‘I’m hoping what I’m about to say will change your mind,’ Ash replied.
‘You’re talking about my ex-boyfriends,’ Zoey said. ‘I’m not really sure this is going to work.’
‘Give me a chance.’ Ash smiled—an honest, open, happy smile—and Zoey tried to remember the last time she’d seen that. When she was naked, probably.
‘Okay.’ Was that hope, tingling low in her belly?
‘The point was, I realised that they all let you go. None of them followed you, tried to find out what you wanted and give it to you. So that’s what I want to do now.’
The hope died. ‘Ash, I told you what I need from a marriage and you can’t give it to me.’
‘You want love,’ Ash replied. ‘And the thing is... I always knew I loved you—you were Zoey, part of my family, of course I loved you.’
‘Like a friend. Or a sister,’ Zoey said glumly. ‘That’s not what I mean.’
‘Yes. Except...not at all. Not even a little bit, it turns out.’ Ash grabbed her hands and made her look at him again, and she saw something burning, deep in his eyes. Something she’d never even let herself look for before, or hope for.
‘Ash?’ she asked softly. She needed to hear the words.
‘When you walked out on me, I realised I was so in love with you I couldn’t think straight.’
* * *
It felt so good to have said it. To have the knowledge out there in the world, not stuck inside his head. And the warm glow of cautious happiness that Zoey was emitting at hearing it made every bit of the last couple of days worthwhile.
‘I spent so long looking back at what I’d lost, I think I forgot how to look forward,’ he whispered. ‘But you showed me how again. And when you left I knew that I had to let go of the past and build a new future. I hope, with you.’
Reaching out, Ash pulled Zoey towards him, tracing a hand across her cheek to the back of her neck as he kissed her—gently but deeply, and hopefully full of all the words he still had to say to her.
She kissed him back, warm and loving, and Ash was filled with a sense of incredible good fortune. How could he be so lucky as to have found love like this not once, but twice?
A small part of him even wondered if this could be Grace’s doing, matchmaking from the afterlife. He wouldn’t put it past her. She always wanted her loved ones to be happy, more than anything.
Eventually, they broke the kiss. Ash rested his forehead against Zoey’s and smiled down at her.
‘So. Do you think I stand a better chance of convincing you to marry me now?’ he asked.
Suddenly, Zoey’s happy glow faded and she pulled away. ‘Ash...’
‘No.’ He grabbed her hand and held it tight. ‘No running, remember?’
She gave him a weak smile. ‘I’m not sure I could if I wanted to. Give me another couple of months and I’ll be hard pressed to even waddle away from you.’
And he couldn’t wait to see it. To see her, heavy and blooming with his child. To know that they would be a family, just like they’d both always wanted.
But first he needed to figure out what the rest of her reservations were, and fix them. Quickly.
‘You’re beautiful,’ he told her. ‘Even green and vomiting, and definitely when you’re nine months pregnant with my child. I promise you, I won’t be able to get enough of you, even then.’
She gave him a disbelieving look. Maybe the bit about the vomit had been a little over the top.
‘Zoey, tell me. What’s the matter?’
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip as she chewed it, obviously weighing up her words. Her gaze didn’t leave his, though, which he loved. He might not be able to read her thoughts, but he could see her emotions, passing behind her eyes.
She was still scared. He hated that she was scared of a future with him.
Ash knew better than anyone that the future could be a terrifying and unpredictable place. But he couldn’t let that stop him hoping for better. He knew that now.
He hoped she did.
‘I can’t shake the feeling that I’m stealing Grace’s place,’ she admitted. ‘Or that you’re going to wake up one day next to me, and realise you’re still wishing I was someone else. That I’ll never be enough to replace her.’