No Falling Allowed (No Kissing Allowed) (17 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Grace

“Tell us more about the honeymoon?” I asked. Cameron, Lauren, and I were lying on the floor of my apartment, boxes all around us from packing up my apartment all day.

Dad had tried to convince me to stay, but these weeks on my own had taught me something important—I could do the adult thing, all by myself, and still succeed. I appreciated everything my parents had done for me, all the experiences their money had afforded me, but there was something rewarding in finding my own way.

“Or just tell us about the sex,” Lauren said, bringing me back to the moment.

Cameron beamed. “It was fantastic, so romantic, and the sex was just…” She trailed off and I grinned.

“Look at our little Cammie becoming a dirty girl.”

She adjusted uncomfortably beside me. “I’m not.” She hesitated. “Okay, so maybe a bit. He’s just so hot.” We laughed, and then the silence found us again. “Is this too much for you?” Cameron asked me. “Do you want me to say I hate Aidan, because I will.”

I gripped her hand and squeezed in thanks. “Are you crazy? I don’t want you to hate your husband. I love that you love him. I just wish…” I swallowed back the lump forming in my throat. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“Are you sure Noah hasn’t tried to call you?” Cameron asked.

“Yeah…just the one text.”

Cameron took my phone from where it sat on the floor between us and eyed Noah’s text again. “And that was it? Just the
hey
? Maybe you should respond. See what he wants.”

I shook my head and reached for my phone. “What good would it do? Noah said he didn’t want me. He’s probably just texting to be nice.”

“But I thought you decided that you two needed to talk.”

“We do.”

“So, you should call him. L, what do you think?” Cameron sat up, and I caught the concern on her face and sat up, too. “Are you okay?”

Lauren’s bottom lip trembled. She’d been oddly quiet all night. We should have known something wasn’t right. “I think I’m getting a divorce. At twenty-five. I mean, how does this kind of thing even happen?”

“Oh, no. I’m sure everything will get better.”

She shook her head, tears flowing now. “Patrick said he doesn’t love me anymore.”

My heart clenched, and Cameron and I together pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

She shrugged. “That’s what I get for meeting a guy in a bar and thinking it could last.”

Cameron cleared her throat, and Lauren’s eyes went wide. “Oh, God, sorry. I didn’t mean that. Of course you and Aidan will last.”

I gave Cameron a reassuring smile, and she hugged Lauren tighter. “We’ll be here for you, whatever you need.”

“I know. It’s just hard. I really love him, and I just keep thinking maybe I should have told him more often. Maybe then he’d love me, too.”

“Saying you love him wouldn’t change anything, honey. He’s an ass.”

Lauren and I stared at Cameron.

“Well, I’m sorry. He is. You’re amazing. Who wouldn’t love you?”

But as I listened to them working through what Lauren would do next, I wondered if there was some truth to saying you love someone and receiving that love in return. Surely one didn’t equal the other—Lauren’s situation proved that—but if you never said it, if the person never knew, then how could you be sure it wouldn’t have made all the difference in the world.

Jumping up, I grabbed my cell and started for my room.

“Are you okay?” they asked.

“Yeah, just need to make a quick call.”

I scrolled through my contacts until I found Noah’s number, then bit my thumbnail like I’d become prone to do when I was nervous.
Okay, stop being a chicken
. Before my nerves could talk me out of it, I dialed and waited. It immediately went to voicemail.

Crap. I needed to do this, right now, or I would lose my nerve. So, drawing the last of my courage, I searched for Noah’s other number and hit send.

“Hunter’s Place.”

The voice covered me like a warm blanket, soothing the ache in my chest. “Noah, it’s me.”

For a moment, he didn’t say anything, and I feared he’d forgotten my voice and thought I was a crazy person calling his bar. Then he breathed, “Grace? What are you…?”

I tried to swallow, but the emotion in me refused to simmer down. If I didn’t get this out soon, I’d be a sobbing mess, and then I’d never make it through it. “Look, you were right about what you said. About my life, and what I’ve always known, and how scared I am to give those things up. But you were wrong in assuming that I can’t be without them. Because I can. I am. By choice. And I should have told you everything, but my pride wouldn’t let me say it then. I wanted you to know better, but maybe I was expecting too much of you too soon. You’re right, my dad offered to give me everything back, and I turned him down. It’s just me and my two hands, and I can do this. And I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, and the last thing you need is more, and I know this won’t change anything, that your mind is made up and all, but I just thought since you sent me that text…maybe you’d like to know that…I love you. And I realize my timing isn’t so great, but I couldn’t go another day without telling you. So, there it is, that was all. Why I called.”

