Keira
Five Months Later
“You’re kidding me!” I exclaim, my head swimming with the news Lachlan just shared.
“I’m not.” He flashes an easy grin, leaning against the small table in the cellar of the shop.
“You’re really moving back,” I say, stepping in between his feet as he wraps his arms around me, dropping his face into the crook of my neck.
“I start in Anderson’s Edinburgh office on Monday.”
“Wow. That’s—this—thank you, Lach.”
“We’re done with long distance, babe.” He presses a kiss just below my jawline. Straightening up, he chuckles. “But having me here means our presence is required at Friday night dinners at Mom’s.”
“I can’t wait.” I lace my fingers with his. “The past five months have been…” I swallow past the lump of tears clogging my throat. “…difficult.”
“I know, love.” Lachlan tucks my hair behind my ear, his palm cupping my cheek. “But you know she’s watching over you.”
“Us.” I turn into the warmth of his touch.
“Nanna’s probably up there giggling, corrupting heaven by taking bets on how long it will be before I can convince your dad to let you move in with me.”
At this, my head snaps straight up. “Wait, what?”
Lachlan chuckles, dropping his hands to my hips and pulling me forward. “I got an apartment about five minutes from my mom’s house.”
“You did?” Surprise colors my tone because, well, I knew nothing about this.
Lachlan nods. “And it needs to be decorated and—”
“Oh, I have so many ideas.”
“I knew you would.” He smirks, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a folded-up piece of paper.
I smooth it out, a bundle of nerves racing up and down my spine, as I read the top line. And my breath catches in my throat. Glancing up at Lachlan, my eyes wide, my hands shaking, he smiles. His expression is perfectly serene, his voice calm as he taps the paper.
“I didn’t mean to buy it without your ever seeing it but” — he turns the paper over where an address is scrawled in pencil—“it was the closest place I could find to where Nanna and your granda lived after they first married. Seemed like a good place to start a life. Make a new beginning.”
“You bought me a flat,” I whisper, my eyes focused on my name listed next to his on the line of owner.
“We bought a flat.”
“No, I didn’t contribute a single cent and—”
Lachlan’s hand closes over mine until I’m forced to look up.
“Everything we do, we do together. Everything we create is ours. Make a home with me, Keira.”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Lachlan leans forward, brushing a kiss against the tip of my nose. He glances up at the ceiling and chuckles. “He already said yes, Nanna.”
“What?”
“I spoke to your dad an hour ago. He’s available to help us move your stuff this weekend, if you want.”
“Oh my gosh.” I shake my head, my emotions a whirlwind, catching me off-guard with their intensity. Elation, joy, eagerness, excitement.
After four months of grief from Nanna’s loss, sprinkled in with moments of gratitude for Lachlan’s love, I’m in desperate need of a new beginning, a fresh start.
I laugh, folding the deed and slipping it into my pocket. “We bought a flat.”
“It’s a starter apartment, until we build our house.”
“A house?”
“Aye, well, where are all the children going to sleep?”
“How many are you thinking?”
Lach slides off the table, tossing his arm around my shoulders. “Four or five.”
“Four or five?”
“Enough for apple picking and horseback riding.”
Happiness radiates from my being as some of the restlessness in my stomach settles. Finally, a certainty in the future wraps around my shoulders. Reaching up, I lace my fingers with Lachlan’s, and know that Nanna is watching over me, like a guardian angel.
Or cupid.
Because Lachlan Begay is my one great love.
And Nanna knew it all along.
“Come on, I’ll help you pack.” He opens the door to the shop.
Stepping out into the sunshine, I breathe in the fresh flowers and blue skies. My body relaxes into Lachlan’s as a calmness rolls through me.
It’s been a tough year for me with a lot of changes. But with Lachlan at my side, I’m ready for the future.
I’m finally home.
If you aren’t ready to leave this world, you don’t have to!
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