“You almost done?” Maya asked as she stood in the door frame of Katie’s bedroom. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Yeah, just let me get this last paragraph finished, and that way, I can start on the epilogue tomorrow.”
“And then I get to read it?”
“How do you expect me to finish the last paragraph with you hovering and asking me questions?”
“All right, all right,” Maya held up both hands with a grin. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
Katie joined her a few minutes later, taking a seat at the table and grabbing a tangerine from the bowl in the center. “What’s up?”
“I have something I need to tell you, and I’m not sure how you’re going to react. I choose to believe it’s positive news, but I can acknowledge that your feelings may be different from mine.”
“Are you getting back together with Danielle? We talked about this. If she can’t make time with you a priority in her life, then she has to go.” Katie finished peeling the tangerine and popped a wedge in her mouth.
“No, it’s not about Danielle. Although she did call yesterday so it’s weird you mention her. It’s about Ben Reyes.”
Katie stopped chewing for a split second as she absorbed the name, but then she continued and swallowed like nothing had ever happened. “I love the way you say his first and last name. Like I wouldn’t know who you were talking about if you just said Ben.”
Maya grunted. “Who knows? Maybe you forgot about him already. That’s what you were trying to do, right?”
“I was never trying to forget Ben, Maya. It’s not like I could, even if I tried.”
“All right, well, like I said I don’t know how this is going to go over, but I invited him to attend the dedication ceremony next week for the new storefront.”
Katie’s heart leapt at the thought of seeing Ben again, but outwardly, she lifted her shoulder in indifference and popped another tangerine wedge in her mouth. “Okay,” she said around it. “I appreciate you letting me know.”
Maya raised both brows and made a grand gesture of looking around the room in surprise. “That’s it? You’re not upset? I’m happy about this, obviously, but I really thought that telling you you’re about to see Ben for the first time since the cruise would get more of a reaction.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but I’ve been expecting this news ever since you told me that he’s our generous benefactor, which I still can’t believe you kept from me for months.”
“What was I supposed to do? You spent two weeks without leaving your bed when you came home from that cruise. I’ve never seen you cry that much in my life. You were over Grant in, like, a day. So, yeah, once you started to be semi-normal again and decided you wanted to stay on with me and help manage the shop, I wasn’t about to tell you Ben was my silent partner and risk sending you into a spiral.”
“I get why you didn’t tell me, okay? It just hurt when it felt like you’d kept it a secret. And it bothered me to think that I was connected to him through work when I’d tried so hard to move on without him.”
“Are you going to be okay seeing him? It seems like you’ve been in a good place lately, mentally and emotionally. I think writing again has helped.”
“Oh, for sure. And yeah. I’m good. Really good. I feel like I have a good grasp of where I’m headed. I know now what I want for my life, and I might not be able to have it all, but it feels good to have clarity about what it is.”
“Good. I’m happy for you. It makes my heart smile to see you happy. I love you. You know that, right?”
“For sure. Love right back at ya.”
Katie was a bundle of nerves arriving at the new storefront for the dedication ceremony. She’d thought about calling Ben and asking if he wanted to meet for coffee before the ceremony so there wouldn’t be any awkwardness between them to mar Maya’s celebration.
But in the end, she’d chickened out.
She had no idea what was going on in his life now, having demanded that Maya not breathe a word of him after she returned from the cruise. She wondered if he’d found someone. If he’d found happiness after she let him go. Had he extended in Barcelona or had he moved onto some other exotic locale? Perhaps he’d even come back here like he said he might do, but Katie felt like she would have known if Ben was living right down the street. She was certain she would have felt him nearby. That fate would have drawn them together at the grocery store by now.
No, he was likely flying in just for the ceremony. Best to wait and see how things would go when they saw each other, rather than calling and forcing fate’s hand.
She scanned the gathering crowd, eager for any sign of him, and as she had before at the airport in Miami, she spotted him before he saw her.
Goosebumps rippled across her skin, and her heart rate soared as she saw the man who lived in her dreams standing across the street.
His hair was slightly longer—nothing like the Alaskan Wildman she first met—but long enough that it brushed the collar of his shirt. He was tanner than she remembered, and as he looked both ways and started across the street, her mind inundated her with flashbacks of his smile, his kiss, his touch, his love.
She wanted to run to him. To throw her arms around his neck and wrap her legs around his hips and tell him how happy she was to see him.
