Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 138526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Figuring that, the answer becomes so clear to me as I write my final note:
Loving him makes me feel safe.
And I’ve never felt safe before him.
It sits on the top of the pile, slightly higher than the rim of the vase. I smile at it.
He was right. Filling it would tell me exactly what to do.
There’s only one thing to do.
I write out my sad resignation to Mr. Watanabe and we have a teary goodbye.
My home isn’t in Seattle or Los Angeles. My home is Ezra Conti.
Ten days later, when he knocks on my apartment door, I greet him with a smile and an empty suitcase in hand.
He eyes it curiously. “You’re showing me this because?”
“You’re going to help me pack.”
Gray eyes flare with hope, like light peeking through stormy clouds. “Pack?”
I nod, smiling tearfully. “I’m coming home.”
A choked noise escapes him as he scoops me up, burying his face in my neck. I drop the suitcase and return his embrace. He really does give the best hugs.
Then he kisses me, my lips, my cheeks, my nose, my brows, making me giggle, and I walk him back towards my bedroom where I make love to his body in Seattle for the last time.
Epilogue
He never gave up on me. I hope he never will.
It’s Christmas Day at the Contis’, and this year, though we unfortunately don’t have Maria because she’s with her mom, it is still a wonderful day with Erika, Steve, Izabella, and Mario. All of whom accepted me back into their fold with little to no effort. It’s as it was before, if not better now because it’s my hair Ezra is playing with as he sits beside me around a Monopoly board.
The room is perfectly decorated, festive, modern, creams and golds. So pretty.
We are currently in the process of opening gifts. Maria and I took the liberty of chopping up all her father’s ugly ties and placing them into a box for his first gift but she’s not here so he won’t be getting that until tomorrow. I purchased him some nicer ties, one has my name on it in huge bold letters. Another has a huge golden rose in the middle with the stem leading to the point.
With Ezra it’s hard buying him anything new because, anything he wants, he already has. So, I go for funny gifts, sexy gifts, trinket gifts. Nothing expensive but things I’ve seen that have reminded me of him.
He opens mine with laughter and love in his eyes and then hands me a huge box.
I tear through the wrapping paper and fall back laughing.
I reveal the MacBook to him and the group with an excited grin on my face. “You got me a MacBook?”
“You once told me that you might forgive me for a MacBook, so I got you a MacBook to set things in stone.”
I laugh harder, I can’t help it, it’s not funny to them because they weren’t there, but it’s hilarious to me. And sweet because that was a long time ago and he never forgot. “You have way more money than sense.”
“I’ll have it if you don’t want it,” Erika jests, reaching for the box.
I grab it back and hug it. “Mine.”
We finish unwrapping and eat a delicious dinner cooked by Mario and me. I hadn’t learned until recently that he’s an excellent chef and I have learned so much.
Then comes the after-dinner ornament hanging, a yearly tradition where every family member present hangs an ornament on the tree with their name on it, and they make a wish for the coming year. It’s so sweet. Last year I watched them, and it made me feel such loss because of the upbringing I never had.
This year I watch them and smile because one day maybe my kids will be hanging an ornament with theirs. It makes me feel all kinds of emotional.
They each go up, one by one, until there’s nobody left but me and that’s when Izabella hands me a white box. My breath catches. I open it and gently pinch the golden ring at the top of the dark red ornament. My name is scrawled across the side in beautiful flowing font.
I’m going to cry.
“You guys,” I mutter, my tone disbelieving. “Is this really mine?”
“No, it’s my new dog’s, we named her Rose,” Erika answers, grinning.
I laugh quietly and shakily take it to the tree, placing the empty box on the floor by my feet as I feel around the ring for the thread, I’ll need to hang it from the branches.
“Damn, I need some twine or something,” I say, looking at Izabella who then looks at Ezra.
Nobody says anything as he takes my precious ornament and fiddles with the top.
Giddy, and feeling part of a family for the first time in my life, I snatch it back from him, holding the string between my fingers and the ornament on my palm. I find a space and I’m about to hook it on when something round, gold, and shiny, with a gold rose in the center of a band full of tiny diamonds, catches my eyes. And my breath.