Page 93 of Lovewell Lane

“No way,” I said, like I’d somehow forgotten. “That’s today, huh?”

He pulled me closer until my hands met his chest, and then his arms were around my waist and his chin dipped just slightly to meet my gaze.

“I’m really proud of you,” he said.

I rolled my eyes despite feeling my cheeks heat up. “Don’t start—”

“I mean it. You made this whole thing happen. Everyone loved it. Tessa loved it. You helped everyone in this town when you didn’t need to.”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” I murmured. “Everyone chipped in. I just didn’t want it to fall apart.”

“You didn’t let it.” He paused. “And I didn’t want the day to end without telling you something.”

I froze.

His thumb brushed the side of my wrist, slow and steady.

“I love you, Margo.”

He said it so plainly, it knocked the breath right out of me. All my life I’d waited to hear those words and have someone actually mean it. I wanted to belong. I’d found Honeyfield, and this place was already feeling a lot like home. But it wasn’t because of the charming little town. It was the people here.

“I love you too, Derek.”

He let out an exhale of relief. His forehead pressed to mine gently and I brushed our noses together, savoring his nervousness. I would never get tired of seeing him flusteredaround me. It was so endearing. And I held a lot of pride in being the only person to knock him off balance in that way.

“Who knew Derek Weston could be a romantic,” I whispered teasingly.

“I’m doing my best.”

“It was great,” I admitted. “This day is perfect.”

“Don’t worry.” He grinned. “I’ll make fun of you tomorrow to balance it out.”

We stood there under the lights for a long time. Just us. And the possibility of everything that came next.

-

Derek threw open his front door to reveal balloons that I was sure I’d seen at the Festival.

“Surprise!” Everyone yelled.

I held a hand over my chest before turning to Derek with my mouth gaping. “What is this?”

“Your birthday,” he said. He pulled out a Polaroid camera and snapped a picture of my shocked face.

Tessa ran over and grabbed my hand. “We have cake. I think you made it, but we added candles to make it pretty for your birthday.”

I walked over, stupefied but following Tessa’s lead, to see Lila and Scarlet by the kitchen island. They stood next to a cake that had suspiciously gone missing earlier at the Festival with candles lit on top of it.

“Twenty seven, for your twenty-seventh birthday,” Scarlet said with a wry smile. She leaned in closer to whisper, “All his idea by the way, he’s a total gem.”

I laughed under my breath while everyone started singing. I’d always been one of those people that hated birthdays. They never met my expectations. And not only that, it was a reminder that another year had passed without getting any closer toactually achieving anything. But this year, I felt like I had everything I needed. Right in this kitchen.

I smiled wide while the full room of people sang to me. Tessa squeezed my hand tight as I leaned down to blow out the candles in one fell swoop. My wish was for every birthday to be like this. And as I looked around at the room, I was sure it would come true.

“Happy birthday!” Tessa yelled in the empty room.

I did my best to choke down my tears, not wanting to get too emotional. “Thank you, guys. Really, best birthday ever,” I laughed through the emotions trying to bubble out of my throat.

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