He reached out and took her hands. They were shaking.
“It works because I say it does. Because I lost you once for ten long years. And because instead of talking to you about my fears, I left you a second time—and I’ll be damned if I’m that stupid again.” Trevor’s entire life flashed in front of his eyes as he laid out his feelings for Lissa—and at this point, half of Serendipity—to hear.
She pulled one hand back and ran her sleeve over her damp eyes. “Damn it,” she muttered. “You as much as agreed you couldn’t look at my daughter and not see a constant reminder of what went wrong.” Her other hand shook inside his.
“I was an idiot. When I looked into that little girl’s eyes I saw you and only you.”
“Brad gets Livvy every other weekend,” Lissa said, her voice trembling. “And when he shows up, he come
s to the door, I let him into the house, and he picks her up. We’re civil for our daughter’s sake.”
Trevor saw exactly where she was going with this. “I can do that, too. I’m just wondering if it can be done from Manhattan instead of from here. Of course, Serendipity is only an hour from the city, so if you insist on staying, I can also adjust to the commute.”
“I got a job with the News Journal,” Lissa said, addressing the only thing that seemed real to her at the moment. “They’re located in Manhattan.”
Trevor’s grin held both excitement and pride. “We’ll talk,” he assured her, obviously not making snap decisions for her.
She still wasn’t sure she could take it all in. She supposed that was due to the fact that she wasn’t sure she could hear correctly with all the noise. Her vision was blurred with tears, and she just hadn’t expected him here. As for his sudden turnaround ... could a girl get that lucky?
“Sweetheart, I said I can be civil to your ex. As long as we don’t have to invite him for holiday dinners.” Trevor cocked an eyebrow.
Yet she still didn’t understand and until she did, she couldn’t accept. “You walked out on me in New York.” She addressed the thing that kept her up at night and threatened to choke her during the day.
He held her hands in front of him and squeezed her tight. “I’m sorry I let you go without a fight the first time. I’m sorry I didn’t step up and offer to marry you despite you being pregnant with his child. And I’m really sorry I walked out in New York. But I’m not going to lose you again.”
Lissa’s throat was full, her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it over the crowds, and she was still scared she’d wake up and discover this was all a dream. After all, the last ten years had been a lonely nightmare. “Trevor—”
“Wait. There’s one more thing I want to say before you speak, okay?”
She managed a nod, grateful for a few seconds to pull her thoughts together.
He reached into his pocket and then suddenly went down on one knee. “Elisabetta Gardelli, will you marry me? I’ll wait as long as you want, spend all the time in the world getting to know and love your beautiful daughter and proving myself to you, but in the meantime ... will you wear this ring? And promise you’ll marry me eventually?” he asked with the most endearing grin on his handsome face.
But his expression was more serious than she’d ever seen it, and his hands weren’t steady as he knelt before her and the entire town of Serendipity, ring in hand.
And what a ring it was. Though blurred by her tears, Lissa knew that sucker was huge. But she didn’t care about the size or the shape or anything more than this man proclaiming his love for her and promising to love her and her daughter.
“Till death do us part, Lissa. What do you say?”
“Yes! Yes.” The words had barely passed her lips when he grabbed her and swung her around in his arms.
“You’ll never regret it, sweetheart. I’ll make you happy every damned day for the rest of my life.”
Lissa wiped her happy tears as he put her down long enough to slip the ring over her finger.
Suddenly she noticed her daughter standing beside Trevor, looking at him with wide, curious eyes. He bent so they were eye level. “What is it, pretty girl?” he asked.
Her look was a combination of wariness and childlike curiosity. “Now do I get to call you Trevor?” she asked.
Lissa grinned and nodded.
And the crowd around them erupted in applause that had nothing to do with the score of the game.
Lissa wasn’t sure she deserved such happiness, but she was definitely going to enjoy each and every minute. After all, it wasn’t every day a girl got a second chance with the only man she’d ever loved.
THE END
Don’t miss the The Serendipity Series