Chapter 21: Kate Lands

Kate's POV

I had flown eleven hours to stand at the back of a church, and then I had not known what to do with my hands.

Miles crossed the whole aisle to reach me.

He did not say anything in front of three hundred people. He took my bag off my shoulder and held my hand.

That was the whole greeting.

It was enough to make me cry in a church, which I had not done since I was nine.

The reception was in a hall with folding tables, and his sister put a plate of chicken in front of me and told me I was too thin.

His father shook my hand with both of his.

Trevor kissed my cheek and whispered, "He's insufferable when he's happy. Good luck."

By eight we were in a hotel across the highway, in a room with a gray carpet and a window over a parking lot.

I stood in the middle of it with my shoes in my hand.

Miles shut the door.

"You came a long way for a wedding that wasn't yours," he said.

"I didn't come for the wedding."

"I know."

He stood with his back against the door.

I knew what I was going to say, and I hated it, so I said it anyway.

"Your brother needs you here for months. Your sister. Your father has nobody now. I understand if the place you're needed is Ohio."

"Kate."

"I'm not asking you to choose me. I want you to know I'd understand."

He pushed off the door and crossed the room.

"I bought a return ticket on Thursday," he said. "Columbus to Lisbon. It's for Wednesday. It's in my email, and I'll show you."

"I don't need to see it."

"Then what do you need?"

I put my shoes on the carpet.

"Tell me why," I said.

"Because every morning I wake up and the first thing I think is that I'd like to tell you something. And it isn't about them."

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