Page 198 - It Ends with Us

He smiles and no ds hi s hea d. “She’s so ex cited , Lily. I’ve been

thi nk ing about get ting an apartment here for a whi le no w. After we
dec ided to stay in Boston for good, I just went ahea d with it to
surprise you. She hel ped , but I was starting to worr y she’d tel l you
bef ore I ha d the cha nc e. ”
I just can’t wrap my hea d around thi s. I live here? Me and Allysa get
to be nei ghb ors no w? I don’t kno w why I feel like thi s sho uld bother

me, bec ause I rea lly am ex cited about it.
He smiles and then says, “I kno w you need a minu te to proces s
ev er ythi ng , but you ha ven’t seen the bes t part and it’s killing me. ”
“Sho w me! ”
He grins and pulls me to my feet . We make our way thro ugh the
living roo m and down a ha llway. He opens ea ch door and tel ls me
wha t the rooms are, but does n’t ev en give me time to go in any of

them. By the time we make it to the master bed room, I’ve conc luded
tha t we live in a three- bed room, two-bath apartment . Wi th an offic e.
I don’t ev en ha ve time to proces s the bea uty of the bed room as he
pulls me across the room. He rea ches a wall covered by a curtain and
he turns and faces me. “It’s not a ground tha t you can plant a garden
in, but with a few pots, it can come close. ” He pulls the curtain aside

and opens a door, rev ea ling a hu ge balcony. I follow hi m outside,
alrea dy daydrea ming about all the potted plant s I could fit up here.
“It overl ooks the same view as the rooftop dec k,” he says. “We’l l
always ha ve the same view we ha d from the ni ght we met .”
It took a whi le to sink in, but it all hi ts me in thi s moment and I just
start crying . R yle pulls me to hi s ches t and wraps hi s arms tight ly
around me. “Lily,” he whi spers , runni ng hi s ha nd over my ha ir. “I

didn’t mea n to make you cry.”
I laugh bet ween my tea rs. “I just can’t bel iev e I live here .” I pull
away from hi s ches t and look up at hi m. “Are we rich? How can you
afford thi s?”
He laughs . “You marri ed a neu rosurgeo n, Lily. You aren’ t
nec es sarily strapped for cash. ”

His comment makes me laugh and then I cry some more. And
then we ha ve our ver y firs t visitor bec ause someo ne beg ins pound ing
on the door.
“Allysa,” he says. “She’s been waiting down the ha ll.”