all the letters from the people who receivedCora’s organs. The one from the woman who received her heart sounded eerily familiar.” His lips curve faintly. “Life list. Year of yes. Buying a van.” His eyes search mine. “And when I matched the handwriting, I knew.” He swallows hard. “Did you know?”
“I found out the day you fired me,” I admit with a strained smile. “I was vacuuming in the office and knocked over some papers on the desk. My letter was among them.”
He closes his eyes, blowing out a breath.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I whisper. “You didn’t want to know. I figured the least I could do was honor that wish.”
“I appreciate it.” He returns his gaze to mine and takes my hand in his, running his thumb over my knuckles. “But I think… I think it was meant to happen this way.”
“What was?”
“Us.”
I pull away from him. “Hayden…”
“Rowan…” He brings a hand to my cheek, not allowing me to escape him. “Before you, I was stuck. In the past. In grief. In what-ifs.” His voice roughens. “You taught me how to embrace each day. To live in the moment. To laugh again. To hope.”
Tears sting my eyes, and I try to blink them back. Thank god Emily insisted I wear waterproof mascara today.
“When you told me about your heart, I was scared. All I could think about was how horrible it was to loseCora. I loved her.” He doesn’t look away. “But not like I love you.”
The words hit me like a physical force, bursting through the wall I’ve tried to build around my heart since I drove away from Sycamore Falls.
From him.
“I love you differently. Deeper. Fiercer. And it fucking petrified me.” His voice cracks on the last word. “Because loving you means risking that pain all over again. At the time, I wasn’t brave enough, so I didn’t fight for you like I should have. But I am now. And I’m not letting you walk away from me without putting it all out there. Without fighting for you, for me, for us, with everything I fucking have. With every last piece of me.”
My vision blurs as more and more tears fall down my cheeks.
“I don’t care if you might only live another fifteen or twenty years. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m older than you.” His lips curve up in a ghost of a smile. “Even so, we can all die tomorrow. Nothing in this world is a guarantee. So I’m asking you to live in the moment with me. No future. No past.” His eyes shine. “Let me love you in the present. Right now. I’d rather have one tomorrow with you than none at all.”
I part my lips, unsure what to say. What Iwantto say.
I remind myself of the reasons I left. To protect him. To protect his kids.
But also to protect myself. Because what if he woke up one day and decided he didn’t want me anymore, like Landon did?
But like Emily reminded me, Hayden’s not Landon.
He went through all the trouble of flying to Chicago and arranging this meeting because he knew it was the only way to talk to me.
He’s willing to fight for me.
Maybe it’s time I start to fight for myself, too.
I take his hand in mine and press it against my heart.
He sucks in a shaky breath at the feel of Cora’s heart beating in my chest.
I close my eyes, drawing strength from the steady rhythm inside me.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Yes?”
I nod, meeting his gaze. “Yes. I love you, Hayden. And I don’t want a life without you in it. However long that life is.” I drape an arm over his shoulder, a smile tugging on my mouth. “Happily ever after is overrated anyway. I’d rather live happily for now.”
“That’s going in my gratitude journal,” he growls as he crushes his lips to mine, his hand still pressed against my chest.
