“Yes. At least, I think I do. I’ve never fallen in love before so I don’t know how it feels, but these last weeks without you have been miserable, even as I’ve been finding my way. I’ve realised that I can live without you, but I really don’t want to.”
Owen let out a soft huff of laughter that made Emily’s heart tumble in her chest. “Yeah, that about sums it up.”
“Do you mean…”
“How can you still love me, when I’ve let you down so badly?” He lifted his head to look her full in the face, waiting for her verdict.
“How can you love me when I’ve been all over the place, prickly and stupid and touchy and tense?”
“You’re not—”
“And you haven’t let me down. We can work through this, Owen. We are working through it. That’s a good thing, right?”
A smile curved his mouth slowly, like a sunrise creeping over the horizon, flooding the world with light. “Yes,” he said after a moment, an ache in his voice. “It is.”
“Then…” She hardly dared to hope. To believe.
“I’ll stay, if you’ll have me. I don’t know what I’m going to do, or how it’s going to work out, but for once I’m not going to run. I want to fight—for you, for me, for us.” He squeezed her fingers before he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers.
Emily closed her eyes, breathing him in, her whole body feeling shaky and weak after such an intense few minutes. She thought she might cry, but she didn’t. It felt too deep for mere tears.
“Thank you,” he whispered, his forehead still against hers.
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“I love you, you know. I should have said it before. I should have said it first.”
“It’s not a competition.”
“Good thing.” He leaned back, still smiling, his eyes crinkled. “I’m glad you were willing to put up with me, Emily David.”
“Likewise.”
She smiled back, still feeling shaky, and then he kissed her and oh, it felt so sweet and so right, like flying away and coming home all at once. The future was still uncertain, but this wasn’t. This was rock solid.
“I’ve got a few people waiting to hear what’s happened,” Emily said when the kiss finally stopped. “We were having a drink and Ava and Harriet and even my mum all encouraged me to come here and talk to you. They’ll want to know what happened.”
“Are they slumming it in The Three Pennies?” Owen asked, eyebrows raised, and Emily laughed.
“And hating every minute. We need you back.”
“I’ll drive you down there. That should satisfy them.”
“Then you must not know them very well,” Emily returned with another laugh. “They’re going to want more than that.”
In fact, her friends were exuberantly delighted when they saw Owen’s van trundling down the high street, his window rolled down as he waved at them all.
Ava threw her arms wide before blowing them both kisses, and Ellie was jumping up and down. Harriet was clapping and hollering, and Alice looked teary. Best of all, her mother had the biggest grin on her face that Emily had ever seen.
“Yes, you queen!”
“You go, girl!”
“Owen, you lummox, you finally saw sense!”
“Now, now, ladies,” Owen admonished, smiling, and Emily found she couldn’t stop smiling—or laughing. Life had never felt so sweet, or so promising.
“You are going to kiss her now, aren’t you?” Harriet demanded, and Emily looked through the window to see every single one of her friends—as well as her mum—mock-glaring at them both, hands on hips.
“Yes,” Owen told them, “as a matter of fact, I am.”
And so he did.
Epilogue
The day of the Willoughby Holidays fundraiser was as perfect as a promise—lemon-yellow sun, washed blue skies, and air as soft as a kiss.
The grounds of Willoughby Manor were full of people, and laughter, and fun—a proper Victorian arcade of amusement, include an impressive Ferris wheel, stalls and stalls showcasing every local business, including The Three Pennies’ elegant marquee—and Man with a Van, Owen’s new venture providing a pop-up pub.
Naomi had been the one to have the idea, having spent the better part of a year in a van about five years ago, when Emily was at uni. With the sale of The Drowned Sailor—it was now going to be a kebab shop—Owen fixed up his van and invested in some folding tables and chairs and a liquor licence.
The pop-up pub proved to be a huge success, not just in Wychwood but in many of the smaller, outlying villages that didn’t have a pub of their own, and welcomed the van’s visits, often with a pleasingly long queue. Owen had discovered he enjoyed being on the open road, and he was thinking of adding food to the pub’s offerings as well. All in all, it had turned out far better than he’d ever expected.
As Emily walked through the crowds at the fundraiser, surveying all her handiwork, she was pleased to see a long queue winding away from Man with a Van, while The Three Pennies was catering to a smaller and slightly older, more well-heeled crowd.
The last two months hadn’t been without their challenges. Naomi had to have her medication adjusted twice, and while she’d been warmly embraced by everyone just as Emily had, she’d struggled to find her place. She was now volunteering at the day centre in Witney, offering both watercolours and pottery classes, and enjoying both.
Emily had been in touch with her dad again, and while their relationship hadn’t changed yet, she’d suggested visiting with Owen, and her father, surprised, had agreed. No date had been set, but Emily was hopeful that her relationship with her dad could be, if not fully restored, then at least improved.
Things with Owen had had their challenges too. Life wasn’t a fairy tale, even when it had a happy ending. Owen had had his doubts about his business, his past, especially when he’d brought Emily back to Cwmparc and his family hadn’t exactly greeted
