"You said that you and Derek used to take off at night to be 'one with nature' and that Quinn and Ethan thought you guys were nuts for venturing out in the middle of the night."
"That was so long ago. I'm surprised you remembered, and so glad that you did."
"How could I forget? You were so passionate about it."
"I was. It's strange. In my twenties, I thought the only way to have a great life was to move off the island. I was so sure of it, when really, all I ever needed was right here." He set the books on the mattress and pulled her in close again. "Those were such fun times. I'm really glad I'm back. Finding a cool tree in the woods in the middle of a concrete jungle would have been impossible, and I do want my kids to love the wilderness and everything nature has to offer."
He looked at her for a long moment, desperately wanting to say, our kids, but afraid that might be too much too fast and would scare her off just when she was beginning to really let him in. As he pulled her close again, he thought about how Reese wasn't the naive girl she'd been all those years ago. She'd grown up, matured, figured out what she wanted and what she needed in her life, and all of those changes resonated in her confidence and her success. But her love was still just as intense, and as real, as it always had been.
Just as intense, and as real, as his love was for her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
EVERY MORNING TRENT awoke with Reese in his arms felt even better than the one before. And every night when they made love, then talked late into the night, sharing their hopes and dreams, was pure magic.
And yet before they made any official plans to move in together, Reese kept saying she needed more time. Just to be sure.
He was disappointed. Actually, it was far more than just disappointment. The thought of living without her again was brutal--something he didn't want to even contemplate. He'd missed her so much over the years that he couldn't get enough of her now. But he knew that just because he was ready to change everything in his life for her didn't mean he should expect her to feel exactly the same way. Especially so soon. Come Monday morning, Trent was lamenting being apart from her all day after the incredible weekend they'd just spent together exploring the other side of the island, when a story in the newspaper caught his eye.
"Maribelle Penner has a show today in Boston. Isn't she one of your favorite artists?"
Her eyes bloomed wide. "Yes. I can't believe you remembered. What time is her show?"
Trent scanned the article. "Nine to six." He did a quick mental run-through of his to-do list for the resort and his legal practice and decided none of it was critical. Definitely not as important as Reese. "We should go. We can take the ferry and catch a cab to the exhibit."
"I was hoping to finish the lighthouse on the mural today. And what about your work?"
"The lighthouse? My work? Is this the same woman who wanted more time together?"
"You're right," she said slowly. "This is one of the things we were missing. But are you sure? I doubt your grandfather will appreciate you taking off on a Monday to go look at art with me."
He wrapped his arms around her waist. "First of all, spending time with you is far more important than anything else I have to take care of. And second, it turns out that Chandler is glad that we're back together."
"He is? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I went to see your parents right after I spoke with my grandfather. I know it's no excuse, but after the conversation I had with them, Chandler completely slipped my mind."
"Wiggle room," she said softly. "It's obviously not a huge deal that you didn't tell me right away. I just don't want us to fall back into our old habits of keeping things from each other. Especially such shocking things like Chandler actually saying he's happy we're back together. Now," she said, smiling to let him know he was already forgiven, "tell me his exact words."
"It's 'about damn time' that you and I are together again," he said in a funny approximation of his grandfather's gruff voice. "I think he's going soft in his old age."
"Wow." Her eyes were full of emotion as she said, "I always knew there was more to him than it seemed."
"You always did have a soft spot for him for some inexplicable reason," he said with a wry grin, "but I never thought I'd see it myself."
"Well, even if he is going soft"--she rocked her hips against his and smiled that naughty little smile he'd always adored--"you're definitely not. You know what?"
He could hardly think straight enough to reply. "What?"
"Now that I've thought more about it, I should blow off painting and you should blow off work so we can head to Boston. But first..." She reached for the buttons on his shirt. "We should deal with this lust thing we always run into when we're out and about."
*
THE FERRY RIDE was romantic and chilly, giving Reese the perfect excuse to snuggle closer to Trent. It had been tempting to stay in bed all day with him, but she knew this trip to Boston was an important one for both of them. Trent needed to show her that he could be spontaneous, and she needed to show him that big cities didn't scare her anymore.
They could have gone inside, but Reese loved the feel of the brisk air against her face, and she didn't want to miss a second of the scenery. As the island fell away in the distance, the Boston skyline came into view, reminding her of when they'd moved to New York. Back then, she'd experienced a conflicting rush of emotions from the fear of leaving everything she knew and loved behind while also being excited to see what the future held. This time, however, as Trent tightened his grip around her shoulder and kissed her temple, there was only excitement. Because it was starting to feel as if her life was just beginning.
Reese had traveled off the island plenty of times to go to the Cape, or to visit friends or her sister in Oregon, but she only went to the bigger cities like New York or Boston when she absolutely had to meet with gallery owners, for quick one-or two-day trips. Fortunately, any feelings that might have tried to filter in about being an island bumpkin who didn't fit in with the "cool kids" quickly dissipated as she looked around the city and realized it was a beautiful, perfect blue-sky day. Children were holding their parents' hands. Lovers were kissing on street corners. And the hustle and bustle suddenly seemed less chaotic and more full of fun and possibility. Even the air around them felt different from the air on the island, as if the energy of the crowd bound together and electrified it. After paying the cab fare, Trent draped a protective arm over Reese and his eyes darted along the busy sidewalk. She suddenly realized that he didn't seem entirely comfortable on the crowded streets.
