“Wait.” Sawyer held up his hand and stood up. He took her into his arms and placed a small kiss on her lips. “Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to. I’m giving you an out if you want it.”
She shook her head, trying not to be offended by his statement. “I don’t want an out. I want you and all that it entails.” She pulled away so he could see the seriousness in her eyes. “I quit my job, I gave notice to my apartment, and I’m coming here to help you with your business. And now with Lanie.”
“It’s a lot to ask.”
“I want this, Sawyer. I wanted it even before Amos’s death. But I think before it was because you were helping me find myself. I was grateful for that. But now…” She paused and studied his face while she came up with the right words. “I realize that you need me, too. We need each other. This journey of life, as crazy as it is—we can do it together.”
“You’re stronger than I gave you credit for, Rebecca. I expected you to run, with the stress of my life being too much for you to take.”
She smiled. “I am strong. I guess I just forgot that a bit myself. I needed to make a change in my life; in my way of thinking, and in my way of loving.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “But, please, promise me something.”
“Anything,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose.
“Don’t ever think I’m too strong to be spanked.”
He laughed out loud; the joyous belly laugh that Rebecca loved so much. “Never. You will never be too strong, too independent, or too anything to land yourself over my knee.”
“Then it’s a deal. We’ll take the next step of this journey, and every step after that, together.”
And just like that, Rebecca had found the woman she had lost. Found the man she had always needed and craved. Found the life she had been searching for. And all she had to do had been to make a change. A Traditional Change.
The End