Lovestruck Forever

by Rachel Schurig

  “You think I’m going to be able to do it?” Sofie asked quietly.

  “Of course you will,” I assured her, but she shook her head.

  “I don’t know. What if I’m not cut out for this, Lizzie? What if I’m not strong enough?”

  “There were lots of times when Laura didn’t think she could do it, either,” I pointed out. “But look at this gorgeous little girl.”

  “Laura wasn’t alone though,” Sofie said, and the sadness in her voice made my heart clench.

  “You won’t be, either. I’ll be right next to you the entire time. I’m like an expert labor coach now.”

  She stared down at the baby for a long while before she nodded.

  “You should practice, Sof,” Laura called from the bed.

  I held the baby out. “You wanna hold her?”

  Sofie nodded. “Gimmee.” She took Maia from my arms and walked slowly around the room, whispering and cooing at the baby. I moved to Laura’s side and sat on the edge of the bed. “How you feeling, Mama?”

  “Pretty good.” She certainly looked better than she had back at the house. She was clearly tired, having stayed up most of the night in labor, but she was also glowing in that way of someone whose every dream has come true at the same time.

  I was about to comment on the baby’s surprising light hair when there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Laura called, and my Aunt and Uncle entered the room.

  Shit. Sofie hadn’t said more than ten words to her mother since leaving the house all those months ago, and most of those had occurred today at the shower. And now here they were, face to face. The last thing Laura needed was an emotional confrontation and, based on her reaction at the shower, Sofie’s mother was definitely liable to break down at the slightest provocation.

  “Oh, Sofie,” her father breathed. “That’s going to be you soon. You look perfect.” And he promptly burst into tears.

  I looked from Laura to Sofie’s dad, having no idea how to respond. I had expected tears from my Tia, but Uncle Tomas rarely cried. Sofie surprised me further by reaching her free hand out to her father.

  “Come meet your new grandniece, Daddy.”

  He went to her side, wrapping an arm around her as he gazed down at the baby. “I’m so sorry, Sofie. So sorry. We should have—”

  “It’s fine, Daddy,” she interrupted. “It’s all going to be fine.”

  “But we—”

  “Let’s just enjoy the baby,” Sofie said. “We can work out all the other stuff later.”

  As my Tia joined them, I had a feeling they would, too. There was just something about seeing a new life come into the world that put things into perspective. There were some things in this world that were just more important than our silly arguments and hurt feelings. And meeting a new member of your family for the very first time was one of them.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  By the time I left the hospital, I was ready to sleep on my feet. My father had insisted my brother Samuel drive me home. He’d been able to nap in the waiting room while we girls stayed up with Laura through her labor and was therefore much more rested than the rest of us. I kissed the baby and my sister, promising them both I’d be back as soon as I got a little sleep.

  “You should sleep, too,” I urged Laura, who was staring contentedly at Maia’s little sleeping face. “Don’t they always say that you should sleep while the baby sleeps?”

  She smiled up at me, her face the picture of serenity. “I’ve waited a long time for this moment, little sister. I couldn’t sleep now if I wanted to.”

  Samuel let me doze off in the car, for which I was grateful. I was far too tired for conversation. I didn’t wake up until we pulled up in front of the house. “We’re here, Lizzie,” he said, shaking my shoulder gently.

  “Thanks for the ride, Sammy,” I mumbled, struggling to undo my seatbelt with sleep clumsy fingers.

  “We’ll bring your car over later, okay?”

  “Thomas left his car here while he’s in London.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized that it was the first time I had mentioned him—the first time I’d really thought much about him at all—since the previous evening.

  “You okay?” Sam asked quietly. “I don’t care if he’s a rich and famous actor, I will still totally kick his ass if he screws with you.”

  I patted his arm. “You’re a good brother, Sammy. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  I climbed out of the car and fumbled with the alarm code on the garage, my only way of getting into the house. My keys were with my phone, back in my purse at Laura’s house. I probably should have asked Sam to stop there first, but I was way too tired for the extra trip. It took me three times to get it right, but I finally managed to get the door open. I turned back to wave to my brother before heading into the garage and in through the kitchen.

  “Lizzie?”

  I screamed out loud and literally jumped into the air at the sound of the voice in my supposedly empty house. “Thomas! You scared the hell out of me!”

  I put my hand over my heart, feeling it thud hard in my chest.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, coming over to take my arm and lead me to a barstool. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Take deep breaths.”

  I realized that his voice was wary, his eyes darting around my face as if trying to read me. I took a few deep breaths until my shock had subsided. “What are you doing here?” I finally asked, looking up at him. I felt like maybe I was still dreaming—it was an odd sensation, to wake up in the car and then to come into the house to see someone that was supposed to be on the other side of the ocean.

  “I came as soon as I could,” he told me, his eyes still doing that weird searching thing.

  I furrowed my brow. “For Laura? Thomas you didn’t need to rush all the way here. The baby’s fine.”

  “The baby?” He looked as confused as I felt. On closer inspection, his eyes were red and small, almost as if he had been crying.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, reaching for his face. His eyes widened in shock, as if me touching him was the most unexpected thing I could have done.