But somehow, she managed to refrain, choosing only to step forward when he grew closer.
The moment their eyes made contact, the connection was there, just as strong and powerful as it had ever been.
She smiled, and so did he, and then she moved forward through the crowd to meet him halfway.
“Hi,” she said, biting her tongue to keep her heart from flowing out of her mouth in words.
“Hi.” His eyes swept over her in the quickest of appraisals, and then they locked with hers again. “You look great.”
“You too.”
They both chuckled at the awkwardness, and then he said, “Congratulations on the opening. Maya told me you’ve decided to stay on with her and help run the shop. She's really happy about that. And yoga! Wow. She said you're getting certified as an instructor. That's cool.”
Katie silently cursed her sister for being such a blabbermouth, but she couldn’t help wondering if Maya had volunteered the information or if Ben had asked. She’d begged him to move on. To get on with his life and not wait for her. Had he done as she asked?
“Yeah, I’m excited about both. Thanks. How about you? What are you up to? Still in Barcelona?”
“No, I, um, I chose not to extend. I’ve been spending some time in Paris with a friend and now, I’m…well, I’m back here for a while. Just got in last night, in fact.”
Katie’s mind had zeroed in on the word friend, and she wondered what he might mean by it this time. Was it truly a friend, or someone more intimate? She had given up the right to ask.
“Paris! It’s on my list. I’ll make it there someday.”
“You’d love it.”
He smiled, and though it wasn’t the one that always set her on fire, it was enough to make her feel like the sun was shining brighter and hotter than before.
“I, um, I have to go and help out with getting things ready for the ceremony,” she said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder.
“Of course, yeah.” He nodded and seemed to step back a little, as if to give her space. “Don’t let me keep you from what you need to do. It was great seeing you, Kate. You look happy, and happiness looks good on you.”
She wished she could know where he was with his life. If he’d moved on, she needed to let him. But there was something there. Something in the way he looked at her. So, she took a chance.
“Would you, um, would you be available to stick around after the ceremony? I have something I'd like to show you.”
His eyes lit up, and there was no mistaking that he was pleased by her request.
“Of course. Yeah. I’ll be here. I’ll wait.”
She wondered if he’d chosen those words on purpose, and if they still meant what they had. She supposed she’d find out soon enough.
“Hey,” Katie said to Maya as they finished cleaning up once the ceremony was done. “I’m going to be a little late to the reception. I have something I want to show Ben, so I’m gonna head back to the house with him, and then I’ll come to the restaurant, okay?”
Maya’s eyes widened, and she blinked a couple times. “Okay. Yeah. Whatever you need to do. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah. It’s good. I just wanted to show him the book. Let him know I’ve been writing. Unless you’ve already told him that too,” she said, giving her sister a playful glare.
“I only told him things about your life that are directly related to the store. He is my business partner, so I let him know that I had hired you to be a manager, and that we planned to go ahead and convert the conference room for yoga classes. I said you were being certified to teach them. I told him nothing more.”
“It’s okay,” Katie said, smiling at her sister.
“I must admit I’m a little hurt that you’re showing him the book when I haven't read it yet.” Maya grinned. “I'm assuming you have your reasons, and that you know what you're doing."
“I do have my reasons, and I know what I'm doing. I just don't know how it's going to turn out."
Maya put her hands on Katie’s shoulders and rested her forehead against her sister’s. “Follow your heart, and trust that the best possible outcome will happen. Whatever that may be.”
Katie thanked her and turned to go, and then she looked back to Maya. “Hey…is he dating anyone?”
Maya’s grin was sly and knowing. “I thought you said I wasn't allowed to tell you anything about his life.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Maya. I don’t want to interfere if he’s happy…if he’s moved on. Just tell me.”
Maya’s grin faded with the understanding of Katie’s fears.
“He waited, Kate. Like he told you he would. There’s no one else.”
“The place looks good,” Ben said as he stood in Maya’s kitchen, waiting for Katie to pour their iced tea. “How’s Maya as a roommate?”
"Better than she was in high school, that's for sure. She at least picks up her own clothes now. Though she still leaves the dishes in the sink."
Once they’d settled on the couch, Katie rubbed her palms over her skirt, trying to find the courage to say what needed to be said.
