Chapter 41

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Holly let go of him and backed up a step. For the first time, Connor truly understood the old adage a sight for sore eyes . He’d spent two months away from her, and seeing her now was like applying a balm to his bruised soul. Her hair was loose and she was wearing her high scho ol track T-shirt. His eyes roved over her snug jean shorts to the bare length of her legs, and he wondered with some amazement what the hell he’d been thinking when he left.

“What are you doing here?” she asked happily.

“I’m not filming.” It felt strange to say. He’d been committed to Grimm Reality for so long that it should have felt awkward and wrong, but even though it was strange, it felt right. “I’m officially retired. A publisher wants me to write a book about my experiences, and I couldn’t pass it up.”

Holly smiled up at him, the moonlight sliding in a gray wave down the back of her hair. “You’ll write a great book.”

He’d thought she might still be angry with him or reticent to see him after the way they’d left things. She’d been right about everything. He’d ruthlessly pressed his advantage when he’d discovered her financial situation. If he’d respected her original refusal to host the show, then Jeremy never would have come so close to exposing her and her family to the angry and suspicious minds of the world. Connor hadn’t given Jeremy the information deliberately, but it had been his fault all the same. The result had been that he’d nearly hurt the only woman he’d ever loved.

Because he did love her. He’d been in love with her from the moment she stood outside his motel room for twenty minutes in the pouring rain rather than admit defeat, but he’d been too stupid to know his own heart. He’d convinced himself nothing was more important than his show, that he was dedicated to a noble cause that he couldn’t abandon.

Then Erikson had turned his whole fucking world upside down when he’d suggested they were doing more running than hunting.

“Once we wrapped up filming on the final episode, I went to Massachusetts with Erikson. To our childhood home.”

“Oh, Connor.” She took a step closer and slid her hand into his. It felt exactly right. “Did you see the ghost of the man who haunted you as children?”

“Not at first. We had to go back multiple times before he made an appearance. He was so much smaller and sadder than I remembered. When we were kids, he was frighteningly huge, but he was probably only in his early twenties when he died by suicide.” Connor took a deep breath. “He told us his girlfriend found him and that she’d whispered into his ear she was pregnant. Some part of his consciousness heard her. He was elated and then consumed with such regret that he was never able to move on.”

“Why did he show himself to you and Erikson when you were children?”

“I think it was more that we were able to see what others couldn’t, not that he specifically chose to show us. But once he realized we could see him, he began appearing more often. I think he thought we looked like the family he could’ve had.”

Holly squeezed his hand. “That’s heartbreaking.”

Connor nodded. It had been one of the saddest encounters he’d had. “His death was so long ago that his child is now dead, and we told him if he let go of his regret and moved on, he might be able to meet his child on the other side. I think he’s finally at peace, and a part of me is too. It doesn’t change how frightened we were as children or the strain it put on our parents, but we see it from another perspective now.”

Connor rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “All this time I’ve been trying to prove how normal I am to the world instead of embracing the fact that I’m different. Erikson told me that,” he muttered, “and the annoying bastard was right. I feel like that chapter of my life finally has closure. I’ve done what I set out to do. I’ve normalized ghosts to some extent, and I’ve faced my own. I’m ready to start a new chapter.”

“Writing,” Holly said.

“ You , Holly, if you’ll have me.” Connor searched her green-rimmed eyes for any inkling to how she would receive the news that he was desperately and hopelessly in love with her. “You’re my new chapter—and hopefully every chapter until the end of my story. I’m sorry I pressured you into the doing the show. I should’ve respected your caution. I want you to know that I have a friend at NZT, and Jeremy’s show was canceled as of ten minutes ago.”

Holly blinked up at him, but he couldn’t read her expression.

Connor bent and picked up a soft brown bag with a leather strap and held it out.

Holly slowly took the somewhat ugly purse. “What is this?”

Feeling a little stupid, Connor said, “It’s a hedgehog carrying case. That way you don’t have to worry about leaving your purse open so Prickles can breathe.”

When Holly lifted her eyes again, they were sparkling.

“What I’m trying to say,” Connor said, cupping her cheek, “is that I love you. I love you with every cell in my body, every thought in my brain, every pump of my heart. If you were a ghost, I’d want you to haunt me for the rest of my life. I love all of you, and I want to spend the rest of my days knowing exactly how much I’ve pissed you off by how hard it’s raining; I want to make love with you in every nook of the orchard; I want to be there to help ease the burden you carry.”

Holly threw her arms around his neck. “I love you too, Connor Grimm.”

Connor had no idea how he’d feel if or when she said those words, and he still didn’t. Words simply didn’t exist to describe how it felt to finally be whole. Connor was beginning to think the greeting card companies knew what they were talking about after all.

Holly tightened her arms around him. “I’m not the safest choice, Connor. We haven’t heard a peep from the Shadow Council, but I don’t believe they’ve forgotten us.”

He may not have kept in touch with Holly, but he’d kept a vigilant eye on town happenings while he’d been gone, alert for even the slightest hint of trouble. “You’re the only choice for me, Holly. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together. I don’t have paranormal powers, but I do have a mean right hook.”

Holly grinned up at him and dragged his mouth down to meet hers. He kissed her with all of the longing and love and tenderness that had built up during their months apart. When he finally lifted his head, he said, “The first thing I ever said to you was that you were just the woman I needed. I had no clue how true that was.”

Holly pretended to preen, and he laughed and kissed her again.

“This will make for a good story to tell our three daughters,” she said, looking at him from beneath her lashes. “One older girl and a set of twins.”

“Three daughters?” he repeated, a bit stunned at the thought.

“Three Wicked daughters.”

A houseful of Wicked women. It sounded … “Perfect,” he said.