Tears overran her ocean-blue eyes. She lowered her head, and his pulse thundered in her pause. Was she still worried about her past?
“We’ve both let the past limit us, afraid it’d always brand us or wouldn’t be enough. And yeah, some of it’s messy. But it’s part of what’s shaped who we are. Even part of what brought us together.” He wouldn’t be able to love her so completely the way he did if he hadn’t first experienced the kind of grace that met him through all his failures.
“But there’s more than the past.” He cupped her neck with assurance. “I don’t want to just walk in my parents’ footsteps. I want to write our own legacies, go wherever our story takes us. All in.” A breath. “I want to rebuild my life with you, Ti Russo.”
A slow smile caught the tears slipping down her cheeks as she found his eyes. “Even when I make inedible peanut butter sandwiches?”
Laughter joined the exhale freeing the tension from his muscles. He rested his forehead to hers. “Even then.”
“What about when I switch your grass tea with coffee?”
Drew pulled her simpering grin close to his. “As long as you promise to let me dress however I want.”
Eyes glinting with mischief, Ti slid her palms up his chest to the back of his hair. “Negative on the wardrobe, Poster Boy. We all have our limits.”
And not kissing her right now was testing his.
Her gaze drifted to his cowlick, her expression turning pensive. “You don’t have to compete with Queens or San Francisco, Drew. My home’s right here. With you.”
He leaned in a smile at a time. “That’s good. ’Cause Grandma Jo’s fixing a welcome-to-the-family barbeque right now.”
“How did she . . . ?” Ti shook her head. “Never mind.” She glanced down at her jean shorts and fringe sweater. “I should probably change first.”
“Not for me.” He wanted her exactly as she was.
Sunlight filtered through the clouds with the promise of new beginnings, and Drew brought his lips to Ti’s with a love that’d always be home.
Epilogue
Awe
Six Months Later
Ti dropped her third suitcase in the entryway by Drew’s front door and repressed a grin. It might’ve been a bit much for a four-day trip. But if Drew was going to share the same house as her soon, he might as well get used to dealing with all her clothes now.
“Babe, we’re going to miss our plane,” she called up the stairs. “Everything’s taken care of. Chloe knows how to reach us. The gallery will be fine while we’re gone. Stop worrying.”
“Who says I’m worrying?” he called around a toothbrush in his mouth.
“Then what are you dragging your feet for? Coop isn’t rubbing off on you, is he? ’Cause you know that cowlick’s a lost cause, right?”
The water in the bathroom ran. “Very funny.”
Ti slung the coat she couldn’t fit in her bags over her arm. “I know you don’t like the cold, but the Catskills are gorgeous in December. You’re gonna love it.” She strained to keep a straight face. “It wouldn’t be so bad if you’d just let me get you in a Hen—”
Drew rounded the top of the stairs in a pair of low hanging dark jeans and a hunter green Henley, looking every bit as ridiculously sexy as she knew he would be in it. His mouth quirked above his scruffy jawline. “You were saying?”
Speaking would require a functioning diaphragm. Or at least a head not fogged over by an image of masculinity and love that still left her in awe most every day.
Looking down so she could breathe again, Ti spun the ring on her left hand and played it cool. “I was just saying, you’re pretty lucky to have a fiancée who knows what looks good on you.”
Drew moseyed down the stairs with two plastic bags in his hand and sass in his dimples. “The same fiancée who’s suddenly conscientious about sticking to a schedule?”
Ti crossed her arms. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t have fixed the clock in my car if you didn’t want me to actually use it.”
He swaggered toward her. “Now, how’ll you ever learn to roll with life that way?”
“We’re going to be an old married couple, and you’ll still be making me eat my words, won’t you?”
“Every day.” He nestled his unfairly adorable grin to her neck and kissed the skin beneath her earlobe.
She gripped his solid shoulder to steady her legs. Her heart, not so much. “Or we could just skip New York and get married right now. A Christmas wedding could be nice.”
Drew leaned back but not far enough. His eyes were doing a serious number on her today. “How about we settle for a prelude?” He lifted the two shopping bags. “Zimas with Jolly Ranchers and a Gilmore Girls marathon.”
She busted out a laugh. “The ultimate bad-boy package, right there.”
“I warned you I knew how to be edgy.”
“And I warned you I was a bad influence.” She checked her cell. “We’re gonna be late.”
“Not for tomorrow.” Drew set the bags down and led her over to the couch. “I changed the flight.”
“What? Why?”
“Can’t blame a man for wanting to spend part of the holidays alone with the woman he’s about to marry.”
Marry. The word still warmed her as much as the blush no other man but Drew could ignite in her.
“We deserve a vacation after all the work we’ve invested into paying off the shop and opening our gallery.” He untangled a tress of hair from her hoop earring. “And I can’t wait to meet Cassidy and Ethan and tell them all about it. But tonight, I want to celebrate alone.”
She pulled her leg up on the cushion with her. “What about Maddie?”
“She and Livy are playing referee between Grandma Jo and Mr. Fiazza tonight.”
Of course they were. “And Coop?”
“He left this morning to check out a property in Lake Gaston.”