“I want to thank you for giving me the space I needed. I’ve done a lot of soul-searching, and I’ve made a lot of decisions about my life. Mainly, I’ve decided to be happy. To fill my life with things that bring me joy. The beach does that, so I plan to stay here. Maya brings me joy, and I think we were both surprised to find how much we enjoyed working together. I’d never really had fun at a job before, and I have that being at the store with her. I also weirdly enjoy the accounting part, which I’m sure you know she sucks at.”
“That I definitely know,” Ben said with a grin.
“Yoga brings me peace, and it helps me find my inner thoughts and listen to my own heart. Since I knew Maya wanted to convert the space and hire a teacher, I decided to get certified so maybe I can help others find that same calmness. I’m looking forward to that.”
He rested his elbow on the back of the sofa and propped his head on his hand. “It sounds like you’re doing great. Like you’re finding your way. That’s awesome. I’m glad things are working out for you.”
“My mother hasn't been thrilled with my choices, but I'm learning how to separate my needs from hers and set healthy boundaries. And she's learning how to honor them, for the most part. I think the improvements in my relationship with Mom have started to help her relationship with Maya, so that's been a nice bonus.”
“Maya mentioned that she and her mom have been getting along better. I’m glad all are you are moving forward in a healthy way.”
“What about you?” Katie said, hating to bring up his mom, but wanting to know how he was doing with that. “How’s Lydia?”
He stiffened slightly, but nothing like he’d done before when the topic of her came up. “I cut all ties with her after St. Thomas. I went zero contact, and it’s been much healthier for me. I still correspond with Laura, and I’m able to see Brady and interact with him, so I’m happy about that. And my dad and I meet up now and then. So, things being what they are, they’re good. Thanks for asking.”
“So, I said I wanted to show you something, and I’m a little nervous about that.” She rubbed her palms up and down her legs as she smiled. “I haven’t shown anyone else, and when Maya told me you were coming today, I felt like I wanted you to be the first to see it.”
His brow creased with a bit of confusion as he smiled. “Okay. I’m very curious as to what this is, but I’m also concerned. If you’re this nervous, should I be nervous too?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how you’re going to react.”
“Okay.” He said up, rubbing his hands together as though he was eager, and then he gave her a nod. “I’m nervous, but I’m ready. Give it to me. Whaddya got?”
She went to her room and retrieved her computer, and then she opened the file and turned the screen around to show him.
“I wrote a book.”
His eyes lit up as they widened, and his smile filled his face. “Really? Oh my God, Kate. That’s great.”
She handed him the laptop so he could take a closer look and then confusion returned to his eyes. “Moonlight on the Lido Deck? That’s the title?”
Kate nodded and took a deep breath, preparing herself to reveal her heart.
“It’s about a girl who meets a guy on a cruise ship. And out of nowhere, they fall in love. It happens so quickly that neither of them knows what to do with it, and they both have lives and responsibilities back home. But love doesn’t really care what you have planned, and it doesn’t care about what it’s supposed to do or not do. Love just is. So under a full moon on a star-filled night, they sit in a half-domed chair and promise that whatever comes, they’ll stay together and figure it all out.”
Ben’s smile trembled a bit, his mouth opening and closing as he processed her words. “Does it end in a happily ever after?”
“Of course. A true romance must have a happily ever after. It’s in the definition of the genre. Go ahead and scroll down farther. There’s something else I want you to see.”
“I can’t believe you wrote a whole book since I last saw you,” he said as he moved his index finger across the mouse pad.
“You gave me back my creativity, Ben. When you and I came up with those characters and those stories and scenarios on the ship, it reminded me how much fun it is to pretend. It brought back my love for coming up with stories, and I can’t thank you enough for that gift.”
He stopped scrolling and looked up at her, his eyes misty. “You named the hero Ben?”
She shrugged with a tentative smile. “Yeah. It was what Cruise Katie did with her Italian book, so it only seemed fair. I may change it though. You know. Make it more of a fictional character. He was Ben in my head when I was writing. He was…you. There’s something else though. You must have scrolled past it.”
Leaning over closer to him, she reached across and scrolled back until she found it.
“There. The dedication. Read it aloud.”
His eyes met hers, and then he looked to the screen and began to read.
For Ben.
I found my path.
Now I’m ready and willing, waiting for you.
The computer was set aside and forgotten, and they missed Maya’s party too. But Katie knew her sister wouldn’t mind, because Katie was living in the moment, enjoying the best possible outcome.