How had she never noticed this before? She'd always assumed he was like a chameleon, able to fit seamlessly into any environment. But now that she thought about it, he sure seemed more like his old self and much happier on the island than he'd been when they'd lived in New York.
"You okay?" Trent asked.
"Yes. I'm great." She smiled at him. "Are you?"
He smiled back. "I'm with you, so how could today be any better?"
But she had a feeling he wasn't telling her everything. Not because he wanted to hurt her by holding things back, but simply because they didn't have much practice yet with being really good communicators. Which was why instead of letting it go, she asked, "Do you miss the hustle and bustle of the city?"
Trent shook his head. "Not even a little."
"Really? You're not just saying that?"
He frowned, as if he'd just realized he should have been more forthright when she'd asked if he was okay. "Let's go find a quieter spot so that I can explain." He led her several steps away from the gallery and the throngs of people trying to get inside.
"I came back to the island because my grandfather mandated the takeover, but the decision to change my life and accept his offer wasn't one I made lightly. Because of my practice, the idea of moving was complicated. Although, honestly, I had been thinking about it for years, and once I came back and entertained the idea on a more serious level, the right decision
became crystal clear. I wanted to be back on the island because I love it there. I'm still the guy I was when you met me, the guy who loved to take walks and throw rocks into the bay, run on the beach, and read on the deck. I also realized I wanted to be part of running the resort, which I know is far from what I felt when I was building my practice. I'm a Rockwell, and I'm proud of that. I want to be part of my family's legacy."
He tucked her hair behind her ear, so focused on her that she could tell he was oblivious to the people walking by and the line forming outside the gallery. As he gazed into her eyes, the din of the streets fell away for her, too.
"And then there was you, Reese."
"But you just said you came back for all those reasons you just listed. Not for me."
"Those were the reasons I was willing to admit to myself. But the most important reason of all was you. Only it wasn't until I watched Quinn and Shelley fall in love--and when I spent enough time on the island again to see my parents together and remember what true love really looks like--that I fully realized what I'd so stupidly thrown away."
"Just like how until we bumped into each other last week," she told him, "I didn't want to admit to myself that I was still in love with you."
"I'm done with lying to myself, Reese. I want you. I want to live with you and I want to raise our family on the island, not in the city."
"But your practice is in New York. Won't you eventually have to go back?"
"That's another thing I wanted to discuss with you." He glanced around them, looking as if he actually had forgotten they were standing in the middle of a busy sidewalk in downtown Boston. "Do you want to find someplace more private? Or would you rather wait to talk about this more until after we see the exhibit?"
"We've already waited long enough, Trent." They could be onstage at this point, and it would still come down to just the two of them. "And I need you to know I'm not that scared nineteen-year-old girl anymore. I visit New York and Boston a few times each year for my artwork. If you need to go back, I can handle it now."
"Sweetheart, I know you can handle anything. You're an amazing, capable woman. You've built your own business; you have your work in major galleries. Of course I know you can handle the city, but you won't need to. Because I'm planning to sell my practice."
Shock sent her mind reeling. "Sell your practice?"
"Yes. I've already set the wheels in motion."
"But you worked so long and so hard to build it up. How can you just let it go?"
"Letting go of it now doesn't make the work I put in mean less. I'll always be proud of the career I built in New York, but it's time for me to work on building other parts of my life. Most important of all, our life together."
"But I thought you loved practicing law. I'd hate for you to give up something you're passionate about because you think it's what I need you to do."
"I'm handling all of the legal aspects of the resort and helping the resort to grow, so it's not like I'll lose that part of myself. And the truth is, it's what I need me to do. Selling the practice will allow more time for me to be there for you as a boyfriend and, hopefully, as a husband and a father to our children someday soon."
He was saying the things she'd wanted desperately to hear all those years ago. But it was all coming so fast--just like everything had come between them--that her heart, and her mind, couldn't stop spinning.
"I know you were brought up to always put family first, Trent. So when you began working ninety hours a week, I wondered how you could have changed so fast, and now..." She took a deep breath to try to calm her racing heart. "Now I feel like you've changed, just as quickly, back to the man I fell in love with before. I love the changes, but I hate that the speed at which they're happening is leaving me doubting even the slightest bit."
"Of course I wish you didn't have any doubts," Trent told her, "but I understand why you do."
"Things have been wonderful," she said, "and I wish I could throw myself back into our relationship without any hesitation, but..."
When her words fell away, he tipped her chin up to look into her eyes. "We promised to always tell the truth. No matter what. Whatever you need to say to me, I can take it."
