Page 58 of And It’s Still You

“How much I love you and how grateful I am to have you again. You’ve never failed to make my life feel complete, Shea. You’ve never failed to make me feel whole. With you, I’m a better woman. I can tell I’ve grown since we’ve reconnected, and I thank you for that. I thank you for not holding my bitterness against me. I thank you for continuously accepting my flaws. I thank you for never allowing your love for me to waver. I’m extremely blessed to have you again, and you better believe I’m not letting you go this time.”

I meant every single word.

O’Shea Collier had my heart wrapped in his soul, and I never wanted him to let go. At night, when he was asleep, I would watch him and think about how stupid I was to be such a bitch to him. I couldn’t apologize anymore because he’d gotten on to me about it, but I still did in my mind. All in all, I was grateful we’d overcome it.

“Can you promise me that?”

“Of course, Shea.”

Slowly, he bobbed his head and didn’t say another word. That meant he had something up his sleeve. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I had a feeling it was going to be life-changing.

About twenty minutes later, we were pulling up to a gate. Shea punched in a code to open it. We drove up a driveway for two minutes before a mini mansion appeared. I choked on my spit from how stunning it was. Something about it looked familiar. I kept studying it until it finally clicked.

“Shea . . .” My sentence was cut short by me sobbing. I buried my face in my hands and tried my hardest to catch my breath, but it was hard. For one, the baby had me overly emotional. Secondly, Shea never ceased to amaze me. He showed me every day why we were truly soulmates, why I had to continuously thank God for him.

“You recognize it?”

I bobbed my head. “I do. It’s the house we described when we were teenagers.”

“It is. Remember you wanted to build it when you found out we were pregnant with Ocean, but I didn’t want to be too far away from the city?”

“Yes. I was mad as hell at you about it too. When did you do this?”

“Would you believe me if I said last year?”

“I would, but why? We weren’t even on the best terms, so why do this?”

Shea turned to face me. He picked up my hand and kissed the back of it. “Despite everything, building this for you was something I promised you. One night, I was watching Ocean sleep, and I thought ’bout it. I thought ’bout all the broken promises I made to you over the years and wanted to make some of them up to you, even though you were mean as hell to me.

“I didn’t move on it immediately. I prayed ’bout it because I didn’t want to do the right thing with the wrong intentions. Deep in my heart, I wondered if doing this for you would bring us back together. It gave me hope, so I didn’t start it until I was sure I was doing it for you in a way that didn’t benefit me. It’s crazy how it has.”

“Why are you so good to me? Why are you such a good man, Shea? Sometimes, I feel undeserving of you, especially now.” I looked at the house and smiled. “To know I was on your mind in such a major way for you to do this . . .”

“You always were, Love.”

“I love you, Shea.”

“I love you too. Come on. Let’s go inside. The movers will be here in a little while.”

Leave it to Shea to think of every detail. He helped me out of the truck. Hand in hand, we walked up to the grand doors we’d talked about many times before. It amazed me that he remembered so much.

Five bedrooms.

Four and a half bathrooms.

Marble flooring.

A movie room.

Two offices.

Floor-to-ceiling windows.

A sitting room in the master bedroom.

Shea had it down to a T. The more we toured, the happier I got. In my mind, I envisioned where we would have everything. I could picture Ocean and the baby’s room. My hands were itching to decorate.

“It’s breathtaking. I can’t believe it’s really ours,” I whispered. My back was turned to him as I stood on the balcony connected to our room. The view was stunning, one I could see myself never getting tired of.