She watched him walk around the front of the truck, his powerful body moving with confidence. His handsome face so welcome and familiar. They still hadn’t spoken about the great big what now hanging between them and her stomach seethed with worry.
James pulled himself up into the driver’s seat and closed the door gently, careful not to rock the truck out of worry it might cause her pain. “I bet you’re ready to get home.” He turned the keys in the ignition and the engine came to life.
She wasn’t at all ready to see her apartment again. Wasn’t at all ready to go back to surviving instead of living. Ellie shrugged then groaned, the movement hurting her arm.
“James?”
He turned to her, a question on his face.
Ellie stared into her lap. “What now?”
He refocused on the road and swallowed. “We get you home and into bed. Get you set up with the things you need. And you rest until you’re healed.”
“That’s not what I meant. What about us?” Anxiety fluttered in her stomach and she leaned her head against the headrest, the movement of the truck making her dizzy after so much time spent lying still.
“I think that’s pretty obvious. Don’t you?”
“Clearly, I’m still feeling unsure about it, or I wouldn’t ask.” The filter between Ellie’s head and mouth was nowhere to be found.
James sighed and kept his eyes on the road. “I love you, Ellie Charles. When you ran away from me at Ian’s house, when that door slammed between us, I knew without a doubt that I couldn’t face my life without you. And then, when I watched your car flip, and I thought I’d wasted my last moments with you yelling and being childish, my whole…I don’t know...my entire being rejected the idea.” He turned to her, his eyes wide and misty with unshed tears. “I am yours, and you are mine, and I want to cherish every last minute with you as if it were truly the last time I’ll see you.”
A surge of emotion stole Ellie’s voice. She swallowed hard and smiled at James, as the tears in her eyes made him wobble and glimmer. “And the baby?” she finally choked out.
“Yes, and the baby.” He smiled as if that clarified everything.
“What does that mean? I need you to be clear because I need to be sure. I can’t live in vague spaces right now. I can’t handle wondering and not knowing. I need you to tell me exactly what you mean so I don’t have that tiny voice in my head telling me I’m an idiot for believing in the fairy tale.”
“What fairy tale?”
“The one where you swoop into my life and give me everything I need. The one where I used to be scared and alone and barely able to take care of myself and then you show up and rescue me. The one where I love you and you love me and we get to live happily ever after. Like a family.” Her throat constricted on the rest of her words. Her need for the fairy tale too powerful to contain.
James slowed the truck as he flipped on his turn signal and Ellie realized he wasn’t turning into the parking lot of her apartment complex. The broad expanse of his driveway stretched out before her. The windows of his house glittered in the morning sun while the ocean reached out to meet the sky.
James pulled up to the house and turned off the truck, twisted in his seat to place a gentle hand on her cheek. “Welcome home, sweet Ellie,” he said, then kissed her lips. “If this is a fairy tale, then welcome to your happily ever after.”
Epilogue
James
The next two months flew by for James and Ellie. He doted over her every need (and want) whenever he was home—which, because of the work needed at the café—wasn’t as often as he wanted. But when he wasn’t able to be with her, James made certain someone was. Normally, one of his brothers volunteered—or his mother. She gladly offered her time as well. While that kind of attention was foreign to Ellie, she adapted quickly. For the first time in her life she finally felt the kind of love she’d always imagined other families shared.
It had taken about seven times longer than she wanted, but a week before Good Beginnings was scheduled to reopen, Ellie’s doctor finally agreed she was sufficiently recovered to go back to work. Though he did make her promise to do a lot less than before. She was pregnant, after all.
Through everything, the only point of contention between James and Ellie had been about the café. Broken arm and all, she wanted to pitch in and help with the repair work as soon as she stopped getting dizzy when she stood—an idea James firmly rejected each and every time the topic came up.
As she opened the door of James’ truck after leaving the doctor’s office, Ellie paused. “You know where we have to go before you can take me anywhere else, don’t you?”
James rubbed his chin as he pretended to think it over. “You hungry? We can swing by Harry’s on the way home.”
Ellie shook her head, clearly unimpressed by the suggestion. “Nope. I need to see the café.”
James smiled, conceding the argument before it began. “All right, I expected as much. Hop in.”
A few blocks before they reached the café, he handed her a bandana. “There is one stipulation. You have to put this on before we arrive.”
“What for?” Ellie asked with a raised brow.
“It’s a surprise. Now put it on, before I pull this truck over.” James tried his best to look stern, but the smile he was fighting mostly gave it away.
See, what Ellie didn’t know, at least not fully, was that James hadn’t been to the gym since her accident. Instead, he’d been working at the café in the mornings
