Page 98 of A Winter Wedding Adventure
‘Me neither,’ she mumbled into his shirt.
He stilled, as though the truth of returned feelings was just as astounding to him as it had been to her, and Kira realised it was her turn to say the difficult stuff.
‘I don’t think it was ever casual for me either, Mattia,’ she admitted.
He drew back to study her. ‘But you said?—’
‘So did you,’ she reminded him, ‘to Alessandra, the day before the wedding, and it bugged me so much.’
‘Ahi, no! I was lying shamelessly. I knew I was lying too. I didn’t think I could lie, but… I’d promised you.’
‘You hadn’t promised,’ she assured him. ‘It was my fault for resisting what my heart was trying to tell me. I missed you, these past weeks. It was terrible.’ She pressed her cheek to his chest.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he said into her hair, wrapping his arms more tightly around her. ‘I’m sorry it took me so long to be brave.’
‘You’re here now, even though I did everything I could to push you away. You’re stronger than you think.’ She gave him a shove for emphasis.
He just nodded in reply. ‘When you say it, I believe it. I want to be strong with you.’
Winding her arms around his neck, she peered up at him. ‘Just don’t lose your wonderful ability to feel things deeply. You changed my perspective too. You made me realise I can acknowledge my emotions and survive it,’ she admitted with a wry smile.
‘I am very glad we can both survive deep feelings,’ he said solemnly. ‘And declarations of them. How about I protect you from your deep, scary feelings and you can protect me from all the fires and fridges and ticking clocks we encounter?’
‘It’s a deal.’
‘God, the rest of us almost didn’t survive!’
Kira wrenched her head up at the sound of Reshma’s voice. She was tapping her foot by Toni’s desk, a hand on her hip. Toni sat watching them with a grin, miming popcorn.
‘Usually you just say, “Do you want to go out with me,” and the other one says, “Yes!”’ Reshma continued. ‘You two are hopeless.’
‘Is that what you said to Willard?’ Kira shot back, making Reshma colour. ‘I didn’t think so,’ she mumbled. ‘You might want to close your innocent eyes. I’m about to kiss him.’
‘Put the poor boy out of his misery!’ Toni called out cheerfully.
Mattia grinned down at her, clutching her tightly around the waist. ‘Yes, put the poor boy out of his misery. I’ve waited five weeks for this.’
Lifting her chin, she went up on her toes until her lips were a breath from his. ‘I think I’ve been waiting my whole life.’
EPILOGUE
The guides at Great Heart were dropping like flies. In another life, Toni might have called it the happiest time. But, like everything else in this life – her life – it was bittersweet to watch her friends find committed relationships and take their first steps as a couple. It was busy too.
Toni had to tear herself away from her scheduling challenges on the computer. It was a Monday evening, her day to close up the gym, as it shut early. Although the big hall felt strange when it was completely empty, she enjoyed the quiet rhythm of the work and the fact that she had the flexibility to do it, now her parents were happy to help out with childcare.
Although the merger between Great Heart and I Do had begun as a worrying development that threatened her job, she now found she had more work than she could easily complete and was earning more from the extra hours as well.
The adventure tour business had picked up a little as the merger had led to more general marketing and Toni found herself a jack-of-all-trades, a job she enjoyed, but there were days when she wished she didn’t have so many balls in the air.
‘Bye, Toni! See you on Wednesday!’ Kira called as she burst out of the changing rooms, her hair still damp. She was doubtless rushing off to Woking, where Mattia had found an apartment, although he seemed to be in Weymouth just as often. Reshma had even nabbed him to sing at a handful of upcoming weddings. For a pair who should have been an odd couple, they had one of the most harmonious relationships Toni had ever seen. Sophie and Andreas enjoyed their bickering, but Kira and Mattia were soulmates.
While Toni was still widowed, the object of pity. She wouldn’t change anything, because she had Cillian, just turned nine years old, but sometimes, it chafed.
She was still reeling from everything she hadn’t understood about Kira’s past, but at least Kira’s future now appeared bright. Toni had never had the luxury of keeping secrets. She would always be the one who had lost her husband in tragic circumstances while she was pregnant with their child.
After disinfecting the rental shoes and tidying the ropes, she went to shut down her computer as the last glow of daylight faded from the sky outside. But she paused when she noticed that a message from Gabi had dropped in. If her old friends were starting out on a new journey and leaving her behind, at least this wedding merger had brought her one good thing: her online friendship with Gabi, the florist I Do regularly used for weddings on the Italian island of Elba.
Toni had never even spoken to Gabi on the phone, let alone met her in real life, but they’d started exchanging messages last summer, when Toni had ordered the flowers for an I Do wedding. Gabi was chatty and friendly and Toni had enjoyed the fact that this new online acquaintance didn’t know her tragic history.
