A Brand New Ending (Page 71)

She closed her eyes and steeped herself in the memory of that night. Lying naked in Kyle’s arms, wrapped tight in his delicious body heat. The trickle of moonlight seeping through the curtains. The crackle and pop of firewood as shadows danced over the walls. The sound of her voice as she sang to the man she loved, offering her heart for the second time in all its fragility and beauty.

Her eyes stung with silent tears, so she blinked and refocused on the crowd.

And saw him.

He stood in the back of the room. Dressed in black pants and a matching jacket, his snowy white shirt opened at the neck, his burnished hair falling over his brow. That gaze burned from across endless tables, encouraging her, supporting her, loving her.

Claiming her.

The final words uncurled from her tongue and shimmered in the room, slowly fading to nothingness.

She stood up, gave the audience a thank you, and began moving toward him.

Applause thundered. She moved past each table with a single purpose, weaving her way through the crowd until she reached him.

The world around them faded away.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

He closed the distance between them. Smiled. Her heart stopped, sputtered, and relaunched at top speed at his masculine beauty.

“I got everything I ever wanted, so I came here to tell you.”

She choked back her sorrow even as pride filled her at his success.

He’d come back to tell her he needed to stay in Hollywood. He’d come back for a proper goodbye.

This time, tears filled her eyes unchecked. “You look so happy,” she whispered. “I’m glad your work gives you that type of feeling.”

“It has nothing to do with my work.”

She tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“It’s you. This. Us.” He ran a finger down her cheek with sweet tenderness. “It’s everything,” he said simply.

She began to tremble, the truth unfolding before her. He lowered his head, his mouth inches from hers. “Truth or dare?”

Emotion tightened her throat. “Truth.”

“Do you love me enough to forgive me for the past and my mistakes? To build a brand new ending? Because I’ve outgrown my old life, baby. I’m done with Hollywood, and writing screenplays, and living with my heart half-dead. I want to come home and be with you. I want my wife.”

“And I want you,” she whispered.

“Then there’s one thing left to do.” Slowly, he removed a small robin’s egg–blue box from his pocket.

Her heart stopped, blasted forward, and stuttered. He snapped the lid open, and a thousand prisms of light danced before her. She sucked in her breath as she stared at the gorgeous ring—a ring he’d promised over and over to buy her one day, even though she’d said she never needed it.

He dropped to one knee.

She heard gasps of breath and endless chatter, but her world narrowed to only the man she loved and the ring he held out to her. His smile was joyous and full of pure love.

“I told you these past few months that I would always choose you. But I never asked the most important question of all. Will you choose me, Ophelia Bishop? To be your husband? Your lover, protector, supporter, and best friend? Will you stand before our family and friends and renew our vows?”

The word spilled from her lips in a gasp of breath. “Yes.”

He slid the ring over her finger, and she reached out. Suddenly, he was kissing her. A large cheer rose up around them, and she laughed, clinging to him.

Ethan and Mia and Harper cut in, giving them hugs and congratulations and welcoming him back. Finally, their relationship blossomed in the light, among family and friends, and among dreams both shattered and reborn.

And everything was perfect.

Epilogue

Five Weeks Later

“Is this Kyle Kimpton?”

He juggled the phone as he moved around the room, searching for his favorite black T-shirt.

Damn, he was already running late.

He had picked up the call automatically. “Yes. Listen, I don’t have time for a telemarketer right now. Sorry.”

A low, husky female laugh spilled into his ear. “I’m not a salesperson. This is Presley Cabot from LWW Enterprises. I’m calling about the manuscript I was sent, A Brand New Ending.”

Since he’d passed on the whole screenplay with Ball, he’d taken some time to decide what he really wanted to do next with his career. LWW Enterprises was a huge media conglomerate with branches all over the United States. They had a stellar film and book division, but he didn’t have any contacts there. He frowned.

“I don’t remember sending you my book. How did you get it?”

“Robert Cavanaugh forwarded it to me. Said it was worth a look.”

He finally found the shirt in the back of the top drawer and pulled it out, trying to ignore his rapidly beating heart.

Robbie had sent it over?

His agent hadn’t contacted him since the walkout, and Kyle figured he’d have to find new representation.

“I’m not sure where you are with the book yet, but I’m very interested in acquiring it. Simply put, it’s brilliant. I couldn’t put it down.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and tried to keep it together. “Thank you. I’m sorry—are you interested in buying it for the screen, or as a book?”

“Robbie sent me both formats, and I think this was made to be a novel—not a movie. I’m looking for a fresh voice to launch our beach reading line, so there’d be a ton of marketing behind you. I have very good instincts, and right now, I sense this will be a huge seller.”

He rubbed his head, trying not to let out a shout of victory. Yes. His own instincts kept reverting back to the novel, too, where he could develop the emotion and characters as he wanted—not be tied to the vision of a director.

He tried to remind himself to play it cool and not jump on the offer because he was desperate.

God knows, he’d finally learned his lesson about protecting the work.

“What did you think of the story?” he asked. “Do you see any big editorial changes at this point?”

The sound of papers being shuffled echoed over the phone. “It’s tight, well written, and grounds the reader immediately into the world. The only problem I had with the book was the ending.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It doesn’t fit. The heroine comes back to the hero, but there was no real growth arc for either of them that way. It was too easy—especially for him. I think it would work better to have the hero leave Hollywood for the love of his life. It’s bigger stakes, and a bigger payoff. Does that make sense?”

Immediately, he knew Presley was right. That was what had been bugging him about the book. He’d been so insistent on making things right, he’d forgotten the story wasn’t about the heroine returning to have everything magically happy again. It was the hero who had to make the leap, and it was the ending he and Ophelia had finally achieved.

No one had truly seen the bigger vision of the story until Presley Cabot—which told him she might be the perfect person to handle his book.

“I agree,” he said. “I’d love to meet to discuss it further.”

“Wonderful. I’m in New York—in a town called Port Hudson. It’s close to Manhattan.”

“That’s not far from me—I’m in the Hudson Valley.”

“Does next week work? I can have my assistant send you an email to arrange a meeting.”