It was a game they’d been playing since shortly after he’d left, but when Josh didn’t respond for way too many annoying ticks on the old clock, she sighed and slipped her phone back in her pocket.
Maybe she should give the floor a good scrubbing. Not just the usual mopping, but a hands-and-knees, toothbrush around the chairs kind of cleaning. Something to work off the boredom before she totally went off the deep end.
She was filling the mop bucket with hot water when her phone chimed and she almost didn’t hear it. Turning off the faucet with one hand, she pulled out the phone with the other and looked at the screen.
It was a picture from Josh and she held the phone closer to squint at it. He always had a little trouble framing himself and the background, but she could see that he desperately needed a haircut.
Then she realized he probably knew that, since he was standing next to a barber pole. Behind him, stenciled on a pane of glass, she could make out a few letters. W-H-I…
Her heart turned over in her chest and she turned just as the bell over the door jingled. She ran across the shop and threw herself into his arms. “I can’t believe you’re here!”
“Hell of a long drive from New Mexico for a haircut,” he said, squeezing her tight.
“You need one.” She pulled back so she could look at him. “Back for a visit already? Has my mom been giving you guilt?”
“No, I’m not back because of Rosie.” His face grew serious and she wondered if something was wrong. Maybe he hadn’t come back just for a visit. Maybe something had happened and nobody had told her. “I’m back because of you.”
“You didn’t drive all the way back to Maine to visit me, did you?” Not that she was complaining. She was so damn happy to see him she didn’t have words to express it, but she was already thinking about how it would hurt like hell when he left again.
“I’m not visiting. I’m home.”
She stared up into his blue eyes, trying to make sense of what he was saying. “For good, you mean? Josh, I’m a little confused. You haven’t said anything in your texts or emails about coming back.”
“Do you know what you are to me, Katie?”
“I believe you made it clear on the playground when you were in first grade and I was in fourth. Mike Crenshaw made fun of me for playing with you, and you told him I was your best friend and if he didn’t like it you’d have Mitch, Ryan and Sean all punch him in the face.”
Josh grinned. “I’m no fool. Mike was big for his age.”
The memory made Katie smile, but her mind was whirling, trying to understand why he was suddenly here, and why they were reminiscing about elementary school. She wanted to throw herself at him again so he’d wrap his arms around her and she could just feel him again.
But it had taken a while for their communication to become mostly normal again and she didn’t want to upset that balance. He meant too much to her as a friend to jeopardize that again.
“You’re more than just a friend to me,” he said, staring intently into her eyes. “You’re in all of my memories. The good and the not so good. You’ve been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I think I took that for granted.”
“That goes both ways, Josh. We’ve always taken for granted we’d have each other. I know I never really thought you’d leave, but you did.”
“I had to go.” He breathed in deeply, regret in his eyes. “But, God, how I’ve missed you. I’ve missed your voice and calling you wasn’t enough. I wanted to hear your voice every day, but I couldn’t because I chose to leave you. I left you behind and I lost that right. I lost you.”
“You didn’t lose me. You were never going to be totally happy here if you didn’t get to leave. I know that.”
“Because you know me. You get me.” He laughed, a clipped sound without a lot of humor in it. “I even miss the lodge. How messed up is that?”
“It’s not messed up. You never had a chance to figure out what you wanted. It was never your choice.” She hated seeing him beat himself up.
“I found what I was looking for and the crazy thing is that you were right there in front of me.” He reached down and took her hand as her breath caught in her throat. “I’ve loved you my whole life, but now I know I’m in love with you. Crazy in love with you. I had to go. I had to go find what I really wanted for me and now I know, absolutely, that you are what I want. Forever. You’re my northern star.”
“That’s how long I’ve loved you,” she whispered. “Forever.”
“I love you, Katherine Rose Davis. I always—”
“Wait. Did you just middle name me?”
“Yeah, but not like when Rosie does it. I was just trying to be formal when I propose.”
She laughed. “Forget it. Just be you.”
He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her close, gazing down into her eyes. “Marry me, Katie Davis. I love you and I want you to be my wife.”