Page 105 of You'll Be the Death of Me

“Well, then, let’s not waste any more time out here,” Jason announced, and sped off down the hill. Matty was quick to follow.

Dell took her time, not only because her leg really was throbbing—one thing about the past hadn’t changed—but because she couldn’t believe their plan had actually worked.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Cole asked her.

“I’m great,” she said with a genuine smile.

He gazed back at her with such warmth, such tender concern, she knew she’d made the right choice in trusting him. But it hadn’t really been a choice. Fate had brought them together, and it took the second time around for her to see it.

It was him. The thing in her life she’d been missing all along, even when he’d been all but dropped on top of her. Her eyes were open now, and she loved what she saw.

“Op, you’ve got a snowflake on your eyelash there,” Cole said.

Just like in her vision, he reached out and gently pulled it from her lash.

“One of a kind,” he said with a soft smile.

Yes, you are, she thought.

Epilogue

Three months later

Dell woke to the smell of bacon, coffee, and something sweet but a little bit burnt. She sat up in bed and noted the space beside her was empty. With a sniff of the morning air, she knew precisely what was happening. A loud clang shooting up the stairs confirmed her suspicion.

“Cole? Are you burning down my kitchen?” she called with a smile.

There was another clang, a pained hiss, and a few swear words before the sound of Cole’s footsteps coming up the stairs. He rounded the corner into her bedroom carrying a tray balanced with whatever he’d concocted downstairs.

“No. I’m bringing you breakfast in bed,” he said with a lazy smile. His shaggy hair was still mussed from sleep. He wore a rumpledCalT-shirt and a pair of low-slung sweatpants clinging in all the right places.

Dell bit her lip at the sight. And the food.

“Is this part of your continued effort to get me to—and this is a direct quote—chill outon weekends?” she asked as he brought the tray to her bedside.

“Am I that obvious?”

“As transparent as a ghost,” she said with a sly grin.

He set the tray down and leaned in to kiss her cheek. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled his mouth to hers.

“I will happily stay in bed all day if you stay with me,” she purred in a low voice.

Heat flashed in his dark eyes. “I see my scheming is paying off. But we can’t stay in bed all day. Lunch with your parents, remember?”

“Right,” Dell said, genuinely happy to be spending time with her family instead of working. Cole had helped her realize the importance, given he knew what it was like to lose his loved ones. Her parents already loved him, and she knew in her heart it was becausesheloved him. He wasn’t a box to check but rather someone she truly wanted to build a life with, and her parents couldn’t ask for anything more for her.

She hungrily watched him round to his side of the bed and slide back beneath the sheets. She nibbled on a piece of bacon with a smile.

They’d fallen into an easy rhythm since that day on the ski slope. For as long as they could stand it, they feigned taking it slow for the sake of everyone else in their lives who would reasonably have difficulty understanding the truth. Jason was the only person who knew the whole story. Dell had to tellsomeone, and the safest someone was the person who’d believed her from the start. She’d also casually planted the seed of Jason becoming her business partner, and found a business school brochure on his desk a week later.

Now, she was happily cartwheeling through the bliss of getting to know Cole and already being in love with him. And touching him. And introducing him to her family and friends. And cooking for him. And laying her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat.

One of his many talents was getting her to actually slow down. And with him, shewantedto go slow. She wanted every day to last an eternity simply to have more time with him. He’d awoken a peaceful calm in her, and Sundays in bed had become her favorite thing.

She finished her piece of bacon and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thank you for breakfast.”

“You bet,” he said, and reached for his tablet on the nightstand—an actual earthly tablet, not one provided by the Afterlife Administration.