Tap. Tap. Tap.
Peyton froze. She missed him so much that her heart had decided she would hear things. Shaking her head, she breathed out and began to relax in bed, looking over the newly designed hotel.
Tap. Tap.
Peyton held her breath as she turned to face her bedroom window.
Tap.
The final tap drew out the air from her lungs. Then suddenly, on her bedside table, her phone buzzed. Without taking her eyes off the window, she picked up her phone and answered it.
“Tell me it’s you outside my window,” she said into the speaker, reciting the words she had told him when she was seventeen.
There a long and slow silence that had her heart accelerating.
“It’s me, Pey. Go to the window,” Callum said, also repeating what he had said over four and a half years ago.
Peyton’s heart relaxed after two days of being twisted. She didn’t hang up as she pulled the covers off her and got out of bed. Then she quickly made her way to the curtains and pushed them back to see him on the other side with his phone to his ear.
“Thank God,” she breathed out before she threw her phone on the bed behind her and opened the window.
Callum put his phone in his pocket and looked up at her. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I can’t be without you, Peyton. I want to stay with you for as long as I can.”
Heavy tears flowed without care. Reaching out, she placed her hands on his cheeks and brought his lips to hers. Meeting, moulding, and mending.
“God, I’ve missed you,” she said against his mouth and between their kiss. When she drew back, she asked, “Are you really here right now?”
He nodded. “Yes. I knew I’d left behind my reason for living here in Daylesford. I couldn’t take it anymore.”
He hadn’t said that his stay would be forever, but she didn’t care. She should. But she didn’t. She wanted as much time as humanly possible with this man.
Peyton stroked his cheeks once. He felt real. His lips felt real. He was here with her again.
“Say it,” she said.
Callum broke into a beautiful and memorable smile. “I love you, Peyton. I can’t leave you again.”
Peyton kissed him full on the lips once before she said, “I love you, too, Callum. Now come to bed.”
She stepped away from the window and watched him climb through it as easily as he had done many times before. Once Callum had closed the window, she didn’t give him the chance to stand properly before she crashed her lips into his and her fingers were in his hair.
“I’ve missed you,” she mumbled over his lips as she made quick work of the thick jacket he was wearing.
Callum broke their kiss as he dropped the jacket on the floor and pulled his shirt over his head, letting it join his jacket. Callum’s naked chest was a sight that left her breathless. His tattoos made him more beautiful since she knew they were for her and about her. Callum stepped towards her when he stopped. The framed pictures of his words caught his attention.
“You kept your promise,” he pointed out as he slipped off his shoes. Then his hands were on her waist, pushing his body close to Peyton’s.
She grinned. “This is why Jenny wanted to save it?”
“She caught me writing it when I first gave you the frame. Guess she wanted you to see them. I’d meant it then the same way as I meant it a few days ago.”
She kissed him once before she took his hand in hers and led him to the bed. “Hold me tonight?” she asked.
It was his turn to kiss her once. “Until my very last breath,” he promised.
Her heart ached at those five words, but his mouth on hers had her forgetting the ache and feeling relieved to have him in her arms again. The life and fire in her had returned the moment he had.
Almost a week after Callum had returned to her, Peyton stood outside the remains of her hotel. On Monday, they would start the rebuild. Today was June’s rehearsal album release party. After a day of setting up the stage and making sure the wiring and electricity were working, they were ready. Those in the town were welcome to stop by to see June. Peyton didn’t hate the town or the people. She wanted to be happy with her life and held no grudge on those who had played their part in the demise of The Spencer-Dayle.