There was chaos in the background, people talking and dishes clanging. For a moment, I wondered if he’d heard me, then he cleared his throat and said, “Um…okay.”

My heart fell to the floor. “Okay, so anyway. Bye.” I hung up the phone and pressed my hands to my face. “Oh my God.”

“What did he say?” Cameron asked.

I shook my head as my watery gaze fell on my friends in the doorway.

“He said okay.”

“What?”

“I just…” A sob broke free and I gripped my knees as it worked through me, the weight of everything crashing down. My job at the Met, my parents cutting me off… And yet I could work through all of that. I did work through all of that. And I felt stronger, a better person. But I couldn’t work through this. “I can’t fix this, can I?”

They enveloped me in their arms, and for the rest of the night I cried for a love I’d never know and a man I’d never truly had.

…

I woke the next morning to a raging headache and a mess of limbs over me. Despite everything, I grinned when I realized we’d fallen asleep this way—Lauren and Cameron hugging me and me hugging them, our friendships the one constant. I had just decided to make some coffee when my phone rang. Deciding to let it go to voicemail, I went to the bathroom to splash water on my face, only to return to it ringing again.

“God, answer that before I toss it out your apartment window.” Then Lauren realized what she said and cringed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s not my apartment. I guess it never was.”

I grabbed my cell and found a text from Annalise—

Lindy’s had an emergency, need you to get down there as soon as possible. I booked you a noon flight out of JFK.

I checked the time, and then my heart jumped into my throat. “Crap! It’s ten thirty.”

“So?”

“Apparently Annalise booked me a noon flight out of JFK.”

“It’s ten thirty!” Cameron screamed.

“I know!”

“Okay, this is okay, we’ll make this happen. Go get in the shower, I’ll call for Aidan’s driver to come pick you up. Lauren, make coffee.”

“I don’t drink coffee.”

Cameron rolled her eyes, and Lauren relented. “Fine. I’ll make you two coffee because I love you and me tea because I’m a sensible person, and sensible people know that coffee is disgusting.”

“Whatever, just make it.”

Twenty minutes later, I was dressed, had my hair pulled into a ponytail and a small carry-on bag packed with what I felt sure would be nonsense, but I couldn’t miss the flight and risk losing my job.

“How do I look?”

I spun around to show off my shift dress, and the girls grinned. “Perfect. Now, go,” Cameron said. “The car’s downstairs.”

Hours later, I was in another car, on my way to Cricket Creek, a wealth of memories pouring in. I wondered how a person could change so much in such a short amount of time, but maybe that was just life. And maybe that was the mark of a strong person versus a weak one—his or her ability to change with life instead of allowing it to destroy them.

I parked outside Hunter’s Place, where Annalise had instructed I meet Lindy, and quickly texted Lindy that I was there. Of all the places for us to meet. I didn’t want to go in there, but what choice did I have?

Lindy’s reply came quickly:

There’s a boat on the dock, climb aboard and close your eyes. Dane and I had an idea, but we wanted to surprise you.

Oh-kay. I made my way to the boat, but there was no one in sight. At first I thought this might all be a joke, and was hesitant to board, but then I received another text from Lindy.

Be right there. Inside getting a few drinks for us.

I boarded, taking a seat along the edge, when I heard the engine start up and the boat begin to leave the dock. I jumped up, frantic, when I noticed a person inside the small cabin. For a moment, we just stared at each other, him driving the boat farther from the dock, me confused and yet so pathetically happy to see him. Finally, he stopped in the middle of the lake and stepped out from the cabin. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“I needed to talk to you.”

My eyebrows shot up. “So you kidnapped me?” Then it dawned on me. “Wait, this was all a setup, wasn’t it? Lindy didn’t have an emergency.”

“I’ll pay for your flight.”

“I’m not worried about my flight. What is this, Noah?”

He edged closer. “I didn’t want to tell you this on the phone or with half the town around, and Jonah has school so I couldn’t hop a plane up there. Lindy said you were coming back here tomorrow anyway, but I couldn’t wait.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When you called me yesterday, I was in the middle of a disaster at the bar, and everyone was watching me, and I couldn’t think. But if I could have thought, if I’d had a moment to myself, I’d have told you that you are amazing. I have never met anyone in my life who compares to you. And I’m sorry. For saying those things, for letting you go, for everything. And I know I don’t deserve you, I will never in a million years deserve you, but I realized that maybe it doesn’t matter. Because maybe that will be the motivation for me to work every day, to show you in every way that I will always, until the day God takes me from this Earth, love you.”

“You love me?” I asked, my voice breaking.

