Page 143 of Secrets in the Deep

“What are you going to do now?”

Her mother’s chest rose on a deep inhale. “I’m going to go home. Figure out what I want to do with my life. Maybe I’ll use my connections to get a few auditions for parts. Maybe I’ll finally learn who I am, outside of being your mother.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Tears suddenly filled her mother’s eyes. “I do love you, Emily. I’ve always loved you. I’m sorry if I haven’t shown it often enough.”

“I love you too. And I hope that one day we can have a different relationship. A healthier mother and daughter, outside the world of acting, kind.”

Her mother nodded.

They hugged and said their goodbyes. A part of her hoped that she was also saying goodbye to the old version of her mother, to the old relationship they’d had, and starting the journey of creating something new.

Even after her mother left, Emily didn’t get up right away. Instead, she looked at the lawn outside Polly’s home. There were no scarlet-red Indian paintbrushes like at Ryan’s house.

The door behind her opened, and Ryan stepped out and lowered beside her.

His hand went to her leg. “Hey. You okay?”

“I was just thinking about the Indian paintbrushes in your garden.”

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm.” She lifted a shoulder. “When I saw them I…”

“You what?”

“I felt hope. That maybe you’d kept them alive for me, after you bought the house. Maybe you wanted me to come here and see them.”

“You want to know a secret?”

“Always.”

“They weren’t actually there when I bought the house. I planted them. For you. The second I bought the place, I had this vision of what it would look like. And it was always my hope that you would see it. That you’d come back to me.”

The filmof tears in Emily’s eyes had Ryan shifting closer. He slipped an arm around her waist. “Hey.”

“We lost so many years.”

He shook his head. “No. We needed those years. You needed a taste of the life you thought you wanted. You needed to livethat, to know you wantedthis. And I needed to finish out my time in the military. I needed to end up here so that you could find me.”

“What if I never had? Found you?”

“You were always going to find me, Emi. You were written in my stars.”

Her lips curved. “I didn’t know you believed in that stuff.”

“Only with you.”

Then he kissed her. And fuck, it felt good.Shefelt good.

When they pulled apart, he traced the curve of her lips with his gaze. “I missed that.”

“What?”

“Your smile. Shit, I missed it so much.”

“You might get sick of it, because I have a feeling you’re going to see ita lotin your lifetime.”