Come Back To Me (43 page)

on my feet. Kit’s standing right in front of me as though

my subconscious has conjured him out of thin air. I have

to blink a few times to make sure I’m not hallucinating.

‘Hi,’ he says, looking as shocked as I am.

‘Hi,’ I stammer.

‘I—’ he says, at the same time as I say,

‘What are you—?’

We both stop. I notice Kit looks anxious, out of breath,

like he has some place to be.

‘I was just visiting the grave,’ he says. ‘Riley.’

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I nod. I can’t seem to look at him. My cheeks are on fire.

‘I . . . I went around to your dad’s,’ I say. ‘He said you’d

gone to the recruiting office.’

‘Yeah,’ Kit says.

I stare down at the ground, tears smarting my eyes. I

don’t want him to see me crying, though, so I force

myself to blink them away. ‘Right. OK,’ I say. Shit. I don’t

know what to say to him.

‘Jessa?’

I look up. ‘I don’t love him.’ The words just fly out of

my mouth before I can stop them. I ram my mouth shut.

‘What?’ Kit asks.

‘Todd.’ Again I ram my mouth shut. Why am I telling

him this?

A smile seems to twitch for a moment at the edge of

Kit’s mouth, but he shakes his head and it disappears.

‘OK. But listen . . . ’

‘I love you.’ Nope. Can’t seem to stop myself.

Kit looks as stunned as I feel. ‘What?’

Suddenly I realize something, something momentous,

something that makes me want to hit myself because I’ve

been so blind and so stupid. How did I not see until now?

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I say in a rush, ‘if you’ve re-enlisted

for another four years. I’ll wait. I don’t care. I want to be

with you. With
you
. No one else.’

Kit blinks at me, raising his eyebrows. ‘You’d wait for

me for four years?’

I nod. ‘Yes. Four. Forty. Whatever. I want to be with

you, Kit.’ There, I’ve said it, and it feels like I’ve just

sprouted wings and am lifting up into the air, light as a

bird.

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Mila Gray

‘No,’ Kit says.

‘Yes,’ I answer angrily, falling straight back to earth.

‘This isn’t your decision.’

A grin splits his face. ‘No, I mean you don’t need to

wait,’ he says, stepping towards me. ‘I didn’t re-enlist.

I’m a free agent.’

He didn’t re-enlist? The news hits me with the force of

an electric shock. Before I can say anything he carries on.

‘I came here and I had the weirdest conversation with . . .

well, never mind.’ He shakes his head and pinches the

bridge of his nose. ‘The long and short of it is that I was

just leaving to come and find you.’

‘You were?’

‘Yes,’ he says, reaching for my hand.

‘Why?’ I ask, as my throat tightens. The feel of his hand

in mine, his touch, has started some kind of chain reac-

tion through my body. Little tremors start to travel up my

arms and down my spine.

‘To tell you to ditch Todd and come back to me.’

I draw in a breath as he pulls me closer so I’m standing

almost chest to chest with him. His free hand strokes my

hair behind my ear. ‘Because you’re my girl,’ he whispers.

‘You’re mine, Jessa. And I’m yours. And I’m an idiot for

walking away, but I swear to God I’ll never walk away

again.’

I look up into his eyes, noticing that the haunted look I

saw at the funeral has vanished, that lost look I saw the

last time we made love is nowhere to be seen. He’s look-

ing at me the same way he used to look at me before Riley

died.

‘You promise?’ I ask, still not sure if I can believe it.

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His jaw tenses. He takes my face in his hands and fixes

his eyes on mine. ‘With my whole heart,’ he says fiercely.

‘I’m back. And I’m not going anywhere ever again.’

And then he kisses me. My body responds automatic-

ally. Even though nine months have passed, it may as

well be nine seconds, the connection between us is so

instant. Nothing has changed. I melt against him. It’s as if

I’ve been frozen for nine months and now I’m waking up,

his lips, his hands, his touch all forcing the heat back into

my body, setting me alight from the inside out.

I kiss him back as though I’m trying desperately to find

my way back into the light and he’s holding the torch. I

had forgotten how it felt to be in his arms − the memory

could never do it justice − and now I press against him,

wanting to remember.

We’re breathless, both of us shaking and crying when

we pull apart. There’s a burning ache inside of me, one I

haven’t felt in so long, one I never felt with Todd.

As if he’s read my mind, Kit asks, ‘What about Todd?’

‘I broke up with him. Twenty minutes ago. I told him I

was still in love with you.’

Kit smiles and takes my face in his hands to kiss me

again. I will never get tired of his lips. ‘God, I’ve missed

you,’ he whispers.

‘I can tell,’ I answer with a sly smile, because he’s

pressed against me and suddenly there’s only one thing I

want to do. I glance over his shoulder and see his bike.

‘Take me for a ride?’ I murmur.

‘Where do you want to go?’ he asks.

‘Home,’ I say, and he knows without having to ask that

I mean his house,
our
room,
our
bed.

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Mila Gray

He takes my hand and pulls me towards his bike, strid-

ing purposefully, and I know with a thrill that races

through me that this is going to be one fast ride.

‘Wait,’ I say, digging in my heels, my stomach falling

out of me. ‘Isn’t that my dad’s car?’ I ask, pointing at the

BMW at the edge of the lot.

‘Yeah,’ Kit says with a small smile.

I give him a confused look, but he shrugs it off and

tosses me a bike helmet.

‘Come on, let’s go,’ he says. ‘We’ve got a lot of catching

up to do.’

