Anaru winced, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. You, ah, sounded beat down in your messages, and I thought…” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought maybe you could do with a hug?”
Kate’s brows raised. “You drove all the way from Ashburton to give me a hug?”
“Uh, yeah.” He held his arms out to his sides. “Is that weird?”
“A little, yeah.” Kate grinned. “But it’s also very sweet.”
“That’s what I was going for.” He stepped forward. “Um, can I?” He opened his arms.
Kate stared at him, open mouthed. The boy she’d loved from afar was now the man standing before her, offering himself on a platter.
His hands lowered, and he shuffled his feet. “Uh… maybe I should’ve called first.” He turned towards his van. “I’ll just leave you to it. Sorry.”
Kate blinked, then swallowed her nerves down. “No, wait!” She lunged forward, grabbing his wrist. “Don’t go.”
He turned towards her, and before she could think about it, she flung herself at him. His arms came up to rest on her back, pulling her in close. She rested her head on his chest, listening to his beating heart. It was strong and steady, like he was, and she felt safe. Secure.
Unbidden, tears pricked her eyes, and she couldn’t stop them from falling down her cheeks in torrents. Years of pent-up emotion unleashed itself until she was sobbing, her hands clutching at his shirt.
Anaru held her tight, whispering, “It’s okay. Let it all out. I’ve got you.”
She cried until there was nothing left but a few hiccups, and his shirt was soaked through. Reluctantly, she pulled back, wiping her hand across the smear of makeup she’d left. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what that was.” She frowned, stepping away from him. “I’ve never… I don’t even… What did you do to me?” She peered up at him in confusion. “I haven’t cried in years. Haven’t felt the need to. And then you show up and bam. It’s like the Niagara Falls.”
Anaru chuckled. “Is that a bad thing?”
“You tell me. Are you going to run for the hills as soon as I turn my back?” She laughed, but deep down, her heart lurched at the thought. She’d spent so many years trying to ignore her feelings for him, believing them to be unrequited, and now that he was here, standing in front of her… She couldn’t imagine going back to a life without him in it. He was everything she’d been longing for, and she’d probably blown it straight off the bat.
Anaru cupped her jaw, his thumb wiping away the last remaining tears. “I’m not going anywhere. Not unless you tell me to.”
“I don’t want you to go,” she whispered.
“Then I won’t.”
“Why don’t you come to Ashburton for the night?” Anaru asked over coffee in the morning. “We could visit some of the old haunts, and you could take a proper break away from it all.”
Kate’s lips twisted to the side. It had been years since she’d been back there. After high school finished, she got as far away as she could, desperate to have a fresh start. After law school, she’d settled in Christchurch, only an hour’s drive away, but she’d still never made the journey back. Ashburton held conflicting memories for her. It was a place where she excelled, but also a place she was ridiculed. It was where she’d fallen in love with Anaru, but also where she’d felt invisible. But perhaps going back with him by her side, it would be different.
“I suppose that might be nice.”
“It’s changed a lot over the years. You may find you like it.” He grinned at her. “Take a step back from these high-end cases that have you tied in knots, and take on something different.” He shrugged. “You never know.”
Kate carried her mug to the sink and rinsed it, her shoulders bouncing as she laughed. “So that’s what this is, is it? A ploy to get me to come back home?”
“That depends, is it working?” He arched a brow as he wrapped his hands around her waist.
“It might be.”
“Then yes, it is a ploy. I want you all to myself, not up here where I can’t see you every day.” He leant forward, kissing her forehead.
“You move fast.”
“Hey, I knew what I wanted years ago, and I let you get away. I’m not about to waste any more time that could be spent with you. Is that wrong?”
A warm glow filled her chest as she stretched up on tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. “It’s definitely not wrong.”
“So that’s a yes? You’ll come back with me?”
Kate chuckled, then pressed her lips to his. “It’s a yes.”