Labor Day — Four Months Later

Beth took a deep breath as Chase angled the car off the highway and into the Edwardses’ gravel driveway. She’d called Chase a week before to ask him if he thought his family would mind if she came out to see them over the holiday weekend. He’d booked her a plane ticket and promised to pick her up himself. She’d spoken with Braden a few times over email and had sent Lucy a few text messages, but aside from that, she’d been almost completely out of touch for the entire summer. She was hoping she would still be welcome.

“Do they know I’m coming?” she asked, nervous fingers drumming against her leg.

“Nah.” Chase parked the car in the driveway and killed the engine. “Well, Anna probably does,” he amended. “But she always seems to know these things.”

Beth grabbed his arm before he could get out of the car. “You’re sure it’s okay that I’m here? I don’t want to intrude.”

“Trust me. It’s fine.” He came around the car and pulled the door open for her.

“Oh. My. God!” Lucy squealed and hurled herself out the front door, letting the screen door slam behind her. Chase met her halfway, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

“Later, squirt.” He set her down on the porch and stepped aside as Braden walked out.

He looked at Beth for a long time, arms crossed, expression set. She swallowed hard and shut the car door, trekking up the driveway to the porch. He met her at the bottom of the stairs.

“Hi.” She tried to smile through her nervousness and failed. He didn’t look at all happy to see her.

“You left.” His jaw tightened around the words, and he dropped his arms and bunched his fingers into fists. “I told you I loved you and you ran away.”

Beth stepped closer to him, determined to face this as she’d learned to face everything else in the last several months. Head-on, with an eye on her happiness. “I needed to get some things straightened out back home. And yeah, I was running away, you scared me. This—” she gestured to the house and the family behind him, “—this scared me. I needed some space to work things out for myself.”

“And?”

“And things are better now. I’m better now.” It hadn’t been easy. She’d spent a lot of time talking to Victoria Lewis, learning how to deal with her past and discovering what she wanted from her future.

His hands came up, gripped her shoulders. “I can’t watch you walk out of my life again, Beth. I won’t. Just stay. Your apartment, mine, I don’t care. Just say you’ll stay with me.” He cut himself off on a curse, as though ashamed of the plea. “I’ll come to Boston, if that’s what it takes.”

That he meant it humbled her more than she could bear. “You gave me what I needed,” she said, stroking her thumb across his cheek. “The time to find my own way, to figure out where I fit. In my family. With yours.” She glanced at the porch where they waited. “You gave me that. I’ll never be able to express how much that means to me.”

He covered her hand with his own. “I flew to Boston twice, didn’t make it out of the airport either time,” he admitted, bringing her fingertips to his lips. “My patience was wearing thin. I wouldn’t have made it to the holidays without coming after you. I’m all in, Beth. Say you’ll stay. It’s the last time I’ll ask.”

“I can’t stay indefinitely.” Beth smiled when his eyes narrowed and grip tightened. “I’m starting my master’s in architecture in Portland next week.”

He pulled her to him so fiercely the air rushed out of her lungs. His mouth slid over hers and stole what breath she had left. Finally, when Lucy began to cheer, he pulled back.

“Finally,” he murmured against her lips.

He pulled her under his arm and coaxed her up the steps.

“I love you,” she whispered against his neck as they followed the rest of the family into the house.

He paused in the doorway of his parents’ home, his fingers linked with hers. “Say it again, Beth.” He touched his forehead to hers, the warmth of his breath a caress on her face. “I need to hear you say it again.”

“I love you.” She watched his eyes dance in pleasure as she repeated it. “I love you.”

“And you’ll marry me?”

The answer bubbled up, warm and easy. “And I’ll marry you.”

“And it didn’t even take a Taser,” Lucy shouted from the living room.

“That was Chase!” he shot back, tangling his fingers the hair at her nape. “I’ll never live that down, will I?”

“Not as long as I’m around,” Beth answered, laughter coursing through her.

“So…fifty or sixty years?”

“At least,” she confirmed.

“I think I can live with that,” he said, tilting her chin. “Welcome home, Beth.”

She was still smiling when his lips covered hers.