She threw on some shorts and a tank top and hurriedly brushed her hair, leaving it down. The moon shone especially bright on Travertine Road as she drove. She parked her car in the empty public parking lot.
She finally caught the cool lake breeze she sought as she walked onto White Sands, barefoot. For a full half hour, she sat on the desolate beach and listened to the waves rolling in, regular and steady as her breath. After a while, she couldn’t bear the stillness a moment longer.
She stood, and let her anguish move her.
It wasn’t uncommon for her to dance on White Sands when she was troubled. Tonight her emotions compelled her to new heights. She spun with longing; she leaped higher because she craved so much; her feet were compelled by the knowledge of love and desire, and by the fear that she might never know it again.
And when she stopped moving, she saw the object of her desire standing on the beach, watching her. She froze in her posture, sure for a moment he was an illusion conjured from her longing and moonlight. He stepped toward her and suddenly he was a solid man…even more wondrous than the fantasy of him.
She took one hesitant step toward him.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Liam.
“I went to your place the second I got back from the airport. Then I looked around town for you, and finally saw your car here, in the parking lot.”
His low voice sounded wonderful to her ears, if a little surreal. She’d longed to hear it so many times in the past few days.
“I thought a lot about what you said…about it being a mistake for us to have gotten together. I had plenty of time to think while I was on that plane for all those hours.”
“Oh?” Natalie asked shakily. She saw him nod.
“At first, I was just mad as hell. Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, I started to think a little more rationally. By the time I stewed over things on the return trip, I came to a few conclusions. You had your say the other day. How about if you give me a chance to say my piece now?”
“I suppose that’s only fair,” Natalie murmured as her heart started to pound loudly in her ears.
“Do you remember early on, when you told me I shouldn’t assume I was going to learn something that would make me love my father less? That I might learn something to make me love him more?”
Natalie lowered her head in shame.
“You shouldn’t feel bad about saying that, Natalie. Because it was the truth.”
Her head came up.
“Before you, I couldn’t fully see my mother and father. I couldn’t see them like an adult sees another adult. I was blinded by secrets and hu
rt. Because of you, I’m seeing them as three-dimensional people who made mistakes, and suffered, and who still managed to love and be loved. I’m seeing their flaws—trust me, I see them clearly—but I’m seeing their humanity more than ever, as well. You gave me that, Natalie.”
She stifled a sob.
“And I started to realize something else on that plane. I know how uncertain you’ve been at times about us being together. I know you haven’t had that much experience with guys. I started to think maybe after what happened in Lake Tahoe, your guilt and your insecurity got the better of you. I started to think—well, hope, I guess—maybe you’d made a decision about breaking up based on those things,” he said, his voice growing gruff. “And not about what was really in your heart.”
The sob finally escaped her throat. She took one step, and suddenly he’d closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye.
“Natalie.”
That was all Liam said. One word, whispered hoarsely against her neck, and tears of joy burst from her eyes, because all the distilled longing in his voice was more powerful than all the doubts she’d had ever since he’d gone…
All the doubts she’d collected in a lifetime.
“I missed you so much,” she said.
He rubbed her back, as if signaling for her to look at him. She lifted her head and saw that a small smile shaped his firm mouth.
“I think I must have first fallen in love with you when I saw you dancing on this beach,” he murmured.
Her laugh sounded ragged with mingled disbelief and joy.
“Do you know what I think we should do?” Liam asked her quietly.