Page 64 of Love Hollow at Last
She gave a tiny smile.“Decent?I heard it grossed millions.”
“Yeah,” said Noah.“So I tried to do all the fundraising I could, then I came here to set up a studio.”
Aya frowned.“Twyla told me something about a studio, but I thought it was only Ella’s,” she said.“Making Love Hollow the next Muscle Shoals or something like that?”
“Something like that.”
A pause followed.
“The festival was stupid, really,” said Noah.“I just wanted to do something that would help my family.But a one-week event is nothing.If you’re committed, you stay.”
Aya took a deep breath.When she spoke, she was the one stuttering.“I w-wanted to be with you,” she said.“But I still didn’t believe you wanted me in the same way.”
Noah took a step backward, shocked.“You didn’t believe that?”
She shook her head.“I mean, as a side piece, sure.But I felt like, here I am, fat, broke, never having finished anything.”
Noah gasped.“Aya, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met!And you’re a genius!”
That made her laugh, and she stepped away from the door, swatting Noah on the arm.“Oh, come on.”
Frowning, he said, “I’m serious.I’ve always been serious about you.”
He could see that Aya was trying to think of a response, but she didn’t say anything.
Instead, she kissed him.
All of Noah’s doubts fell away.In that kiss, he felt her love and the urgency of coming together after such a long separation.Her hands were buried in his hair, and he found himself longing to pick her up, to carry her away from the drab office that no longer seemed able to contain them.
When they broke apart, Aya asked him a question.
“Would you like to come over tomorrow for a Hanson Christmas feast?”
Her eyes were twinkling.She wasn’t crying anymore.
But Noah wasn’t ready to joke.“Yes,” he said.“Also, would you marry me?”
55
Epilogue
Nami’s room reeked of hairspray.Aya, wearing a red silk dress, sat in front of the mirror as her mother put the finishing touches on her hair.
Red wasn’t a conventional choice for a bride, but she loved the dress.
“I would’ve helped you get some shoes that actually matched,” her mother muttered.“But there wasn’t an opportunity!”
Aya grinned.“We were only engaged for a week, Mom.That didn’t exactly give you a lot of time.”
“I suppose a lot of those wedding preparations are a waste of time anyway.”Her voice was still muffled by the bobby pins in her mouth.
“You wouldn’t have wanted me to diet?”
It slipped out.Aya never talked to her mother about weight.
She cocked her head.“Why would I ever ask you to diet, Aya?”
The truth hung between them.In the past week, through many conversations with both Noah and her friends, Aya had started to unpack how she felt about her body.But she had never told her mom.
