Page 73 of Someone Like You
He was there, just like he’d told her. Waiting by the zoo exit.
Again, she wanted to run to him, but she controlled herself. Whatever his reason for coming to Indiana, she would accept it. Even if he was only here for a single day. When she reached him, they walked together to her car, and she set the roses down on the roof. Then like something from a dream, she stepped into his open arms. “You’re here.”
“Yes.” He looked at her. His eyes felt so good on hers. “I had to come tell you my news.”
Maddie searched his face. His news? What was this? “You came all the way here for that?”
He chuckled. “Not really.” His hand came up alongside her face. “My things will be here in two days. I figured I should be here to meet the truck.”
None of this made sense. “Your … your things?”
“Yes.” He held her close again. “My dad’s company is expanding to Indianapolis, Maddie.” He chuckled. “I’m looking for a house.”
“What?” Maddie let out the happiest scream. “Are you serious?”
“I am.” He swung her around and then his smile faded. “I couldn’t live without you. My dad knew that.” And like he’d done on their own private island on the Columbia River, he kissed her. A kiss that took her breath and held promise for ten thousand tomorrows.
Maddie couldn’t believe it. Dawson was here and he was looking for a house and he didn’t want to live without her. The truth lifted her up and held her, filling her with a joy she had never known in all her life.
They kissed again, and Maddie remembered something that sent a shiver down her back. “Remember what London told you? One day you’d find someone like her.”
His stare grew deeper, the moment as fully theirs as when they had stood on the shore of that island. “Someone”—he kissed her once more—“like you.”
Her sister had known. And in that moment, Maddie was sure without a doubt who she was. She was a West and a Baxter. She had not one but two sets of parents. Her biological parents in Oregon, and her mom and dad here in Bloomington. And something else.
She would forever belong to Dawson Gage.
Maddie stayed in Dawson’s arms. She had no idea if the love they shared would lead to a wedding one day. Her heart told her it would, but they had time. Whatever happened and however long it took, Maddie knew this. She was fullyand completely in love with Dawson Gage. Her sister’s best friend. The guy who had helped her know who she was. Who she really was. Even after she had forgotten.
And that was something Maddie would treasure forever.
The End
