Page 109 of The Escape Plan

My feet feel glued to the floor, yet my legs feel precariously wobbly, all at once. “But… that’s where I live.”

“Yes. Until you find and move into your new place in Boston, and then, 2C will be whereIlive.” He smiles. “And where you come visit on your days off.”

I shake my head. “I don’t have to take the job, Beckett. I don’t want to leave you.”

He puts a hand on each of my arms and looks me dead in the eye. “You’re taking the job, Keeley. And I’ll be right here in Serendipity Springs, teaching lessons and recording more music with Ezra and helping Cash with baseball, which will be a learning curve to say the least.” He chuckles. “I want the best for you always, and this job is going to bring you joy and help you grow—so I think you should take it. With the reassurance that you’re not leaving, you’re moving forward. With me. Because we’ll continue to be together, still spend every moment we can together… if that’s what you want, that is.”

“Is this real?” I ask dumbly, my heart picking up so much speed that it’s in danger of imploding. “You’re actually moving here? Into my apartment?”

Beckett looks down at me like I am the center of the entire universe. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Chapter Forty-Four

Beckett

After we depositmy bags in Cash’s living room, Keeley and I make our way back down to the second floor. Almost as if by default, we walk through her—my!—apartment and climb out to the fire escape.

We sit side by side, upper arms and thighs touching, and Keeley rests her head on my shoulder.

I take a moment to soak in the fact that she’s here with me. That I’m staying here, too. And nothing has ever felt more right.

My heart is full.

“I have so many questions, but first, I have to say… I’m so sorry about last night, Becks. Sorry for panicking. Sorry for running. Sorry that, in that moment, I couldn’t let myself believe in you, or in me, or in us.” Her voice is laden with remorse, and I put my arm around her, drawing her close.

“You don’t need to be sorry,” I tell her. “I totally understand. But I am curious, what happened between then and now to change your mind?”

She looks up at me, blue eyes big and round. “I found something this morning.”

From her pocket, she extracts an envelope, and when she hands it to me, my stomach turns over.

Gran’s handwriting.

“What?” I turn to stare at her. “How?”

“It was tucked into the sleeve of that record I brought Gramps.” She gently nudges my arm. “I think you should read it.”

With trembling fingers, I extract a wrinkled, weathered letter. It’s from Gran, addressed to Douglas.

As I read, my heart goes through a whole series of gymnastics—pain for Gran being rejected by Douglas’s family, sorrow for her feeling like she had no choice but to leave, relief for reading her detailing that, even though it was painful, everything had turned out okay in the end.

I swallow thickly, my eyes a little glazed as I reach the end of the letter. And then, I turn back to Keeley, feeling a little raw. “This is what made you reconsider?”

“Noeleen left because she thought she wasn’t enough for Douglas.” Keeley sinks her teeth into her bottom lip. “And I realized that’s what I did last night. I left because I thought you’d eventually regret it if you stayed, and that would be my fault. I realize now that I was projecting onto you what my mom put me through.”

“I get it,” I say gently. “But I need you to understand something. Nothing about this could ever be your fault, because my decision to stay here is just that—mine.I’ve decided to stay of my own accord. Not because I felt obligated, and not because of anything you could or would potentially do. I’m staying becauseIwant to be here with you. Forget fate, forget what’s meant to be or not meant to be… because Ichooseyou, no strings, no conditions. Just love for you.”

What I’ve realized during my time in Serendipity Springs is that when Gran died, the magic didn’t die with her.

No, that magic has always been here, because I see now that magic is what we make it.

Gran made decisions that shaped the course of her life—her destiny—but she also decided to find joy and contentment in the little things in life. In the people around her who loved her. In the highs and the lows, she chose to always believe in better… and that belief starts in believing in yourself.

Just like Keeley and I both learned this summer. We had to believe in ourselves before we could truly believe inus. In the magic we’ve found together.

“I love you, Beckett.” Keeley’s voice cracks on the words, and my heart expands impossibly more for her.

“You were never going to be easy to leave, Keeley,” I tell her with conviction. “In fact, you were never going to bepossibleto leave. You’re my home now.”

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