The man next to the kid handed Ahmed his credit card then turned to me.
I stopped short.
“Sebastian? Uh, hi. Sorry about everything,” I said in a rush. “And your brother. And about Baxter. Baxter, don’t eat that!” The pony was going for Alfie’s pretzel.
“It’s okay,” Sebastian told me, giving me a crooked smile. “It all worked out.”
“It’s not okay,” I said defensively. “I need to start making better decisions.”
“You make great decisions,” Sebastian assured me, stepping around Baxter to take my hands in his larger ones. “You help the town. You own a small business that employs people. You helped Alfie.”
“It’s my fault he was taken away!” I started sobbing.
“But you got him back and secured adoption papers.” He gave me a wry smile. “Even when I may be sometimes appalled by your methods, I do have to admit being with you is always a net positive.”
I rubbed my arm. “I should still be better.”
“I’m the one who should be apologizing. I overreacted and said things I didn’t mean.” He tipped up my chin. “I don’t hate you, Amy. In fact, I love you very much.”
“You don’t have to.”
“But I want to.” He pulled me in for a kiss.
“I miss you,” he murmured against my mouth. “I bought your whole building just to see you.”
I stepped back, my mouth dropping open.
“What? Why? It’s a disaster.”
“You did tell me that.” He grimaced. “I’ve only seen it at night, and I thought you were overreacting, but I just walked through it with the Svenssons, an architect, and a structural engineer. The whole building needs to be vacated.”
“A brick fell off the building right as we were walking by and almost squashed me!” Alfie piped up.
“What are you going to do with it?” I asked.
“Renovate it to create nice microapartments and condos. You know, affordable housing. The Svenssons were rightfully appalled. But…” He smirked. “Meg said she would invest with me. She also dug up some grant money to use.”
“You didn’t have to do all that,” I said after a moment. “I don’t deserve it.”
“We can’t have them bulldoze your garden.” He tugged on one of my curls. “It’s a nice little oasis in the city. Though,” he said thoughtfully, “I was thinking all the ground floor would turn into small retail. Our pretzel-making friend needs a permanent home.”
“Hell yeah!” Ahmed pumped a fist and handed Ivy her cheese sauce.
“So you might have to stay in my penthouse when you’re in Manhattan for work. The peace lily is still alive.”
I was reeling. “I can just live at Sophie’s.”
“But I want you to live with me.” Sebastian kissed me again. “I love you, Amy. Messy, poor decisions and all.”
“I love you too.” I blinked back tears. “And I’ll make it up to you. I promise,” I said determinedly. “Anything you want.”
Sebastian grinned. “Anything?”
* * *
“I don’t know about this.”
“You did say anything,” Sebastian reminded me.
