My god, this man…
I don’t have to think anymore, don’t have any doubts. Not after reading that.
Rushing from the room, I take the steps two at a time, my chest heaving slightly as I make my way outside and take a seat beside Grayson. A small smile lines his cheeks, that lone dimple making an appearance.
Bambi lifts her head toward me, assessing.
Before I lose my nerve, I blurt out, “I’m ready.”
He frowns, and the look of confusion is both admirable and adorable. “Ready for what?”
“To start living again.” My voice is a hoarse whisper. “With you.”
Grayson blinks before a full-blown smile stretches across his face, and the happiness that radiates from him knocks the breath from me. Before I know it, Grayson is tackling me to the ground, placing his weight atop mine and caging my head between his arms, his lips a breath from mine.
“Say it,” he whispers.
I look into his eyes, into the joy and vulnerability in them, and confess, “I love you, Grayson Crawford.”
The words have barely left my mouth before Grayson is bringing my lips to his in the most fiery passionate kiss.
My heart utterly melts as Grayson pulls back, that smile still firmly on his swollen lips as he says with his entire heart and soul, “I’m yours, Bella. I’m wholeheartedly yours.”
“And I’m yours,” I whisper.
Epilogue
Bella
THREE MONTHS LATER
Atear rolls down my cheek as my hands, linked with Grayson’s, push down the soil.
The willow tree is small for now but as its life goes on and it grows, it’s going to bloom tall and strong, with the help of some of Drew’s and my mom’s ashes.
Four months ago, I was so consumed with grief I didn’t even realize that the coffin at my mom’s funeral was empty. That her wish was to have a spot for me to visit when she passes. She wanted her ashes to remain with me so I had a piece of her wherever I went.
When Grayson suggested planting the tree to honor Drew and my mom, the idea felt so right I was instantly on board, both of us searching for the tree that feltright.
Now we don’t have to go and visit them in a graveyard. They’re right here, inourhome, watching over us from afar, and nothing has ever felt more perfect.
I still haven’t been able to go back to my mom’s house, for the same reason Grayson still hasn’t stepped foot in hischildhood home.
The memories are haunting.
I hope one day I can, though. That I can go inside and smile at the happy memories.
But that day isn’t today.
Grayson’s shoulders are tight as his eyes fill with silver. “I think they both would have loved this,” he whispers.
Kneeling in the dirt, Bambi lying beside us, I move into Grayson’s outstretched arms, his warmth filling me. “I think they would have too.”
I’d be lying if I said the last three months were okay. That they weren’t still filled with nights where I wake up crying or days where I don’t feel like a zombie. But Grayson has been there for all of them, and I have been there on the days when the emotions become too much for him to bear.
We have healed each other in ways that words can’t describe. Our souls feel joined in a way that can never be separated, and I never want them to.
I owe Grayson a lot because despite my mom’s words about me being strong, I don’t think I could have pulled myself out of the void of grief without Grayson, and I know he feels the same about me. He attests his life turning around to me, but I don’t think I can take full credit.