“All alone.” Ti ran the tip of her thumb along the emerald-shaped diamond on her finger. “So, how would you like to celebrate, Mr. Anderson?”
Under the glow of the Christmas tree lights in the corner, he set a large present on her lap. “With seeing you smile.”
She cast him an apprehensive look but couldn’t deny her curiosity. She slid a nail under the tape holding the box together and removed the lid. Wide-eyed, Ti peered back and forth from Drew to the painting, her heart trapped between them.
She traced the path leading into the fall forest that’d started her journey as an artist. “How did you . . . ?”
Drew removed the canvas from the box and admired the Bob Ross painting with as much awe as it’d stirred in her the first time she turned on The Joy of Painting as a kid.
“At the barbeque, when you told me about how this painting inspired you, I knew I had to find it.” He laid it on the cushion and took her hand. “You inspire me every day, Ti. Push me past borders I don’t even know are there. I’ll never stop looking for ways to do the same for you.”
Eyes on his, she brushed a thumb over his dimple and held on to her evidence that good truly could come from heartache. “You already have.” She kissed him with every ounce of the love she never thought could be hers.
Erratic breaths melded together. Ti clutched his Henley and rested her forehead to his. “So, about moving up that wedding date . . .”
Raspy laughs washed over her. “Don’t tempt me.”
“Then at least take me dancing tonight.”
“Only if I get to wear the trilby hat. I mean, I am kind of the reigning champion.”
“Oh, you’re ready to do this, are you?” She marched two fingers up his chest. “You just remember who the teacher is here, buddy. I’ll leave you in the dust on that dance floor.”
“Not possible.” He leaned close, grin hitching. “Because . . . where you go, Ti Russo, I will follow.” With far too much amusement, Drew belted out the most off-pitched version of the Gilmore Girls theme song she’d ever heard.
Between laughs, Cooper’s words from th
at night on the beach filtered to mind. “My dad used to say we’ll never find where we belong until we’re willing to admit we’re lost.”
Yet even when she’d kept running, love hadn’t stopped pursuing her. Ti let her soon-to-be husband gather her in his sturdy arms, grateful to finally find the home that’d been waiting for her all along.
***
Ready for Cooper’s story? For behind-the-scene bonuses and exclusive firsthand peeks into new releases, visit crystal-walton.com.
Want a Free Book?
Crystal’s giving away a free book, along with exclusive bonuses from the heart-melting stories you love. Tap here to grab your copy of Your Story Matters and enjoy more behind-the-scenes content: crystal-walton.com.
I’d Love to Hear From You
Make no mistake about it. Your voice matters. If you enjoyed this story, please take a moment to leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads to help new readers discover Drew and Ti’s story. Even if it’s just one sentence. Reviews are a tremendous help to authors, which in turn allows us to keep writing more stories for you. I can’t do it without you!
Thanks so much for reading Begin Again. Tap here for a special note about this book, including casting picks for Drew and Ti.
If you haven’t already read Ethan and Cassidy’s story, grab a copy of Write Me Home and see Ti try to hack it in the mountains!
Ready for Cooper’s own story? Get your exclusive content at crystal-walton.com and be the first to hear when Cooper’s book releases. And join me on Facebook for more behind-the-scenes fun.
Books By Crystal Walton
Home In You Series
Write Me Home
Begin Again
The Unveiled Series
Eyes Unveiled
Light Unshaken
Hope Unbroken
Standalones
Arms of Promise
About The Author
Crystal received her bachelor of arts from Messiah College in PA, married her exact opposite in upstate NY, and earned her master of arts from Regent University in VA, where she currently resides with her husband, David. Crystal writes contemporary clean romances fueled by Starbucks’ venti green teas. She’d love to connect with you at http://crystal-walton.com and Facebook.
Acknowledgements
Dave, I’m so grateful to share in a love that continually calls us home no matter where we run or how we fail. Thank you for embracing new beginnings in that love with me every day.
Erynn, thank you for sowing into yet another piece of my heart…and for humoring my love of the word “sow.” For refraining from shipping a wood chipper to my house to grind up the “devil door” constantly interrupting Drew and Ti’s intense moments. For keeping me engaged with visual reminders of Drew’s eyes and dimples. And for rescuing me again and again from my own awkward phrasing. I’m beyond blessed to have one of the best editors around.
Melanie, girl, I’d be a hot mess without our hundreds of emails. And chocolate…and essential oils…and salt lamps. Did I mention chocolate? I’m so thankful God paired me up with a kindred spirit for a critique partner. Thanks for sledging through the quagmire of first drafts with me and offering encouragement during the many days I feel I’m sinking. Here’s to crossing over into hippie land.
Victorine, thanks for fine-tuning a cover I’m head over heels in love with, and for offering input on the storyline.
Rachel, Julie, and Mom, thank you for lending your proofing skills to give this story a final polished touch.
To my awesome launch team, thanks for rallying behind this series. Your support and enthusiasm have been a huge blessing.
To each of my readers, I was so thrilled when you asked for Ti to get her own story. This book wouldn’t exist without your nudge. Thank you for letting Drew and Ti share in a small part of your life, and for joining me along this journey of grace.
Begin Again (Home In You Book 2) Page 26