  “Of course I’m not okay,” he said, speaking slowly, like I was missing something obvious. “I’ve been a wreck since yesterday. Lizzie, you have to believe me, nothing happened. Franny is a liar, I swear to God—”

  “I know that,” I said, shaking my head. I was missing something here. Why had he come all the way home if it wasn’t because of Laura?

  “You know?” he whispered. “Wait, you believe me?”

  I blinked, wondering what part of this we were misunderstanding. “Of course I believe you. Why wouldn’t I believe you?”

  Suddenly he was crying, practically sobbing, his shoulders shaking. He buried his face in his hands, leaving me to stare at him in shock and fear. “What’s wrong?” I cried, reaching for him. “Thomas, you’re scaring me.”

  Then he was taking me by the arms and pulling me close, burying his face in my hair. “God, Lizzie, I’ve been a mess. When you didn’t answer your phone…and then Heidi told me about your conversation. And then I talked to Charlie, to see if Callie had heard from you, and he said you were really upset—”

  “Wait,” I said, still struggling to get a handle on the situation. “Did you come home because you thought I was mad?”

  “Of course I did! God, Lizzie, I thought you were leaving me.” He tightened his arms around me. “I’m so sorry you had to find out the way you did. I could kill Heidi for not calling you straight away; it’s her job. And then to attack you like that—I fired her, Lizzie, right away. And I’ll quit the movie and move back here and—”

  “Hang on a second.” I disentangled his arms from my waist so I could look at him. He appeared almost hysterical, tears still bright in his eyes, his breathing ragged. “First of all, you are not quitting the movie or moving back here. And you’re not firing Heidi—she may have pissed me off, but she’s been a good agent for years.”

  His face t
ightened. “Lizzie—”

  I went on, ignoring him. “But we can talk about all of those details later. First, let’s get something straight. Did you honestly think I was leaving you because some bitch used you to get some attention?”

  His eyes searched my face. “I…I just thought, when you didn’t answer your phone…I figured you saw the pictures and were pissed. Or that you decided you had enough of all this media bullshit, whether you believed it or not.”

  I shook my head. I couldn’t believe this. He had crossed an ocean to assure me that he loved me. Didn’t he know that I could never doubt that?

  I placed a hand on either side of his face, and he closed his eyes, as if he had been sure he’d never feel my touch again. “Thomas, I know you didn’t cheat on me. I know Franny is a liar. I know you. You would never do that to me.”

  Another tear slipped from under his closed eyelids. “You didn’t answer your phone. I’ve been calling for twenty hours.”

  “My sister had her baby last night, silly.”

  His eyes flew open. “Laura had the baby?”

  I nodded. “Right after the shower. We had a little scare at first, but things turned out okay. I left my phone at her house in all the excitement. That’s why I didn’t answer.”

  “You weren’t…you weren’t mad at me?”

  “I’m slightly irritated that you didn’t tell me that you’ve seen Franny around London.” When he started to argue, I held up a hand. “I know you have, Thomas. Those pictures had to have come from somewhere. And Lola mentioned it in San Diego.”

  “Lola?” he cried. “Lola told you that I’d been seeing Franny and you never mentioned it?”

  I shrugged. “I knew she was just trying to stir the pot. I don’t have enough time with you these days to waste any of those precious minutes entertaining her bullshit. I figured if there was anything to say about Franny, you would tell me yourself.”

  He closed his eyes again. “And I didn’t. God, when you heard about her story you must have been furious with me.”

  “I was furious with everyone else,” I insisted, wondering why he was having such a hard time with this. “I was furious with Heidi for making it out like the pictures of Jackson were the problem. I was furious with Sofie and Callie and everyone else who hinted that there might be truth to the rumors. But I wasn’t furious with you. Why would I be?”

  He shook his head, staring at me like he couldn’t quite believe I was real. “You really believed in me, after all of that?”

  “Thomas, I don’t get why this is so hard for you to understand. I love you. I trust you. I know you. Of course I didn’t think you would do something like that. I knew there must be an explanation. Was it hard to wait to hear from you? Of course. But not because I thought you stopped loving me.”

  He grabbed me again, hugging me so tightly, I could hardly breath. “I do love you. I love you more than anything. I swear to God, I’m ready to walk away from all of it if that’s what you want.”

  “Why would I want that? Don’t you get it, Thomas? I was fine with you taking this role, even though it required you to move back to London, because I knew the distance wouldn’t change anything between us. I listened to Lola’s bullshit and promptly ignored it because I knew nothing she could say would change anything between us. And when Sofie told me about the interview and the pictures, I was upset, but not devastated. Because I knew that this stupid gossip wouldn’t change anything between us, either. I believe in us, Thomas. We’re getting married and nothing can stop that—”

  He cut me off by pressing his lips against mine, kissing me so hard it took my breath away. “I love you so much,” he murmured against my mouth, lifting me from the barstool into his arms. “You are everything to me.”

