I rose from the chair. Lots of people wanted to meet the artist when they bought a piece.
Rebecca’s office was at the end of a short hallway that led to the main gallery. I followed Annie out, straightening my hair, flexing the smile-sore muscles of my face. One more sale couldn’t hurt, I told myself. Even if I was dog tired.
“He’s just over there,” she said. She stopped and pointed to a tall man who stood in front of a wall hanging, patterned with blue and white triangles.
I recognized those broad shoulders immediately.
“Ian,” I breathed. I blinked furiously, trying to halt the tears that rushed into my eyes, but they spilled out anyway as he turned to look at me.
And as he stepped toward me, almost close enough for me to touch, I noticed something else.
“What are you wearing?” I asked as I wiped at the tears, heedless of my makeup. “It looks—"
He ran a hand down the front of his sweater—his bright red, lumpy sweater that he clearly knitted himself, with too-short sleeves, a gaping neckline and a hem that only reached to the middle of his abdomen, like the world’s worst crop top.
“I know. It’s pretty bad,” he admitted. “I made it myself, though. I thought I could impress you, but it’s…well, you have eyes.”
“Ian.” I swiped away another tear, unsure whether to laugh or cry some more when he looked so earnest. “That’s such an awful plan.”
“Hear me out,” he said. “I was going to win you back by making a sweater out of the yarn that we picked out together at the craft store. It was going to be perfect and manly, and you would be really impressed and touched by the gesture, and then—”
I took another step forward. “And then what?” Up close, I could see the dark smudges under his eyes, like he hadn’t been sleeping, either.
Ian took a breath. “And then I could tell you how much I missed you, this whole goddamn week. You’re my best friend, Sam, and I missed talking with you. Laughing with you. Waking up next to you. There is nothing I want more than to have you in my life.”
Despite how much he’d hurt me, there was no denying that I felt the same way.
I reached out and ran gentle fingers down the weave of the sweater. How many hours of sleep had he sacrificed to work on this thing? Lots, I assumed. I looked up at him, into his tired eyes. “What about New York?”
His fingers were warm and gentle as they wrapped around mine, and it was so good that I wanted to sag against him with relief.
“I’ve decided that I’ll be there a few days a month,” Ian said, the look in his eyes hopeful. “I don’t want to leave Seattle. My family’s here—you’re here. But I can make it work in New York, too. And when you want, you can come with me.” He paused and took a deep breath. “But no matter what, I’ll always come back home to you, Sam. Always. Because I realized that I can’t live my life without you in it.”
I gave in to the urge to lean against his reassuring warmth, to rest my cheek against his broad chest and let my tears flow freely. “That sounds really, really good,” I mumbled against that horrible sweater.
Ian’s arms gently closed around me. “I’m sorry about not telling you before my family. And I’m sorry that you found out the way that you did. I screwed up, and I hurt you, and that’s the last thing I ever want to do. You mean everything to me.”
I straightened, meeting his dark eyes. “And I’m sorry that I didn’t give you a chance to explain it. I just kind of told you to leave me alone, when maybe I should have listened instead. You a good man, Ian, and I should have believed that you weren’t doing something to intentionally hurt me. I just . . . I was afraid you were going to leave me for good.”
“I know, and that’s never going to happen.” He pulled me close again, his fingers tangling in my hair. “Can we give this another shot?”
My arms crept around his waist in a fierce embrace. “I would really like that.”
Ian looked around the empty gallery, taking in all the pieces with the red SOLD stickers. “I missed your show.”
I released his waist and took a step back, tangling my fingers with his to pull him toward the exit. “Let’s go home, and I’ll tell you all about it.”