My hand jerked in his. “This isn’t your fault.”
“Wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t left.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” I snapped.
His brows lifted.
“If it hadn’t happened right then, Eddie would’ve found another time. It was impossible for you to be with me twenty-four-seven.”
“Might be proving you wrong these next few months,” he muttered.
I lifted a hand to Caden’s face, his stubble pricking my palm. “Please, don’t take this on.”
“I was terrified,” he whispered.
A burn lit along my sternum. “I’m so sorry.”
Caden’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Losing Clara broke something in me. I was so terrified to lose someone else, I didn’t let anyone close. Didn’t truly let them in.”
My heart broke for the boy who’d lost his sister, his partner in crime, his best friend. My heart broke for the man who still carried those scars.
“But when you were fading away in front of me, all I could think about was the time I’d wasted trying to keep you away.”
My hand slid down Caden’s neck and pulled him close. “But we aren’t wasting time anymore.”
His eyes searched mine. “Never again. Don’t want to waste a single second.”
“Think we could get the hospital chaplain to marry us right here?”
Caden grinned. “Pretty sure your mom and mine would murder us both.”
A laugh burst out of me, and it felt so damn good. “You might have a point there.”
“Never gonna get tired of that sound, you laughing. Missed it so damn much.”
My nose stung. “Caden…”
He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled something free. “I need to give you something back.”
My brows pulled together. “What?”
Caden dropped a tiny silver charm connected to a delicate chain onto the blanket.
I gasped as I scooped it up. “My necklace?” I stared down at the tiny compass I’d loved so much, hardly believing it was real.
His throat worked as he swallowed. “The nurse gave it to me when we brought you into the hospital all those years ago. I held it the entire time they worked on you. Every moment you were in the coma. It was like my talisman. I thought if I just held onto it, you’d be okay.”
My eyes burned, and pressure built behind them. “Caden.”
“Even when I walked away, I had this with me in my pocket every single day. It made me feel close to you.”
A few tears slipped free, and Caden brushed them away.
“Sometimes, it feels like the necklace brought me back to you. You’ve always been my guiding force. My internal compass showing me the way. And now, I have to give yours back to you.”
He bent and fastened the necklace around my throat. I looked up into his eyes. “I couldn’t love you more.”
Caden dipped his head, his lips brushing mine. “I can’t wait to marry you.” His mouth teased, and he slid the ring the doctors must have taken off back on. “Make babies with you.” His tongue stroked. “Build a beautiful life.”
