It was so nice and warm inside, but even if it wasn’t, just being close to Ethan warmed her. “Ethan, I’m so sorry.”
He raised a finger to her lips and said, “Don’t. I’m the one who needs to apologize.”
She shook her head and tried again to speak, but he hushed her with his lips. At first she wanted to pull away, make him listen, but then she found herself melting into his embrace. Kollette missed him, missed this.
When he pulled away, it was only to whisper, “I’m sorry.”
She looked into his eyes and replied softly, “I’m sorry too.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close and she rested her head against him. Then the driver pulled away from the curb and she asked, “Where are we going?”
“Someplace special to me,” he said.
“The Potters?” she asked. It was the one place he’d stressed as having importance.
“Although they would love to see you, no. Not there.”
“I don’t think they’d be very happy with me.” She turned to him and had to ask, “Did you ever tell them about me? About my father’s plan?”
“I did.”
She cringed. Kollette could only imagine how upset they must be. “I feel horrible. I need to see them.”
“Kollette, you don’t need to feel badly. Because they don’t. Actually they told me that next time I come, they hope we come together.”
She shot him a disbelieving look. “Why would they want me there?”
“Oh, probably for the same reason I would.”
“And why is that?” she asked.
Ethan tipped her chin up to meet his gaze and said, “Because I love you.”
Was she hearing things? Her heart was pounding, head spinning and yet, the three words seemed to echo over and over again throughout her. I love you. I love you.
“I…I love you too,” she said.
Ethan leans over and kissed her again, this time so gentle that is brought tears to her eyes. He sat back and wiped her cheeks.
“Kollette, what’s wrong?”
The tears continued to flow. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“Then why are you crying?” he asked.
“Fate continues to bring us together. I came to New York to see you. To tell you that I love you. And fate wasn’t going to let me leave without that happening.”
“I’m not sure about fate, luck or anything else. What I know is I can close my eyes, but my heart knows where to find yours. I love you Kollette, more than I can say.”
She snuggled up against him and said, “Then why don’t we go someplace private, like…your place and maybe we can try.”
As they drove to wherever he was taking her, she wondered if this was enough. Could they really fix it all with just three words? Why not? It was because of those words that nothing else mattered. They both had made mistakes, and both seemed to recognize that. Rehashing them wouldn’t change anything. Kollette didn’t want to live in the past. She didn’t need to talk about it to learn from it. Right now there was only thing she wanted and that was to think about her future, their future together. That wasn’t something that happened overnight. It was something that happened over a lifetime. Today was just day one.