Page 86 of Worth the Wait

My hand rises to touch the daisy pendant at her neck. "But I don't regret the people we became during those years apart. You needed to become this incredible, fierce attorney who fights for what she believes in. I needed to become someone worthy of a second chance."

Her eyes shimmer as she places her hand over mine. "When did you get so wise, Hayes?"

"Losing you was one hell of a teacher," I admit, the memory of those dark days after our breakup still carrying an echo of pain. "I learned exactly how much I'd taken for granted. How much I'd failed to appreciate what we had."

A single tear escapes, trailing down her cheek. I catch it with my thumb, brushing it away gently. "Hey, no tears. This is a celebration, remember? New York. New adventures. Together."

She nods, visibly gathering herself. "Together. That's the key word, isn't it?"

"It is," I agree, pressing my forehead against hers. "And this time, I'm not letting distance or pride or fear get between us."

We stand there for a long moment, breathing the same air, the connection between us almost tangible in the quiet apartment. Eventually, she sighs and steps back.

"We really do need to finish packing. And check under the bed again just in case."

I laugh, recognizing her need to regain control. "Yes, Counselor. Whatever you say."

She narrows her eyes playfully. "Are you mocking me, Hayes?"

"Never," I reply, raising my hands in surrender. "Just admiring your thoroughness. It's what makes you such a formidable attorney."

"And what makes me drive you crazy," she counters with a knowing smile.

"That too," I admit. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."

We move through the remaining packing. I find myself pausing occasionally to watch her—the precise way she folds things, the little crease that forms between her eyebrows when she's concentrating, the soft humming she doesn't even realize she's doing.

Each observed detail feels like a gift, a reminder of what I almost lost forever. Eight years we spent apart, convinced we'd moved on, trying to fill the spaces in our lives where the other should have been. And now, through some miracle of fate or destiny or sheer stubborn determination, we've found our way back to each other.

As we seal the final box, I pull her into my arms again, unable to resist the magnetic pull she's always exerted over me. "I love you.”

"I love you too," she responds, and I still marvel at how easily she says it now, this woman who guarded her heart so fiercely when we first reconnected.

"New York won't know what hit it.”

"It better brace itself, then. The Hayes-Wells partnership is about to take Manhattan by storm."

"Wells-Hayes," I correct automatically, our ongoing playful debate about whose name should come first in our future firm's title.

“Last time I checked, it was my idea so it’s my name first.”

"Fine," I concede with mock reluctance. "I'm always happy to let you take the lead."

"Since when?" she challenges, eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Since I realized following you is the surest path to happiness.”

I hold her close, breathing in her scent. We stand together in the empty apartment that once contained her separate life, now stripped bare as we prepare to build something new together.

"You know what?" I say, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "After eight years apart, after everything we've overcome to get here, after all the doubt and pain and separation—this moment, right here with you, was worth the wait.”

As my mouth claims hers, I realize we've completed a circle that began eight years ago in a daisy field—finding our way back to each other through time and distance and heartbreak.

Worth the wait, indeed.

Epilogue

Tarryn-Eight years later…

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