Page 119 of Yours, For Good

We passed a tiny plaza between two properties, and I stopped to face her at its gates.

I lifted a hand to her face. "We will. Of course we will. I will just—"

"Miss me desperately."

I nodded, giving her a soft smile. She laughed.

"I will miss you too." She locked her fingers at the small of my back. "For the first time in my life, I realize how lucky I am to have someone to love and miss."

"It feels good. It's… shared happiness."

She kissed me. "I plan to be deliriously happy with you, Javier. We'll squeeze joy out of life together— for as long as we can."

I swayed with her on the street, a whisper of a dance there where other people might see. Not caring at all that we looked foolishly in love. Ecstatic anyone would know from just one look at us.

"That's the thing about romantic love," I said. "I've been thinking about it— a book did offer inspiration, but— it's the lack of friendship that ends love. Good love always includes friendship, and we have that in spades."

"Best friends can be lovers." Her smile still curved her lips when she kissed me. "I like that."

She never got a place of her own. She said why bother, when she found a home with me instead.

Epilogue

Nora

AFTER TWO YEARS OF razor-sharp focus on my business and meeting every single goal I had set forth, Javier insisted on taking me on a celebratory trip.

Entering the Al-Qarawiyyin library in Fez, Morocco, almost brought me to my knees.

"It's often credited as the oldest working library in the world," our private tour guide said.

We walked through a large, colorfully tiled plaza, surrounded by arches painted in white and roofed in green. The detailed geometric patterns at our feet were only interrupted by a stone fountain at the center, and two fountain pavilions covered by carefully crafted wooden details.

The guide showed us around the place that stood since the 800s, full of history and beautiful traditional Islamic design. We were not allowed into the Mosque part of the building, but we got to see the study rooms and even parts of the modern lab protecting the ancient texts.

Our second stop was the Admont Monastery Library in Austria, and the third the Library of the Monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland.

The last stop on this trip, Javier promised, was the Library of Strahov Monastery in Prague.

"But we should go visit other ones in the future," he said. "There's the Klementine library here in the city, but I was looking at the Raza Library in Rampur, in India, too. Or the Old Library of Trinity College in Dublin."

In Prague, we walked through the Baroque Theological Hall. The smell of old books was incredible. The ceiling was so overly wrought with paintings and decoration, I could search for new details for years, and would find something new to look at every time. It contrasted with the honey tones of wood on the floor and bookshelves. Still, my eyes kept returning to the rows upon rows of books.

"This one is gorgeous, too," I said.

"Let's go check the Philosophical Hall." He leaned close to my ear. "It's two stories high."

A shiver ran down my spine. "You're speaking so sexy to me."

He smiled, and nodded to our tour guide to take us there. Javier didn't always flaunt his money but he did so this time; he booked yet another private tour for us after hours. We walked through an empty corridor, where we stopped to admire their Cabinet of Curiosities.

The Philosophical room was my favorite in the building. It was famous for their well-kept collection of exclusive texts; the two stories were definitely sexy, with polished, delicious carved wood everywhere. Gold accents marked every surface, and a classic painting vaulted the ceiling above us.

We strolled through the large space, peeking through the glass at old, leather-bound books. On the second story balcony, we found a small alcove by one of the sets of doors; we stopped there and gazed back at the Hall. Our guide gave Javier a nod and left us for a short private moment.

I sighed and asked Javier to put his arms around me.

"Thank you for bringing me here." I kissed him. "I love that our first big trip was to libraries."