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Halfway through dessert, Isabella squeezes my hand under the table, and I stand up and tell them. My mother bursts into tears. Aaron laughs and claps me on the back so hard I nearly spill my wine. Maya shrieks. Kiersten says she knew, because Isabella hasn’t touched coffee in a month. And Jesse looks at me across the table with something in his face I haven’t seen in years.
We may have broken apart temporarily as a family, but we’re starting to fit the pieces back together.
Isabella leans into me, her scent filling my senses. She has been my anchor through the storm, the one person who saw the cracks in my armor and didn't try to use them against me. I could watch her laugh with Kiersten and Maya all day, every day, for the rest of my life.
As the plates are cleared and the others move toward the fire pit to roast marshmallows, I catch Isabella’s eye.
“Walk with me?”
She smiles that knowing effortless smile that makes the rest of the world fall away. “Sure.”
The sand is cool beneath our bare feet. Isabella’s sundress flutters around her legs as her hair trails behind her in the breeze. She’s breathtaking. The stars glitter above in the sky, the crashing of the waves against the shore soothing. We walk together in comfortable silence as the voices of my family fade into the distance.
“Jesse looked a little better tonight,” Isabella says after a while.
“I offered him help,” I reply, watching a seagull dive into the surf. “He didn't say no.”
“That's a huge step, Sebastian. You did a good thing.”
“I did a selfish thing,” I admit, stopping and turning to face her. “I can't lose him, too. I can’t let him lose himself. I want all of us to have a fresh start.”
Isabella reaches up, her fingers brushing a stray hair from my forehead. “I know.”
She looks so beautiful in the moonlight, her eyes a warm golden honey, her skin luminous. My heart races as I take both of her hands in mine. I’ve negotiated billion-dollar mergers without breaking a sweat, but standing there, looking at her, I feel like a teenage boy about to have his first kiss.
“Isabella,” I start, “I know it’s only been two months, but I wouldn’t have made it through any of this without you. You were the only true, solid thing when I didn’t know who to believe or whom I could trust.”
She looks at me, her eyes twinkling, her mouth curling into an amused grin. “Even if you thought it was a mistake to hire me in the beginning?”
I can’t help but to smile in response. “Yes, even that. I’ve lived my life in chapters, and I know there are still many more to come. But I want you on every page for the rest of the book.”
I pull her close, the spray from the ocean dampening our skin and hair.
“I don't want to just be the man you’re seeing, or the partner you’re helping. I want us to be official in every sense. I want to be the person you call first and the person you say goodnight to last. I want you and our baby under my roof, in my life, every single day. I want to make this as permanent as possible for now, and hopefully far into the future.”
For a heartbeat, I wonder if I’ve overstepped, if the chaos of my life is too much for her to tether herself to. I wonder if I haven’t yet proven myself to her. But then she laughs and throws her arms around my neck.
“You're a very serious man, Sebastian King,” she whispers against my ear.
“I'm serious about you,” I say, burying my face in her hair.
She pulls back just enough to look me in the eye. Her expression is fierce and tender all at once. “Yes, of course. I thought we were already there, but if you need to hear me say it, I’m yours. Completely.”
I kiss her deeply. Beyond the dunes, I can see the orange glow of the fire pit. I know my family is huddled around it. We may be scarred, but we’re together. And here, in my arms, is the woman who has come through the struggle with me, who is still standing beside me, whom I’ve fallen irrevocably in love with.
For the first time in a long time, I feel a sense of peace.
“Come on,” I say, taking her hand and interlacing our fingers, “let's go back to the fire and make s’mores.”
“Is it safe?” she teases, leaning her head on my shoulder as we walk.
“Probably not,” I say, holding up our joined hands. “We need to get ready for unmitigated teasing. But for the first time in my life, I think I'm okay with it.”
Isabella laughs, and we walk together toward the light of the fire, two people leaving the shadows of the past behind, one footprint at a time.
EPILOGUE I
SEBASTIAN
