“Can I come in?” he asked, not wanting to have this conversation in the hallway.
“Sure. Of course.” She snagged her yoga mat off the ground as she spun, her hand shaking as she held the door for them.
Her apartment was just like he’d expected it to be, with bright, happy colors and—if you angled your head just right—a view of the water. But he didn’t give it much of a look, because he couldn’t take his eyes off Kensie, staring back at him like she was afraid of what he’d come all this way to tell her.
He set his cane against the wall. He hadn’t needed it for weeks. “How’s your sister?”
She looked thrown by the question, probably expecting him to dive right into the question of their relationship. “It hasn’t been easy. She’s still adjusting. But my family feels whole again, Colter.” She clutched her hands together, betraying her nerves as she added, “No matter what, I’ll always be grateful to you for helping bring her home.”
Not wanting to draw out why he’d come and make them both anxious, Colter started at the beginning. “Rebel and I have been traveling across the country for the past few weeks.”
“What?” She sank onto the couch, shaking her head. “I don’t understand. We’ve been talking. You were in Alaska.”
“No. I just didn’t want to tell you about it until I was finished.” He sat on the chair next to her, taking her hands in his as Rebel scooted her way between the couch and the coffee table to lie on Kensie’s feet.
“Rebel and I made a journey to see the families of each of my brothers.”
“Oh, Colter,” Kensie breathed, squeezing his hands tighter.
“It’s something I’ve been meaning to do since that day. Something I haven’t been able to bring myself to do. First, it was the injury and then it was guilt. Guilt over being alive when they were all gone.” His voice cracked, but he forced himself to continue. “I always felt like it wasn’t fair for me to move on when none of them would ever have a chance to do it. But you know what every single one of those families told me?”
“What?” she asked softly, lifting one hand to swipe away the tears he felt on his cheeks.
“I was dishonoring their memories by refusing to live my life.” He took a deep breath, trying to get control of his emotions. “And my life is you, Kensie.”
Her eyes widened even more, the nervousness that had filled them before replaced with hope.
“And then Rebel and I went to see my family.”
Her eyes filled with tears at his words. She knew he hadn’t seen them since he moved to Alaska.
“It was tough. They still don’t understand me, but they love me. And they’re happy about what I’m doing now.”
“What’s that?” Kensie whispered, her eyes still huge.
“I found a nonprofit organization that wants my experience. I’m going to be helping others like me, coming out of the military. Or families who need support after facing loss. It’s downtown.”
She blinked a few times, looking confused. “Desparre has a nonprofit downtown?”
He grinned. “Not in Desparre, Kensie.” He squeezed her hands tighter, hoping he wasn’t moving too fast, springing this on her instead of talking it over first. “Downtown Chicago.”
Her mouth moved a little, like she wanted to speak, but didn’t know what to say, so he rushed on.
“I’m looking at an apartment across town this afternoon.” He’d wanted to be as close to her as possible, but he couldn’t afford anything near the waterfront. Not yet.
“That’s...” She shook her head. “You don’t need to look for one. You can stay with me.”
His heart picked up speed, not from nervousness now, but excitement. “Your place doesn’t allow pets. I pretended Rebel was a service dog to get her up here, but I’m not sure how long that will—”
“No,” Kensie interrupted. “I’ll move. Wherever you want. I mean, I can’t go to Alaska. I would, if things were different. But my sister—”
“I know.” He cut her off, hardly able to believe she was saying yes. That she was going along with his crazy plan—even upping the ante—after knowing him barely more than a month.
“I’m going to keep my cabin in Alaska. I’m hoping we’ll visit. And the city isn’t easy for me. I didn’t just pick Desparre because of the solitude, but also because it helps with my anxiety. I’ll probably need some help adjusting. But I want to,” he added when it looked like she was going to say something. “I want to deserve you.”
She scooted closer to him and Rebel lifted her head off Kensie’s feet, staring up at her as if she knew something important was happening.
“Are you kidding? How could you not deserve me? You brought me back my sister. You saw me for me. You’re here.”
He smiled, so much joy inside him it was hard to breathe. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this way, but he knew it was before that fateful day he thought he’d lost everything.
But she was wrong. He didn’t deserve her. Not yet. He needed to reclaim his life to be the man she deserved in hers. And he wasn’t there yet. But with her help—and her love—he knew he could do it.
Kensie shifted closer still, until she was almost hanging off the edge of the couch. In response, Rebel scooted backward, out from between the couch and table. She ran around the edge of the room, so she could force her way between Colter’s chair and where Kensie sat.
Colter laughed as Rebel rested her head on his arm, her gaze going back and forth between him and Kensie, tail wagging faster and faster.
“I guess we should start apartment hunting,” Kensie said. Her voice was full of wonder and surprise, but it was also filled with love.
In that moment, he knew without a doubt he’d made the right choice.
“It doesn’t matter where we end up,” he told her. “You’re the only home
