Page 14 of Letter for Two
“So, you wanna go out... or something?” he asked.
“I’ve been hoping you would ask me that for months.”
Her candid confession inspired one of his own. “I almost have, a dozen times since you moved in. But I always chickened out.”
“I’m glad you didn’t this time.”
“So is that a yes?” He hoped so.
Sophia nodded. Her gaze wandered to his lips, and her cheeks reddened. That was all the invitation he needed.
He slipped his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her up to him. Slowly, so she could tell him if he’d made a mistake, he lowered his mouth to hers. She leaned in, meeting him in the middle. Neither of them initiated the kiss, it simply started between them. He held her as close and as tightly as he could. She clung to him, and he held her in return.
Sophia whispered his name against his lips, and he was a goner. He kissed her long and good there on the porch. Ethan lost himself in that kiss, putting months of longing into every moment. He knew without a single doubt that she felt the same way. They’d wasted enough time. Two people, sharing a house, sharing a porch, but living separate lives, brought together by a single, long-lost letter.
Bonus Epilogue
"I've heard that putting up Christmas lights is almost as tough a test of a relationship as a trip to IKEA." Ethan tossed Sophia a wide-eyed look from his perch at the top of the step ladder.
"We've made a trip to IKEA," Sophia said. "And we were fine."
He slipped his string of lights into the hooks on the edge of the roof. "Probably why our lights look better than anyone else's on the block."
Sophia laughed. "Don't tell Mrs. Garcia's daughter. She's very proud of their lights this year."
"If it means getting the annual tamales, I'll crown her queen of the neighborhood light displays." He climbed down and moved the ladder, then stepped up once more to continue putting up lights.
Sophia pulled another string out of the box they were stored in. She moved closer to the ladder, ready to hand it up when he asked for it.
"What's this?" Ethan leaned toward the edge of the roof. He looked very closely at the bottom of one of the roof tiles.
"Is it broken?" They were well past monsoon season, which was when most roofs were damaged in Phoenix.
He tucked his fingers up and under the tile. After a little effort, he pulled something out from under it. Sophia couldn't see well enough from where she was to know what he'd found under the tile.
Ethan climbed down the ladder, then turned to face her. In his hand was a leather pouch, a little smaller than a sandwich baggie. It looked weather worn and old.
"What in the world?" Sophia eyed it, utterly confused.
Carefully, Ethan untied the leather strap holding it closed, then unfolded and unfolded and unfolded. The leather had been wrapped around itself multiple times. Whatever was inside— assuming something was— must have been very small.
At last, the leather parcel was opened all the way revealing a tarnished gold locket. It was no bigger than a thumb print. The dainty matching chain was still attached.
"You have nails," Ethan said. "See if you can carefully pry it open."
Not knowing how fragile it might be, Sophia wasverycareful. After a couple minutes of trying, she was able to unlatch the locket and open it up.
Inside was black-and-white picture of a man in a very old-fashioned suit. Sophia didn't know historical fashion enough to say what year or decade it was from, only that it was old.
"What do we do now?" Ethan asked. "Whoever this belonged to would probably like it back."
"We could ask Eleanor's daughter. Maybe she hid a locket while she was living here."
Ethan nodded. "And if it doesn't turn out to be hers?"
Sophia met his eyes and grinned. "Then we have another mystery to solve."
Ethan wrapped his arm around her. "Excellent. Wedomake a good team after all."
She leaned forward. "We make an amazing team."
And they sealed that with a kiss.
