Page 93 of Dream a Little Dream

“So, I recently thought love was more likely to explode in my face before ever making me happy for a lifetime.” Okay, maybe not the strongest start. My voice shook and there was a slight echo on the speaker that I hadn’t been expecting. The teenager quirked his head in critique. “But that’s not why I’m on this loudspeaker. Bear with me.”

“Get it, Savanna!” someone yelled from across the room. Kyle folded her arms, waiting with her lips slightly parted in surprise, which made sense. “Thank you,” I said to the random voice. “Uh, I’ve learned a few things since then that I’d like to share. I’ve learned the kind of life I want to live and the kind of legacy I want to leave behind for my children one day.” That pulled in a few more audience members. The buzz of conversation in the room dipped. “And when I think of who I want to spend my days with, there’s literally no one but you, Kyle. You’re the first person I think of when I wake up in the morning and the last person on my mind when I fall asleep. I love you so much, Kyle, and I don’t just want you to know it, I want the world to.” I looked around to see all eyes now on me. “I give it about an hour until the rest of town does.” I heard a few folks laugh. “We’re gonna make mistakes and screw up all over the place. That’s part of life, but can we please move into the phase of life where we screw up together? Because I want nothing more in this world than to make you happy and call you mine.”

That seemed to have done it. Kyle began to walk in my direction,and the slightly tipsy bowlers she passed gave her a knock on the shoulder here or there while calling out things out like “Go get your girl.”

She arrived in front of me and smiled. “I don’t think I will ever forget you declaring yourself on the loudspeaker of a bowling alley.”

I laughed, my heart hammering. “I wanted you to know how seriously I take this.” I swallowed, searching her eyes for any sign of how she was feeling. For all I knew, I’d waited too long, and she’d embraced our newfound friendship. “I’ve had a lot happen today, and I’m going to tell you every detail. But there was no way I could go to sleep tonight without you being a part of all of it. I’m supposed to be here with you right now. I feel like we were meant to be together.”

“We were,” she said simply. “I’ve always known that. It’s why I never left town. That’s why I wasn’t in any hurry. Because something told me that the ending was always you and me together.”

My arms were around her neck in a burst. I needed to feel her pressed to me. All eyes were on us, and that was fine. I’d gone and made us into a spectacle and had no problem with every person in town knowing how much I loved Kyle. It was time that she knew it as well. Before I tugged her away, I leaned into the microphone. “And number twenty-six, your fries are ready.”

The teenager shot me a thank-you wink, and I laced my fingers through Kyle’s. “Follow me a minute.”

“Anywhere,” Kyle said, trailing behind me as I wound us through the whirs and pings of the small arcade section until we were alone in a sea of pinball machines. I didn’t mind the whimsical underscore because my heart soared with whimsy and a healthy dose of relief to be back where I’d always wanted to be. I went up on my toes and kissed Kyle slow and long, reveling in the feel of doing exactly what I’d longed to for too many ridiculous months.

“I have missed these lips,” she murmured. Next, she locked her gaze to mine. “And you’re sure?”

“I’m just as sure about us as I am about salad not being a romantic meal.”

Kyle laughed. “I love you. I don’t know if you know that or not, but it’s the biggest, most prominent thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’m head over heels for you, and tonight just confirms it once again.”

My eyes filled. I was planning to say the words myself, buthearing them from Kyle’s lips made me feel like the luckiest person alive. I wasn’t alone in this life, and I knew that now. Kyle wouldn’t be leaving me. I don’t know how I knew, but the confidence I had in us overflowed.

“I love you, too,” I said, trying to impart every ounce of that love. She smiled, gave my chin the tiniest victory shake, and kissed me again. Nearby, a pinball machine offered a fireworks show that was the most fitting finale I could imagine.

“Go finish crushing the other team. I’ll be here.”

She grinned, and the skin around her eyes crinkled. “Yeah? Me, too. For always.” She began walking back toward her lane before turning over her shoulder. “I forgot how much I like bowling. Maybe I should join one of these things.”

“I could buy you a bowling alley now.”

“What?”

“I’ll explain after your match.”

* * *

There were so many things I had to tell Kyle, so many ways in which I wanted to show her I loved her. The sheer number of items on my to-do list when it came to her and me practically overwhelmed me to paralysis.

In order to keep it simple, we decided on a peaceful evening at the beach house that night, in which we could talk, enjoy each other, and catch our breath. We had plenty of time to settle back in at my place, but tonight I wanted to hear the waves roll in and the seagulls overhead as I held Kyle in my arms again. And while every moment I spent with Kyle mattered, this one felt extra important: a promise that things were different now. We were no longer a question mark or a couple hoping to make it. Kyle Remington, savior of women trapped in doors, was the love of my life, and I wouldn’t forget it ever again. No matter what conflicts, obstacles, or salad disagreements came our way. And I fully expected some, too.

“I’m in shock right now,” Kyle said from our spot on her front deck. Spring had only just begun peeking its head around the corner, leaving the Bay with a moderate chill at night. “This is like something out of a movie. Your asshole of a boss winds up being your father, but he dies before telling you. But, oh wait, he leaves you his riches.”

“Yes. My life is quite cinematic.”

“And how are you doing with all of this?”

“Obviously, it’s not how I would have wanted it, but it’s my story now. The only thing I’ll never fully know is why Lindy didn’t give me that letter when I turned eighteen.”

Kyle paused. “Because she saw firsthand how awful he was and was trying to shield you from further trauma?”

I nodded. “I think so, too. It wasn’t the right decision, but I can try and put myself in her shoes. She was raising a child who’d lost her whole world. If I’d taken the information in that letter and run off to start a relationship with Faber, I would have been crushed by who he turned out to be.”

“Her heart was in the right place, at least.”

I laughed. “Lindy wanted me to leave my job so badly. She must have suggested it twice a week. Now it all makes sense.”

---