I grin at him because I know exactly what kind of

catching up he means, and it isn’t going to be the conver-

sational kind.

‘And then,’ he says, helping me do up the strap before

lifting me onto the back of the bike, ‘then we have a

whole life to plan. I was thinking a road trip and then a

move to LA. What about you?’

He kicks up the stand and revs the engine. I wrap my

arms around his waist.

‘I don’t care where we go. Just so long as we go there

together.’

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Epilogue

five years later

The wedding is taking place on a cliff above the beach.

The weather is glorious. Days like this always take me

back to that first summer with Kit when we were a secret

and everything was touched with a golden, magical kind

of light.

I look across at him now and my heart gives a quick

kick at the sight of him in his suit. If anything he’s only

gotten sexier over the years, and though he always jokes

that one day I’m going to run off with one of my leading

men, there’s no possible way anyone could ever come

close to making me feel the way Kit does. With just a

glance he has the power to make me come completely

undone.

Aware of me staring at him, he looks my way and

gives me a smile, his eyes slipping down my dress. I

know exactly what he’s thinking and have to look away

to hide my blush.

He links his fingers through mine and leans over to

whisper in my ear. ‘Have I told you how beautiful you

look?’ he asks.

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Mila Gray

I shake my head while laughing under my breath.

‘Shhhh,’ I whisper, focusing my attention back on the

bride and groom.

Jo looks stunning in her white dress, so much so that

I have to wipe away a tear. Her groom is gazing at her

with an expression of such unadulterated love that it

makes something catch painfully in my chest and I have

to swallow away the lump in my throat as I watch them

exchanging vows. Though I wish it was my brother up

there marrying Jo, I’m thrilled that she’s found someone

to take care of her. He’s a good guy. And he adores her.

The fact that he adores little Riley too makes me even

happier.

I watch the little monkey who’s standing between

them holding a cushion with the rings on. He looks so

like Riley that it’s hard to tear my eyes off him. He turns

just then and, grinning a gap-toothed grin, waves at my

mom and dad who are sitting beside us. My dad is beam-

ing as if this is the proudest day of his life, and I notice he

and my mom are holding hands, my mom wiping away

tears.

Kit’s dad is officiating at the ceremony, and I watch his

blue eyes light up with happiness as he pronounces them

man and wife.

‘That’s going to be us next,’ Kit murmurs in my ear,

sending a shiver up my spine.

I feel a flutter in my belly at the thought, a quickening

inside me that feels like a butterfly stretching its wings

for the first time. I can’t wait for it to be our turn, but the

wedding we have planned is going to have to wait. Next

month I’m away on location in Hawaii filming, and I

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have two other projects lined up for next year. Things are

really starting to take off. It’s already getting to the stage

where I’m having to wear a hat and dark glasses when I

go out in public – something I’ll never get used to. The

paparazzi even followed Kit and me here to the wedding

and are waiting outside for a money shot.

After the wedding, as everyone gathers to drink cham-

pagne and the bride and groom are having their photos

taken, Kit takes my hand and leads me over to my

parents.

‘What are you doing?’ I ask him.

‘I think we should tell them, don’t you?’ Kit answers.

‘What? Now?’ I ask, hit by a flurry of nerves.

‘It’s OK,’ Kit says, grinning at me over his shoulder.

‘I’m wearing a bullet-proof vest.’

I know he’s kidding. There’s no need any more for one

of those. These days Kit and my dad get on pretty well.

Since he retired, my dad has mellowed even more. He

and my mom come and visit us in LA quite often, bring-

ing little Riley, who loves hanging out at Kit’s restaurant

(which he named
Riley’s
). His favourite part is following

the waitresses around and watching the cocktail waiters

mix drinks, which is slightly worrying seeing how he’s

not yet six.

My dad hugs me and kisses me on the cheek. ‘That was

beautiful, don’t you think?’ he asks, gesturing at the

flower-decked arch where the ceremony took place.

I nod. My mom squeezes my arm. I know today is

equal parts wonderful and difficult for her, as it is for all

of us.

Kit and my dad shake hands.

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Mila Gray

‘How’s the business?’ my dad asks Kit straightaway.

He’s taken a keen interest in Kit’s restaurant ever since he

started winning awards and being featured in the papers.

‘Great,’ Kit answers. ‘We’re going to be opening a sister

restaurant in New York next year.’

‘That’s fantastic,’ my mother says, giving Kit’s arm a

squeeze.

Just then Jo and her new husband Marc walk over arm

in arm, little Riley swinging off Marc’s hand. He lets go

and jumps straight into Kit’s arms, and watching them

I feel a swell of emotion. Kit’s going to make the most

amazing father. If Riley could see this right now, I know

he’d be smiling. As though he knows just what I’m think-

ing, Kit puts his arm around my waist and draws me

close.

‘Dad!’ he shouts over the heads of the crowd, getting

his father’s attention.

His dad is locked in close conversation with Jo’s mom

and they both look up. I notice Jo’s mom is blushing and

the two of them look like teenagers who’ve been caught

doing something they shouldn’t. Oh my God. Am I

imagining it? Is there something going on between them?

That would be so wonderful, I think to myself. If anyone

deserves a second shot at love, it’s Kit’s dad.

They walk towards us and I watch speechless as Kit’s

dad and my dad exchange a few words of light-hearted

banter. I will never get used to seeing those two talking

and getting on.

When everyone’s gathered around, Kit clears his voice.

I stare at the ground and take a deep breath, grateful for

Kit’s arm which is an anchor around my waist.

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‘Everyone, we have some news,’ he announces.