"I still need more time to be one hundred percent sure, Trent. More time to look fear in the eye and vanquish it. More time to make absolutely sure that I'm still moving forward instead of backward. I know you're ready for more, and I--"
"You don't need to apologize for anything. I wasn't asking you to share your feelings to push you anywhere you don't want to go. I just didn't want to make the mistake of assuming I knew what you were thinking like I used to and then getting it all wrong. Thank you for telling me everything you're feeling, Reese."
"You know what?" She smiled at him, and he felt like the sun had finally come out. "Now that we're getting the hang of it, I think we might actually be pretty good at this communicating stuff. Heck, even Chandler sounds like he's getting better at sharing his feelings."
"I can't believe I'm giving credit to my grandfather," Trent said with a wry smile, "but really, his summoning us to the island gave me the push I needed to see things more clearly. There's no one in my life I want to impress but you, Reese. You're everything to me. You always were. I just lost my way for a while."
"We both lost our way, but all that matters is that this time we're helping each other find our way back, one step at a time." She took his hand in hers and pressed it to her heart. "Together."
Chapter Twenty-Four
WHILE REESE MARVELED at everything in the gallery, from the elegant marble floors and grand sculpture exhibit in the entrance to every piece of art inside--Trent marveled at how joy came so naturally to her. No matter how many times he saw her smile, the next smile still tugged at his heart. And as they walked through the gallery hand in hand, Trent realized that for the first time in years, he felt free. He hadn't realized how repressing his true feelings all these years had made everything seem heavier and more difficult. But after telling Reese how he really felt, and what he truly hoped for, he finally felt alive again.
"I didn't realize we've been here so long," Reese said after looking down at her watch. "Are you bored?"
"Never, as long as I'm with you. And there are few things better than watching you be surrounded by art that you love so much."
"I really do," she said, her eyes lighting up as she pointed at the painting they were standing in front of. "You can see the artist's Mediterranean roots in the vivid colors and the depth and textures of her work. It's like she's taken the richness and vibrancy of the sun and layered it onto every painting."
"They are unique, that's for sure, but no more beautiful than yours."
"You're my biggest fan," she said as she went up on her toes and kissed him.
"What's your favorite piece?"
Her eyes sparked with heat as she told him, "You."
Just as he swept her into his arms so that he could kiss her breathless in the middle of the crowded gallery, his cell phone rang with Chandler's ringtone. Not today.
"Your grandfather?"
Obviously, even though they were working on verbal communication, Reese could still read most of his expressions like a book. "The one and only." He pressed his lips to hers for far-too-brief a moment. "Excuse me for a second." He stepped to the side and quietly answered the call.
"Trent? Hi. This is Darla. I'm sorry to bother you. I know you took today off, but Chandler would like to see you."
"What's the issue?"
"I'm not sure, exactly. But he mentioned that he was unable to find the file on one of the LLCs."
Trent thought about the gap he and his grandfather had just begun to bridge and how hopeful it made him for a closer relationship with him. Then he shifted his gaze to Reese, who was alternately admiring the paintings again...and looking back at him with a concerned expression on her face.
Normally, Trent would jump on the next ferry back to the island, but he wasn't trying to build a normal lif
e with Reese. He was working to build an extraordinary life with her.
Chandler Rockwell had always been controlling, and it was high time Trent took a stand and regained some of his own control. His decision was swift and made without guilt: Unless there was a dire emergency, he was done playing his grandfather's game at the expense of losing time with Reese.
"Please call my assistant and ask her for whatever he needs. If she can't find it, let Chandler know I'll be in tomorrow and I'll handle whatever he needs then."
When he ended the call, Reese immediately asked, "Is everything okay?"
He draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. "Everything is perfect."
*
BY THE TIME they returned to the island after eating a romantic dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant, it was after ten o'clock.
"Thank you for such an amazing afternoon," Reese said as they cuddled on her couch.
"Thank you for spending the day with me in Boston." He pulled her in closer. "And I really love being here with you, too. Your home is everything you always said you wanted. Cozy, safe, and warm in a way that makes me want to hold you here on this couch forever."
"If it weren't for you," she said as she smiled up at him, "I might never have thought to buy it. I was so young when we met. I didn't know anything about life, and you taught me so many important things, even when I didn't know you were doing it."
"What do you mean?"
"We've talked about the painful mistakes we made, but there was so much good between us, too, Trent. I think it's time we start talking about those things, too."
"I agree, sweetheart. Especially," he teased, "if it means I actually managed to do something right back then."
"You always talked about planning for the future and making sure the kids we wanted would have a loving home that they could return to when they were older. I remember thinking, I'm only nineteen and just out of my parents' house. How can I plan where my kids will grow up? I never really thought past tomorrow, and even then they were just thoughts of how much I loved you and wanted to be with you. And then for a long time after our divorce, I was just circling around and around where we went wrong...while also secretly hoping, and waiting, for everything to magically go back to the way it was. But then, when I saw this house, I knew it was a platform for me to finally spring forward. It had all the things both of us always wanted, and the truth is, I thought about you a lot as I bought it. At the same time, though, I was also thinking about what I wanted for my own future. One without you." She was silent for a moment as she said, "But now here we are. Just like I always secretly wished for."