Page 84 of I Know You

I put it out of my mind for the moment and turn to Quint as Ben steps aside. As much as I hate to hurt Ben more, my final decision can’t be made until I have Quint’s consent. I take his hand and pull him toward my room, just across the landing from where we wait to take Gibbons through the mirror. I won’t add to Ben’s pain by letting him witness this exchange.

When Quint and I are both inside, I shut the door and turn to him. “If you ask me to stay, I will.”

He freezes. Staring at me, his expression as cautious as Ben’s had been moments earlier, but Quint’s holds something more—hope. “What?”

I repeat it slowly, taking painstaking care over every word. “If you ask me to stay, I will.”

He ventures a step closer to me. “But you said you couldn’t, that you didn’t belong here.” He takes another step. There wasn’t much room between us to begin with, and my heart speeds up at his nearness now, and the decision I silently beg him to confirm.

“And you said I would always belong with you.” I lay my hands on his chest and hold on to the lapels of his dirty sport coat. “I didn’t understand how right you were.”

“What about all the things Dr. Cooper and Burke said about not being authorized⁠—”

“I don’t care what they think at all.” It could take years for them to find someone else who can travel. We’ll face that when, or if, it comes.

He covers my hands in his, shaking his head the slightest bit. “Don’t just say this, Clara—mean it.”

“There’s a little girl,” I whisper. “Two of them, actually. There are anniversaries, and birthday parties, and there’s me and you for our entire lives.”

By the time I’ve said the last, Quint has wrapped his arms around me, pulling me toward him and kissing me like the first time. He kisses me with desperate fervor, his arms holding me tighter, holding me with him and telling me he will never, ever let go. We break apart only to gasp for air, and then his hands dig into my hair, pulling my face back to him, lips on mine and moving as though to make up for the years he lost. A lifetime spins around me, tying me to him, cementing the memories that had been ghosts inside of me.

“I love you,” I say against his lips.

“Stay with me.” He uses his thumbs to brush hair from my face, then cups my cheeks and stares at me before kissing me again. “Stay with me forever.”

“Yes, I will.”

Ben is waiting when we return, his expression unsurprised that we are hand in hand. I let go of Quint’s hand to walk to Ben and hug him one last time. “Be good,” I say because I can’t say any more goodbyes than that without breaking down.

“Okay,” he says. He wraps his arms around me, pressing his lips to the side of my forehead and holding me until Quint clears his throat. Then Ben laughs when he releases me. “She’s all yours,” he assures him, but despite the smile, his voice cracks.

“Thanks for bringing her back,” Quint says. They nod at each other in understanding, and as I watch them, I know it’s more than I deserve—to have known and loved two really great men—and despite it all, to still keep one of them.

With shaking hands, I step up to the mirror, the passage appearing as soon as my fingers brush the surface. I step as far as I can to the side when they sink through, leaving one hand in to keep the passage open. Quint squeezes my free hand, casting me an encouraging look before he moves forward to help Ben. They pick up the chair, throwing it through, and Gibbons gives me a hateful glare before he disappears. I laugh and wonder how it must appear from the other side. Hopefully, no one witnesses it—Burke and Dr. Cooper promised to try and keep the Allen home empty until Ben and I returned.

Finally, with a wave, Ben steps through. I give him several seconds to make sure he makes it all the way back to the present, and then I pull my hand out.

Quint moves back to my side, pulling me into his arms. “Welcome home, love.” He kisses me lightly on the lips before reaching for the envelope. “Shall we?”

I nod, not trusting my voice.

Quint rips the top open, pulling out a sheaf of papers. “Well, this will make things easier,” he says, handing me a document.

“My birth certificate!” Emotion wells tightly in my chest. It looks authentic, the wording exactly like what he’d shown me the first time I came home from the past. I press my hand to my mouth, astonished at his goodness, though I shouldn’t have been. Not with Ben, who’d always given whatever it took to make me happy. “He knew all along,” I say, a swell of tears cutting me off from saying more for several moments. Finally, I manage a watery smile.

“So did I. From the moment you kissed me on the edge of the lake at The Villa.” He smirks at me.

“I did not!” I gasp.

“Perhaps it was me who kissed you.” He laughs as he fingers through several more papers. “He thought of everything…” His face draws down in a frown, and then he shakes his head, his smile returning.

“What?” I move to his side.

“Your ‘dowry.’” Quint holds up another document. “He settled two million dollars on you.”

“Two million…” It’s a fortune, especially since I know that thanks to inflation, that’s even more than it sounds like.

Quint throws back his head and laughs. “It’s far more than I’m worth, love.”