Page 33 of Solstice

Fifteen minutes later his headlights bounced into the driveway. She was waiting for him, outside, bundled, a hood pulled up around her head. She took his hand when he got out, ignored the questions in his eyes and tugged him toward the lake.

The storm had eased. The wind still blew, but the sky was clearing. Stars peeked from between the clouds. Standing there on the shore, she faced him, clasping both his hands in hers. “I have something to say.”

He nodded and she could see in his eyes that he was expecting her to break his heart again. “I’ll try not to interrupt.”

“All right. Here it is. All this time, I thought I was being punished for something. Or that I’d been laid low in order to learn some kind of a lesson. I turned my back on my own beliefs.” She shook her head slowly. “But the whole time, all that was really happening was that the clutter was being cleared out of my life, so I could find my heart’s desire. Everything I had—those were just things—just obstacles standing between me and the life I was really meant to lead. Once they were gone, I could finally find my way through my own darkness, to a gift more precious than anything I ever had or ever will. I found my way back to where I belong. To the light. To Crescent Cove. And to you, Jason.”

His eyes filled with wonder and dampness. “You’re staying?”

“I’m staying.”

“But...the job offer—”

“I had a better offer. The one where you asked me to stay. And marry you. And bear your children.”

He stared so intensely at her she thought he must be able to see straight through her, and into her heart. “I didn’t ask you those things...not yet.”

“But you will, won’t you, Jason?”

He swallowed hard. “Is that what you want? Are you sure, Dori, that you won’t change your mind and want to go?”

“How could I go?” she asked with a smile. “It’s taken me a while to figure it out, Jason, but I’m in love with you. Madly, deeply, completely in love with you. I think I have been for a long, long time.”

He gathered her into his arms and kissed her as if he would never stop. When he came up for air, he said, “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to say those words to me, Dori?”

“Too long. I’m sorry I made you wait.”

“I’d have waited forever.” He kissed her again, deeply, tenderly, and she knew down deep in her soul that she had made the right decision. She was home.

When Jason lifted his head, they both turned to see the sun rising slowly over Lake Champlain. “And this is what you meant by ‘the return of the light.’”

“This is what I meant,” she whispered. And looking at the sky, she added, “Thank you.”