Page 64 of Summer Ever After
“What? Do the police think that she tried to kill me?”
He rubbed my arm. “This is a lot for you, maybe we should wait until you’re feeling better.”
“No. What do you mean, Max?”
He bit his lip as though debating whether to tell me something. “Chloe confessed. Christina is going to be charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident. She was going to try to claim your inheritance. It looks like that stepsister of yours has a little bit of a conscience after all.”
“Oh.” The room became quiet. Then I started to cry. Not just a sniffle, but a full-on sob.
Max held me and rubbed my back. “Let it out, baby girl.”
And I did. Years of living under that evil woman were over. I always wondered what she was capable of doing in the name of her greedy conquest. It turns out she was capable of murder.
Max kissed every one of my tears. “I will never let anything happen to you, ever again.”
“And I will always be there for you,” I smiled, even though my face hurt.
Rolling out of the bed, Max pulled the paper off the bouquet. “Mrs. Graham had these delivered to the hospital for you.” They were flowers from Hank’s shop. “It’s a custom arrangement.”
If flowers could speak, that bouquet was telling a story. There were at least fifty roses surrounding white ditch daisies. “They’re beautiful.”
“They’re you,” Max smiled. “Mrs. Graham overheard a conversation with your stepmother. She was the one who arranged for you to stay on the island and work the event. She and Jessica conspired to get you to the ball. Both of them thought that you were perfect for me. They didn’t know that we’d already met and discovered that for ourselves.”
I hugged the flowers to my chest and buried my face in the petals.
“I have something else for you.” Max pulled a box from the inside of his jacket. It was a black velvet box. “Open it.” He nudged it into my hand. I was weaker than I thought, opening the box took all of my strength. When I saw what was inside, it took my breath away.
“My necklace.” I touched my fingertips to the gold chain and flipped over the pendant. The missing ruby had been replaced. “How did you know it was a ruby?” I took the necklace from the box and tried to clip it around my neck. Max sat on the side of the bed and took the necklace from my fingertips and affixed it for me.
“That ruby fell off last year. I found it in my saddlebag and I kept it.”
“It’s the same stone.” I touched the pendant.
“The exact same stone.”
I took a deep breath. I might regret what I was about to say, but I was tired of living with regrets. “Max…”
I reached for his hand. “It’s too soon but…”
A lopsided grin spread across his face. “There’s no such thing as too soon. I feel it too.”
I met his gaze. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Rosie.” He crawled into the bed, wrapped me in his arms and kissed me. I fell asleep with the warmth of his breath on my ear, feeling truly safe and loved for the first time in years.
EPILOGUE
One WeekLater
Sunlight streamedin through the floor-to-ceiling windows in Max’s cottage. Unlike the historic cottage on Starling Island, Max’s place was modern and brand-spanking new.
“What do you think?”
I looked around. “It’s gorgeous Max. It’s so…you.” A propellor from an airplane was suspended from the ceiling. Photographs of motorcycles in front of various wonders of the world covered the walls. At first glance, it was one of the most masculine spaces I’d ever seen, but then I started noticing the softness. There were bouquets of roses on practically any surface that could hold a vase.
“I got some throw cushions for you and some cozy blankets. Jessica told me that girls like those things.”
The throw cushions looked pristine like they’d never been squished into the corner of the sofa during a movie marathon.
