Page 50 of Restored By the Mountain Man
He takes another step closer. "But seeing you there tonight, seeing you looking at her dreams with such respect and care, I realized something. Elizabeth would want me to be happy. Shewould want me to love again, to build a new future with someone who brings out the best in me."
Tears start flowing down my cheeks again but these feel different. Cleaner somehow.
"She would want me to love you," he says, his own voice thick with emotion. "Because you're exactly the kind of woman she would have chosen for me. Strong, brave, and kind. Someone who would love her husband's broken heart back together."
"Ezra," I whisper.
"I love you, Zoe Diaz," he says, dropping to his knees in front of me. "I love your laugh and your strength and the way you make me feel like I'm worth saving. I love how you stood up to Tom's parents today, how you take care of everyone around you, and how you make me want to be the man you deserve."
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out something small and wrapped in tissue paper.
"This isn't a ring," he says quickly, seeing my expression. "I'm not proposing. I know we have a lot to work through, a lot to figure out. But I wanted to give you something that represents how I feel about you."
He unwraps the tissue to reveal a small glass ornament. It's clearly handmade, with swirls of gold and deep brown that catch the light.
"I made this tonight," he explains. "After you left, after I realized what I'd lost. Nash taught me glassblowing years ago, and I thought... I thought maybe I could make something beautiful for you. Something that shows you're not a replacement for what I lost but something entirely new and precious."
I take the ornament with trembling hands. It's warm from his touch and absolutely gorgeous.
"The brown is for your eyes," he says softly. "The gold is for your heart, for the light you bring into everything you touch."
"It's beautiful," I whisper.
"You're beautiful," he says. "Inside and out. And I'm so sorry I made you feel like anything less than that."
I look down at this man I love, kneeling on my cabin floor with his heart in his hands, and feel something shift inside me. The hurt is still there but underneath it is something stronger. Love. Hope. The possibility of forgiveness.
"I love you too," I say quietly and watch his face transform with relief and joy. "I love you even though you're stubborn and closed off and sometimes say things that hurt."
"I love you even though you're nosy and pushy and make me want to be vulnerable when it scares the hell out of me," he replies, a smile breaking through his tears.
"I love you even though you have terrible timing and a tendency to shut down when things get hard," I continue, stepping closer.
"I love you even though you challenge me and push me and refuse to let me hide from my feelings," he says, rising to his feet.
"I love you," I say simply, reaching up to cup his face. "Just you. Broken pieces and all."
"I love you," he replies, covering my hands with his. "I’ll never hurt you again."
When he kisses me, it tastes like apologies and promises, like tears and hope, and the beginning of something real and lasting. I melt into him, feeling the walls around my heart crumble completely.
"Okay, that was actually pretty romantic," Laurel admits from behind us. "But I'm still mad at you, Hunter."
Ezra pulls back just enough to look at her over my shoulder. "I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to her. To both of you."
"You better," Laurel warns. "Because if you hurt her again, I'll convince Grayson to bury you somewhere in those mountains where no one will ever find you."
"Understood," Ezra says solemnly, then looks back at me. "Can you forgive me? Can we try again?"
"We can try," I tell him. "But things have to be different. No more running away when things get hard. No more shutting me out when you're scared."
"No more closed doors," he promises. "Literally and figuratively."
"No more closed doors," I agree.
He kisses me again, deeper this time, and I taste our future in that kiss. It won't be easy. We both have baggage, both have wounds that still need healing. But we have something worth fighting for now.
We have love. And sometimes, that's enough to build everything else on.
