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“For what?”
“For letting me be part of this. Of your life. Of Remy’s life.”
I turned to face her fully. “Jo, you’re not just part of our lives. You’re... you’re everything. You’ve brought light and joy back into our home. Remy adores you. My mother adores you. And I...” I cupped her face gently. “I’m completely in love with you.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I’m completely in love with you, too.”
“Move in with us.”
The words were out before I could stop them. But I didn’t want to stop them. I meant them.
Jo’s breath caught, and she blinked at him. “Lane—”
“I know it’s fast. I know we’ve only been dating for a couple months. But Jo, I’m done wasting time. I’m done pretending this isn’t exactly what I want. What Remy wants. What we all want.” I pulled her closer. “Move in with us. Make our house your home. Wake up in my bed every morning. Have coffee with us at breakfast. Be here not just on weekends, but every day.”
She stared out at the twinkling lights for a few long moments, and I worried she was trying to come up with a reason not to.
“What about Remy?” she asked finally. “Are you sure she’s ready for it?”
I laughed, tightening my hand on hers. “She asked me last week when you were going to live with us. I think she’s been ready since the day she met you. I think I was too.”
Jo laughed, a sound between a sob and incredulity. “You’re serious.”
“Completely serious. I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”
“My lease isn’t up for two more months—”
“We’ll pay the early termination fee. I don’t care. I just want you there. With us. In the house where I can touch you and hug you. Feel you. Kiss you.”
I leaned down to press my mouth to hers. She tasted faintly of cotton candy.
“Lane” she murmured softly. “That’s a lot.”
“It is. But I’m sure.”
Jo looked out at the crowd again, as if she were weighing something in her mind. Eventually, she looked up at me, and in her shining eyes I saw everything I needed to know. “Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes. Yes, I’ll move in. Yes, to this craziness. Yes to you, and Remy, and Julia. Yes to forever.”
I kissed her then, right there in the middle of the fall festival with half the town probably watching. And I didn’t care. Because Josephine Bennelli was mine, and I was hers, and everything else was just details.
When we finally broke apart, Remy was standing there with Mia and Julia, all three of them grinning.
“Did Miss Jo say yes?” Remy asked hopefully.
“She said yes,” I confirmed.
Remy threw her arms around both of us. “We’re gonna be a real family now!”
“We already were, peanut. Now it’s just official.”
Julia pulled Jo into a hug. “Welcome home, dear. Officially.”
Chapter 17
Jo
