“Mmm…”
The lights are off, and I know we’re both ready to go to sleep; I’m halfway there already.
“Did I mention that we saw Mrs. Serrano last night at the Cheesecake Factory?” she asks sleepily.
“You did not. How is she?”
“She seemed okay. Or as okay as anyone can be after losing their child.”
I nod.
“But here’s the craziest thing,” she says before yawning loudly. “And I considered keeping it to myself and not telling you, but…I think you need to hear it too.”
That sounds…ominous.
“She came over to the table and we were telling her all about our trip to the beach. We mentioned how you and the guys joined us for part of the trip and…” Another yawn. “Anyway, she was super excited about you and I finally meeting. And then—get this—she says that Matt had been trying to introduce the two of us for years!”
“Oh my God! Seriously?” I’m not sure how to feel about this.
“Yup. And according to her, he knew almost immediately after meeting you that the two of us would be perfect for each other.” She starts out giggling, but that turns into a yawn too. “Talk about a bombshell, right? Can you believe it?”
“Honestly? I can’t.”
“Then she said that like…Matt used to try to concoct these situations where the two of us would be at the same place at the same time! Did he ever mention to you that he was trying to do that?”
“No! I mean, he used to say that he was going to find me the perfect girl, but he never once said that he had found her! I don’t know how this would have worked if he ever made it happen.”
“I know. I told the girls after she walked away that I was a little icked out again, but they talked me out of it.” I feel her shift right before she gives me a loud, smacking kiss on the cheek. “Personally, I think things worked out exactly as they were supposed to. And I’m really glad they did.”
I feel myself relax. “Me too.” I kiss the top of her head. “And you’re not all…you know…icked out anymore?”
I seriously can’t believe I just used that word in a sentence.
“I’m not because it’s you, Ash. We may have met because we were both heading to Raleigh for his funeral, but…Matt didn’t have a direct hand in this. We can maybe look at the whole thing with some amusement at what might have been, but the connection we have is all us and not because of anyone or anything else.” She giggles again. “But if you need more time to come to that conclusion, I totally get it. I had the last twenty-four hours. You’re just hearing it.”
“I’m good,” I assure her.
“The girls were great about talking me through it. I swear I kept going back to the whole concept of all the bad stuff happening was karma, because it was like we were celebrating after Matt died. Then they reminded me how it wasn’t like that and how karma isn’t always bad.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever given karma much thought. Obviously I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never given it a place in my life. I certainly didn’t look at anything that happened to us on the trip as being so bad that karma had to get involved.”
“Like I said, it’s not always bad, but there were definitely some bad things that went down in those first two weeks.”
Honestly, I’m too tired to rehash them all, so I carefully maneuver us until we’re more firmly settled under the blankets.
“There were way more good things,” I remind her before kissing her cheek and then yawning loudly. “Whether it was karma or the universe, it all led me to you. And for that, I’m always going to be thankful.”
That seems to please her because she hums softly and snuggles even closer. It’s hard to tell where I end and she begins.
And that’s more than fine by me because there’s no place else I’d rather be than with this girl tonight and all my nights moving forward.
21
Olivia
The view of the Pacific Ocean is breathtaking.
And enjoying it from our private balcony first thing in the morning while we drink our coffee is the perfect way to start the day.