  “I know that, silly.” I leaned back in his arms, smiling up at him, glad that he finally got what I was trying to say. Glad that he was here, even if the trip had been unnecessary.

  It didn’t matter who or what tried to come between us. My family, his job, the press, Lola, Franny. None of it could affect who we were and what we were to each other. I was going to love him the same way I did right now tomorrow and every day after that, whether we were here or in London or even separated by an ocean.

  And that was never going to change.

  ***

  Thomas wanted to go see the baby right away, but I convinced him that I really was way too tired to head back. “I have to get some sleep.”

  “I can’t believe you were in there for the whole thing,” he said, sliding onto the bed next to me and wrapping his arms around me. “That must have been pretty intense.”

  “It was crazy. Like, Laura is a super hero, I swear to God. I can’t believe she could do that. They kept saying they were going to take her into surgery if she didn’t go faster, because of the complications. But then, suddenly, there was a brand new person in the room. A person who hadn’t existed a minute ago.” I shook my head. “Crazy,” I repeated.

  “Do you think you might be willing to have our own crazy brand new person moment soon?”

  I snuggled in closer. “I don’t know about soon. We definitely need to get Sofie through her pregnancy first. Oh, that reminds me. Guess who’s reunited now?” I told him about Sofie and her parents and their moment bonding over Maia. By the time they left the hospital that morning, they had convinced her to come home with them so they could talk out the details. “So I don’t know if she’ll be staying here when you get back, to be honest. I have a feeling her mother is going to lure her home with the promise of home-cooked food.”

  He laughed. “I’m glad to hear things are looking up for them. Didn’t I tell you they would come around?”

  “You said might, mister. And you clearly didn’t believe it.”

  “What, uh, about your family? I take it they heard about the, uh…”

  “Yeah, they did. But I told them there was no way we were discussing it after the shower, and then all the drama went down with Laura. Sam threatened to kick your ass, but my mom did tell me that she was sure you wouldn’t do something like that.”

  I could hear the smile in his voice. “She always was the first one to give me a chance.”

  “They’ll be fine, Thomas. I promise. I’m not going to let them give you a hard time for something you didn’t do.”

  I felt a little kernel of doubt. I was being completely honest with him when I said I believed his faithfulness without question. But that belief wasn’t quite enough to eradicate the pain that he hadn’t been completely honest with me.

  “What did happen with Franny?” I asked, my voice very soft. “Why were there pictures of the two of you together?”

  He sighed. “To be totally honest, she was helping me to do something for you. Which only highlights the fact that she’s an evil monster—that she would go from supposedly helping me to selling a fucking exclusive…” he trailed off, his breathing heavy. There was pure hatred in his voice, and I didn’t think I had ever heard him talk that way about anyone before.

  “What could she have helped you with?” I asked. “And why did you want her help, after the way she treated you?”

  He was quiet, as if battling something. “Lizzie, there’s something I’ve been planning for the wedding. If you really want me to, I’ll tell you what it is, but I’d rather wait.”

  I couldn’t help but feel slightly exasperated. “Thomas, you don’t have to plan these elaborate surprises all the time. I’m marrying you for you, not because you plan romantic bombshells for me.”

  “It’s not like that, Lizzie.” I could tell he was frustrated. “It’s something from your entire family—all your siblings, your parents, Sofie. It’s…I think everyone would rather I wait to tell you until we’re all together. But if you feel like it will help you deal with the Franny thing—”

  I sighed, wondering what in the hell he could be planning that involved my entire family. “Fine, you don’t have to tell me. But I still don’t understand why you would ask her
for help. You knew she was an attention-seeking evil bitch. She ditched you for Jackson Coles, for God’s sake.”

  “I love you for still being so outraged about that,” he said. “I didn’t ask her for help. She just happened to…work at one of the places I visited to arrange your gift. It was completely unexpected. She told me that she could help do…something. Jesus, this is hard without you knowing all the details. She offered to help me with something, and since she seemed so friendly about it, I figured there was no point in hanging onto old grudges.” His voice tightened. “Obviously, I should have held on a bit longer.”

  “You swear that’s all it was?”

  He nodded. “I swear, Lizzie. I ran into her unexpectedly. She offered me help with this project and I stupidly accepted. Then our picture was taken together. I didn’t think much of it; it’s not like she’s famous or anything. I figured whoever snapped the pictures just couldn’t sell them—they were all from that same week, by the way. They’re months old.”

  I relaxed against him. Maybe I was naive, but I believed him. I knew how much Franny had hurt him, how she had made it difficult for him to trust people, to have relationships. I just couldn’t fathom a situation in which he would forget about all of that. If he said he ran into her by accident and it was only circumstance that had them photographed together, I knew it had to be the truth.

  “I believe you.”

  I could feel the tension ease out of his muscles. “Thank God for that.”

  “So…about this surprise…”

  He laughed, tightening his arms. “No way, miss. You’ll never get it out of me.”

  I pouted. “I totally should have pretended I was mad, really milk the situation for all I could get.”

  The rumble of his laugh below my cheek made me smile.