Page 71 of Falling for Provence

‘Je t’aime tellement.’ Julien was smiling. ‘Or perhapsje t’aime à la folie? I’m crazy about you.’

‘Oh… yes…’ Ellie stood on tiptoes, wrapping her arms around Julien’s neck as she kissed him. ‘That’s the best.Je t’aime à la folie, aussi.’

But then she shook her head. ‘I can’t believe you bought this house,’ she said. ‘And the painting?’

‘The house idea came later. You don’t have to live here. It could be for your family when they come to visit. If… one day… if you can see yourself living next door, with me and Theo? As a family?’

Ellie caught her bottom lip between her teeth. One day – perhaps not that far away – she would confess her fantasy of marrying Julien in the beautiful church in Tourrettes-sur-Loup. He’d already made one romantic fantasy come true, however, and that was enough for one evening. More than she’d ever dreamed of…

‘The painting was because I wanted to find something to give you. Something that would let you know how much you mean to me. To saymercifor how much you’ve taught me with your courage and your joy in life and… and your ability to risk your heart and love all over again.’

‘I didn’t have any joy in my life when I came here.’ Ellie nestled in Julien’s arms, her cheek against his chest, where she could feel his heart beating. ‘It was you who helped me find it again. You… and Pascal… and Marguerite and Coquelicot and… and Theo, of course, but most of all it was you, Julien. It’s me who should be sayingmerci.’

Julien was resting his cheek on the top of Ellie’s head, so it was easy to feel him shaking his head.

‘It was what you said that made everything make sense,’ he told her. ‘Theo is my son. I’ve loved him from before he even took his first breath, and I will love and protect him until I take my last breath. In my heart, he has been and always will be my son. Like the way you said it – without any doubt at all.Sans aucun doute. And that’s what matters.’

Ellie could only nod. Because her words were caught behind the lump in her throat.

‘I knew that Theo would fall in love with you if he spent time with you,’ Julien continued. ‘I thought I was keeping him safe, but what I was also doing was stopping him from the joy of being able to love like that. And to be loved. Like only you could love him.’

‘I do love Theo,’ Ellie murmured. Their shared glance said it all. That loving a child enough for them to mean everything wasn’t dependent on being their biological parent.

Julien’s arms tightened around her. ‘I got to the gallery,’ he said. ‘But the painting wasn’t there, and I thought I’d left it too late. And that was when I realised…’

Ellie could feel the thump that followed a missed heartbeat and she lifted her head, alarmed, but Julien was smiling again.

‘I realised what I was really leaving too late. That it wasn’t just my love for Theo that mattered so much. And that if I let you leave, I might never see you again and I’d never be able to tell you that I love you.’

‘À la folie?’

‘Oui. À la folie.’

There was laughter now, in the soft glow of the flickering light of all those candles, and Ellie had never been this happy in her entire life.

And there was more.

There was champagne.

And cheese.

A whole night ahead with the man she was crazy about.

And a future together.

She did belong here.

To love and be loved because that was what mattered the most.

Sans aucun doute.