Page 113 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

“Do you really love me?” he asked against my mouth.

“Of course I do. You’re my—you’re—” I struggled to put into words exactly what he was. My best friend? My family? “You’re everything,” I finally said. “You’re just everything.”

“Riley.” He kissed me again and again, gentle little flutters over my cheeks and deep, curl-my-toes kisses against my lips. He kissed me until I was dizzy and laughing and holding onto him for dear life. I would have been happy to stay in that little foyer for the rest of my life, kissing Andrew, but a roar of noise from the square brought us both down to earth.

“What the—” he began, looking out the glass.

In the square, people were cheering, hugging, clapping. For a crazy second I thought they were responding to us, and then I remembered—

“Oh my God, the show.”

“I completely forgot,” he said, shaking his head. “Do you think we—?” He trailed off, eyes wide, and I felt my stomach lurch with nerves.

“Let’s go see.”

We made our way to the square, and as the projection screen came into view I could see that the people in Jackson were celebrating too.

In fact, they seemed even more excited than this crowd.

“What’s going on?” I asked Jerry Brooks, who was high-fiving the people nearest him. “Did we win?”

“Nope,” he said happily. “Second place!”

“We’re freaking out for second place?” Andrew asked.

“Well, sure! It’s a big honor. Second place in the whole country! I’d say that’s something to be proud of. And it sounds like we still get a few nice grants and prizes.” He grinned at me. “We appreciate all your work, Riley. You really came through.”

I stared around at the crowd. Everyone seemed so happy. For second place.

“They’re crazy,” Andrew muttered next to me.

“No,” I said, feeling like I might cry all over again. “They’re perfect.”

We partied in Town Square well into the night, long after Heather Dale and her crew had gone. Gina hugged me on the dock, thanking me for my hard work on her first real project. “I hope I hear from you,” she said. “I mean that.”

“Thanks, Gina,” I said, stepping back to take Andrew’s hand. He didn’t mention her comment, and I wondered what he was thinking. But then there were too many people surrounding us, the path back to the square like a gauntlet. Everyone wanted to rehash the entire series, and a few of them even noticed that we were holding hands.

“Well,” Rose said when she passed us, her eyes on our hands. “It’s about time.”

Andrew laughed. “Thanks, Mimi.”

“We’re still having lunch,” she reminded me before turning to her grandson. “And no, you’re still not invited.”

We ran into Edward and Zane next. “Oh, thank, God,” Eddie said. “I told him he was being stupid after you guys finally did it.”

“I’m very happy for you, Riley,” Zane said, kissing my cheek. “These Powell men are pretty useful to have around—even if they could use some work on their eloquence.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

I saw Jenny across the square, dancing with a man I’d never seen before. She gave me a thumbs up and broke her own promise by mouthing,told you!

Then there was the mayor, Andrew’s mother, Posey, and at least three of the Libbies, all wanting to know what had happened between the two of us. I felt a little nervous when Jill danced by in the arms of one of the Big Hotel staff, but she merely grinned and gave me a thumbs up, mouthing the wordstotally hotat me.

When Sherry declared I’d finally seen the light after his performance in tights, I pulled Andrew away to the dance floor for a little privacy, figuring he was about at the end of his rope. To my surprise, he was still smiling broadly.

“I thought you would hate that,” I told him.

“It wasn’t so bad.”