“You don’t have to, sweetheart.”
“You told me over and over again how much you love me. How much you love Summer. So many times, I had the chance to say those words back to you, but I didn’t take them. And I thought that not saying the words meant I was still safe. But I wasn’t, Gabe. Whether or not I was ever brave enough to say it out loud, I still loved you. With all of my heart...and every last piece of my soul.” She rested her hands on either side of his face and looked at him with wonder in her eyes. “You shouldn’t have to choose between your job and me. I know you love being a firefighter. And I will support you. Always.” She kissed him, and then said again, “I love you, Gabe. I love you so much.”
“I love hearing you say it,” he said, and it was so true that he was nearly overcome with emotion. “But do you think I didn’t already know how you felt?”
Her eyes widened at the realization that he’d known her true feelings for him all along. “I didn’t say it. I should have said that I’m in love with you. I should have told you I fell in love with you that day in the hospital when Summer ran to hug you and you hugged her back just as tight. I should have been honest about falling more in love with you every second since then.” She barely paused for breath. “If anything had happened to you today, if you’d been slightly distracted because of me, because of what I wasn’t brave enough to say—”
Gabe pressed one sooty finger over her lips. “I’ll never get tired of hearing you say you love me, but whether you’re saying it or not, I feel it every time you look at me, sweetheart. Every time you kiss me. You say it every time you come apart in my arms and you give your heart to me.” He smiled down at her. “Do you want to know how I felt today when I was fighting this fire?”
Her eyes were sparkling with tears as she nodded.
“I felt stronger than I ever have before. I felt confident. Steady.” He tipped his finger beneath her chin, made sure their gazes held. “I felt loved.”
He pressed his mouth to hers and the kiss they shared was soft and sweet and passionate all wrapped into one.
“I knew you and Summer were waiting for me to come back to you, safe and sound. I’m not going to let you down, Megan. You both deserve forever this time. Let me be that forever.”
Tears ran down her cheeks.
“Forever,” she whispered, and then Gabe was claiming her mouth again as people watched and smiled at the heroic fireman and the beautiful young woman embracing on a sidewalk in the middle of downtown San Francisco.
Epilogue
Sophie Sullivan sat at her mother’s kitchen table, brochures spread out all around her for the various surprises she was planning for Chase and Chloe’s upcoming wedding.
Gabe, Megan, and Summer had joined her and her mother for lunch and now Summer was riding her bike out in the front yard, a bike similar to the one Sophie had when she was seven, with a banana seat and pink streamers flying from the handlebars. Back in December, the last time they were all together at her mother’s house, she’d felt a little bad about playing matchmaker by mentioning Gabe’s plans to go skiing in Lake Tahoe to Summer.
But look how well it had turned out.
Sophie was beyond happy for her brother and her friend. They clearly belonged together, even though they’d both obviously tried to—foolishly—fight their connection at first.
The door flew open and Gabe ran inside and into the kitchen. Megan and Summer walked inside holding hands a moment later, the little girl sniffling and limping on a leg with a bloody knee.
Sophie immediately went to them and had just given Summer a hug when Gabe returned with their mother’s first-aid kit. He looked strangely pale, despite his tanned skin, as he lifted Summer onto his lap. Speaking softly to Megan’s daughter, he gently cleaned, then bandaged, her knee.
He’d just finished putting on the last Band-Aid when Summer hopped off his lap and said, “Race you to the tree house.”
Sophie watched as Megan put her hand on his shoulder. “You did great.”
Gabe blew out a hard breath. “Seeing her fall off the bike onto the street and not knowing how badly she was hurt made me the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life.”
Megan leaned over and kissed him and Sophie moved back to the table to give them some privacy. Her heart squeezed tight at watching her brother be so paternal. It was so sweet.
And yet, as the two of them headed into the backyard to join Summer in the tree house, Sophie sighed, trying not to compare the way Megan and Gabe looked at each other to the way nobody looked at her. Especially not—
“Hey, Nice.”
She whirled around, shocked to find Jake McCann standing next to her mother on the Persian rug. “What are you doing here?”
Her mother raised an eyebrow at her snippy tone. “He offered to help with the bar.”
Chase and Chloe had plenty of money—and contacts—to put on a wedding without any of their help. But that was beside the point. Everyone who loved them wanted to help.
Why hadn’t her mother told her Jake was coming over? If she’d known, Sophie would have worn something other than the most boring white long-sleeved dress in the world.
Not, she knew, that it would have mattered what she was wearing. She could have been completely naked, spread-eagled on the table, and Jake wouldn’t notice. In fact, if he did notice her nudity, he’d probably toss a couple of pillows at her to cover her up without so much as blinking.