He reached me then, his hands threading into my hair, pulling me closer. “I love you. So much it kills me, but there it is.”

And then he covered my mouth with his, our bodies pressed together, every worry gone, every thought but this amazing man and an unknown future. But for once, I didn’t need to know the answers. I had everything I needed and more.

Epilogue

“Hummingbird to Eagle. Over.”

I shook my head, a laugh bubbling up. “Seriously? I told you if I hired you, you couldn’t call me Eagle.”

“But you’re so bossy. Just like an Eagle.”

“Eagles aren’t bossy.”

“Oh, yeah, so what are they?” Janey grinned at me from where she stood outside Hunter’s Place, with me standing by Lindy’s wedding party, directing them down the aisle. “That’s what I thought. Now, I have an important question? Are any of Noah’s cousins hot?”

“Good God.”

“Don’t say God.”

I cringed as I peered down at Jonah, dressed in his ring bearer suit, thanks to Lindy’s cousin getting the flu in freaking May. But details. It was one of many small things to happen behind the scenes, but I never lost faith in myself or my ability to plan a perfect wedding. I knew who I was now.

“Sorry.” Then I closed my eyes and said, “Sorry, God. I won’t say God.”

“Good. Are you coming over for dinner tonight?”

I grinned. “What are you cooking?”

“Not me, silly. Noah.”

I patted his head. “Your turn. Get going.”

The rest of the wedding party filtered onto the gazebo, and I turned to stick my tongue out at Noah, who bet me the thing would drop into the water.

“See.”

He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist as we watched the ceremony. “I could get used to this.”

“What? Me being right all the time and you being wrong?”

He kissed my neck. “Something like that.”

The ceremony ended and all the guests made their way around to where we’d set up a tent for the reception. The whole thing went flawlessly, earning me a nice bonus from Annalise, and a decision to be made—go back to New York or take over managing the Southern division, since her previous director decided to stay home with her new baby instead of returning.

“So, I wanted to talk to you about something,” I said to Noah as we walked along the water while the photographer setup to take pictures of the happy new couple.

“Yeah, does it involve my interest in exploring different positions? Because I’m game. All day long.”

I giggled. “You’re ridiculous.”

“You love me.”

Warmth spread through me. “I do.” I drew a breath and released it slowly. “So it turns out Annalise needs someone to manage her Southern division. You know, coordinate Southern weddings, etcetera.”

Noah went still, his expression unreadable. “Okay. What did you say?”

“I know this is fast, but I wondered how you would feel if maybe I…stayed.”

The corners of his mouth turned up, and he cradled my face with his large hands before pressing his lips to mine.

“You’re staying?”

I bit my lip. “I’m staying.”

“What about your friends?”

“They’ll visit some, I’ll visit some. It will be okay.”

He hesitated. “And your parents?”

“I talked to my mom, and we’re good. I’ll fly up to attend monthly board meetings with my dad and go over anything Annalise needs.”

“Wow, so you’re doing this. We’re doing this?”

I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. “We’re doing this.”

The photographer stepped up to us then. “Sorry to interrupt, but Lindy wanted a photo with you.”

I glanced over to the gazebo, where Lindy waved frantically for me to join her. “Be right back.” I kissed Noah’s cheek before rushing off to meet Lindy.

“You look so beautiful,” I said when I reached her. Her eyes glistened, and I reached into my bag, pulled out my Erin Condren pink and black planner, and passed over a tissue. “Here, stop. You’ll mess up your makeup.”

“I just…I couldn’t have done this without you.” She hugged me, and the photographer started snapping pics. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Actually, I’m staying.”

She squealed loudly, and we hugged again. “Oh my God. You and Noah are totally getting married. Maybe right here. And I can plan
your
wedding! Let’s do fall. I’m open in the fall.”

I froze. “Um, we’ll see.”

She flashed me another smile, then followed the photographer’s instructions to get some photos by the lake.

“So, Lindy’s planning our wedding now?”

I turned around to find Noah standing across from me, his hands tucked into his dress slacks, his suit jacket long since tossed aside. “Apparently so. She said a fall wedding would work best for her schedule.”

He started for me, his gorgeous eyes on mine. “Is that right?”

I shrugged as he trailed a hand over my shoulder, pushing my hair back. “That’s what she said.”

He leaned in closer, kissed the delicate skin below my ear. “I could get behind that some day.”

Warmth spread through me as I tried to hold back my excitement and failed. “You could?”

“What can I say? You’ve ruined me.”

I wrapped my hands around his neck. “That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” Then, with a smile on my face that refused to go away, I kissed him once more.

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