“HEY, YOU COMING DOWNSTAIRS for pancakes?” My sister stuck her head in the door of my bedroom. “Mom made your favorites. Ricotta with lemon peel.”
“Yeah, I’ll be right down.” I waited for Reenie’s footsteps to echo down the stairs before I got up, pulled on shorts and followed her down.
“Good morning, sunshine.” Mom set a mug of coffee at my place. “Was I imagining things, or did you go out late last night? I could’ve sworn I heard the truck.”
“You weren’t imagining anything. I went out to the farm to see Ali.”
I didn’t miss the look my mother and my sister exchanged. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah. No. I don’t know.” I leaned on my hand. “I got a job offer yesterday. For World Wide News, in New York. It’s a full-time, permanent position, and we’d have to move up there.”
There was silence at the table. “Well, Flynn, congratulations.” My mother’s smile was forced. “What did Ali say about it?”
“Ali . . . freaked out. I had a few ideas about how we could make it work, but she wasn’t willing to listen to them.”
Mom nodded. “It would be hard for her leave Burton permanently. What did you decide?”
“I told her I wouldn’t take it. I said she and Bridge are more important than any job.”
“Okay. And is that how you really feel?” My mother had a knack for getting to the root of the matter.
“Of course it is. Was I a little disappointed she wouldn’t even consider it? Well, yeah, sure. But I’ll get over it. We’ll figure it out. It was just a great opportunity for me. For us.”
Mom leaned back in her chair. “Flynn, do you remember what your father used to say about the cornerstone of a good marriage?”
Maureen and I grinned at each other. “Compromise!” We shouted the word together.
“Exactly. And do you know why he knew that so well? Because he lived it. Did you know that your father wanted to be a writer when I met him?”
“Dad?” Maureen frowned. “I didn’t know that. I thought he always wanted to teach.”
“Yes. Writing was his passion. But then we met in college, and we fell in love, and I couldn’t live with the uncertainty of that kind of life. I wanted stability, someone who would support me so I could raise our kids. And so your father changed his major, and he became a teacher instead.” A sheen of tears covered her eyes. “Twice your dad gave up his dream. Once in Ireland, when his father forced him into masonry, and then again when I forced him into teaching.”
“How come we never knew that?” My dad had been the happiest man I knew. I never would’ve guessed that he wasn’t doing exactly what he wanted.
“Because he chose to be happy. He could’ve been bitter or resented us. But he never was. Not once did your father ever accuse me of ruining his dream. He always told me he’d chosen the better part: his family. He compromised, Flynn.” She smiled at me. “You need to decide how your life can work with Ali’s. You’re both strong people. You’re passionate about what you do, and that’s wonderful, son. But try to remember that Ali’s sense of responsibility is one of the things you love about her. She wouldn’t be who she is if she didn’t care.”
“But isn’t it my turn to be her first choice? Her priority?” I hadn’t been aware how much that stung. “Last time she chose Sam. And the farm. When’s it going to be my turn?”
“God, Flynn, you sound like a spoiled brat.” Maureen rolled her eyes. “Do you know how lucky you are that you found someone you love? Who loves you? It doesn’t happen for everyone. Look at me. I’m almost thirty, and I’ve never had a real relationship. I’d give anything to have what you and Ali have. You love her. You want to build a life with her. Figure out how to make that happen, and stop whining about priorities.” She winked at me. “Compromise.”
The Colonel’s Last Stand was crowded. I eased the truck around to the side and pulled up out of the way of the real customers. Adrenaline buzzed in my system as I climbed out and headed for the front.
People were milling around the tables of vegetables and fruit, chatting with each other and loading up baskets. I spotted Cassie Deymeyer ringing sales at the register. She saw me before anyone else did and gave me a grin and a wave.
Ali was standing by a table of lettuce, earnestly explaining something to a pair of white-haired women. I waited out of her sight until she began to turn away to handle someone else. And then I called her name.
“Alison Reynolds.” She jerked her head toward me, and the smile that was mine alone stretched her mouth. She began to walk toward me, but as I kept talking, she slowed, curiosity covering her face.
“Alison Reynolds, nine years ago, I gave you an ultimatum. Leave town with me, as we’d planned, or we were through. It was a terrible thing to do. Probably the worst mistake of my life. You made the impossible choice I forced you to make: you stayed here to keep the promises you’d made to your brother. To your family. I hated that, because I thought it meant you loved me less.”
Some of the women in the crowd had stopped what they were doing and were watching us. I recognized some of them from town. Cassie leaned both of her arms against the top of register and smiled broadly at me.
Ali was frozen, her face tense as she stared at me. Her hands were clenched tightly at her sides.
“I didn’t realize that you being a woman who kept her promises was one of the things I loved most about you. I was a stupid, immature fool.”
There was a buzz of voices among the crowd. Ali’s face relaxed a fraction, but she was still wary about what was coming next.
“When I came back to Burton, back to you, I realized everything that I’d given up by leaving you all those years. I gave up my family. I gave up my greatest chance at happiness. And I gave up the only woman I will ever be able to love.”
Whispers and awws came from the around the stand. I ignored them, focusing on the only woman whose heart would ever matter to me.
“Ali, I want a life with you. I want a life where we both get to live out what we’re passionate about. If you feel like we need to live in Burton, I’ll stay here with you. I’ll build you a house, I’ll get a job that lets me come home to you every night, and we’ll make that family. I promise you, I’ll do anything to make you happy.
“But if you might consider a compromise . . .” I smiled, letting the word roll off my tongue and feeling my dad at my shoulder. “I think there’s a way for us to work it out. The most important thing, though, is that you know who and what is the most essential to me. And that’s you, Ali. There’s no future for me without you, because you are my future.”
I walked toward her slowly, my eyes never leaving her face. “So Alison Reynolds . . . marry me. Marry me, and make me complete. Marry me, and we’ll make the family we’ve always wanted.” I reached her and held out my hand, whispering the last words. “Marry me, because I’ll never leave you. I’ve loved you my whole life, Ali, and I’m never going to stop loving you.” I dropped to my knee and opened my other hand, where my mother’s engagement ring, the beautiful antique Celtic knot, lay on my palm. “Please.”
She was shaking now. I could feel it in her hand. Or maybe that was me, because I also tasted the tears that were rolling down my face as I stared into her eyes, willing her to say the only word that I ever wanted to hear.
The most beautiful smile I’d seen in my entire life curved her lips. She reached out her free fingertips to trace the side of my face.
“Yes.”
A smattering of applause filled the stand, but I hardly noticed. I stood up and pulled Ali into me, wrapping my arms around her as I buried my face in her neck. She threaded her fingers into my hair, and I knew without a doubt that I was where I belonged.
I was home.