Sometimes, Forever (Sometimes Moments #2) (20 page)

No matter what life we live after this one, I will love you in every life we live until the end of time. I will find you again, Peyton. I will find you and I will love you, and it will be right for us. You are the most important person in my universe. You were everything in existence that made sense. You made me love so much that it terrified me to stay when I found out I was sick.

I never want you to be lonely, Peyton. Find him. He’s out there waiting for you. He will love you the way I couldn’t. He will love you until forever. Unlike me, he is capable of doing so. Find happiness, Peyton. Never be lonely. I will be watching over you. I will make sure you find him and happiness. I want you to have a life that gives you everything. Have kids. Have forever moments. Have a lifetime of memories. Love someone more than you loved me. Love him because he will love you through the pain I caused you. He will heal your heart and make you better. Introduce him to your mother’s French toast and make him fall in love with them.

I was your first love, Peyton. But I am not your last.

Your heart will heal and your belief in love will mend.

You will be stronger and you will live a life without regrets.

You are the most beautiful and awe-inspiring woman, who deserves to have the universe at her feet. I’ve left you a box of all of our sometimes moments. I know some people give the love of their life diamonds or jewellery, but they don’t mean as much as the Polaroids that proved our love. I’ve also left you my camera to take Polaroids of your forever moments. I want you to take a countless amount of pictures.

Peyton Olivia Spencer, our sometimes moments were my forever moments. We didn’t have an end; we just had a goodbye until I see you again.

You were the cherry blossom of my life, the bright light that made me great.

But it’s time it was said:

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Thank you for your love and for letting me fall in love with you. It has been a privilege.

It was never just a kiss.

You have my heart forever,

Callum

Tears now blurred his vision. Callum Reid had let her go in this letter. He had said goodbye and told her to find someone to love her. Fate had chosen him. Peyton had chosen him. Someone loved his girlfriend just as much as he did. If it hadn’t been for Callum, he’d never have Peyton. Instead of feeling jealous, Cooper felt grateful towards him. He now understood why it was so hard for her to let go. Callum Reid loved her. Completely and utterly loved her. Loved her in ways that Cooper understood. Because he, too, loved Peyton.

Fiancé, husband, and father.

That was what Callum had wanted her to have. He wiped his cheeks and began to fold the letter. Then he swallowed hard.

“I promise I’ll be all those things for her, Callum. And when I do, I’ll write you,” he whispered. Then he slipped the envelope and letter back in his girlfriend’s handbag and picked it up.

When he got out of the car, he closed the door and watched as Peyton spun around. She must have seen that he was moved by Callum’s letter to her and to Cooper because she met him halfway. Cooper had grasped her shoulder for a long second before he tugged her into his arms and held her tight.

“Thank you for showing me this letter,” he said into her hair.

She squeezed her arms around him. “I think he intended for you to read it.”

“I love you, Peyton.”

“I love you, too, Cooper.” She pulled back to face him and he saw her love in her eyes. “You ready to meet him?”

Cooper nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Peyton clutched his hand as she took her bag with her free hand and slung it onto her shoulder. Then she led him into the cemetery. It had taken them almost ten minutes to walk through the large and old cemetery to find the right section.

Then Peyton had stopped her steps and Cooper took in the name on the plaque.

In loving memory of

Callum Reid.

“Hi, Callum,” Peyton greeted. “It’s been a long time since I last visited. The last time was after your funeral. I promised I’d return with someone I loved by my side. And well, I found him … Well, he found me. Sorry, it took us a little while to visit. Callum Reid, I’d like you to meet Cooper Hepburn, the man I’ll marry someday.”

The man I’ll marry someday.

Tears filled his eyes. Hearing it sounded so much more fulfilling than thinking it.

“I love him, Callum,” she said, and he could hear the love and sadness in her voice. “And I know you’d be proud of all the things I’ve achieved, and all the things that Cooper and I have accomplished together. I love you, Callum Reid, and don’t you dare think for a minute that I will ever forget you. I’m here because of you.”

They had stood by his grave for almost ten minutes before Peyton said that they should go. He had told her that he needed a few seconds, and she had begun to make her way back to the car.

Cooper bent down and stared at the plaque. Then he let out a slow exhale. “I’ll take care of her, Callum. I promise I will love her. I promise never to let her forget you. I promise I’ll make her happy. I promise to let her live a life that would make you and her parents proud. Thank you for her.”

“Coop, I’m starving. Do you want to eat at the hotel or cook something?” Peyton asked from the passenger side.

She had convinced him to drive by saying that she didn’t have the patience for the city traffic. But it wouldn’t have taken her much. All she had to do was ask and he’d deliver.

Little did she know that he had a small celebration dinner with their loved ones who lived in Daylesford back at the hotel. He had Jenny keep him updated on the progress of transforming the sitting room into their engagement party. By how quickly they had set up, Cooper didn’t need to do any detours or
accidental
wrong turns.

“We could eat at the hotel,” Cooper said, knowing that would be her more favoured option. She still disliked cooking after she had burnt a roast chicken she had spent an entire morning preparing on the day she had met his family.

The upcoming ‘Welcome to Daylesford’ sign caught his attention, and Cooper began to slow down. It was at that moment he decided to propose once more. When he had first arrived at Daylesford, he had parked his car to the side of the road and taken in the sign, knowing that his life was about to change.

He felt as if his circumstance was the same as last time.

He was about to start his new job at the hotel.

But this time, he had the love of his life by his side.

And he was about to make her his fiancée.

Cooper indicated left and pulled over. Then he parked the car and turned to see Peyton staring out the windshield.

“Coop?”

He said nothing as he opened the door and then went to the front of the car. Peyton followed. He couldn’t help but smile at the confused expression on her face as she stood in front of him. Cooper took out the ring box from his pocket and opened it. Peyton let out a laugh as he returned to one knee.

“Peyton, I love you,” he declared as if it were the first time he was saying it to her. Then he took the ring from the box and set the box on the bonnet. He hovered the engagement ring over her finger and peeked up at her. “Make me your forever by marrying me. Marry me, Peyton Olivia Spencer, and make the goddamn happiest man on Earth.”

She laughed as her eyes glazed over. “You were my forever the day I met you, Cooper Hepburn. My answer at the hotel was yes. My answer on the side of the highway is still and always will be yes.”

Yes.

The two most perfect yeses he had ever heard.

Cooper slipped the ring on her finger and decided to add this day to the list in the black notebook of his favourite days of the year.

But unlike all the other days he had written on the lines of the book, this day had been one of his favourites of his entire life.

… and I didn’t want that to ever happen again.

“M
y, my,” Margot said as she entered the cabin Cooper had used as his groom’s retreat.

It had been Jenny’s idea to use one of the brand new cabins to get ready. In the two years since he began working at the Spencer-Reid, a lot had changed. With the help of Mayor Woodside, Mads’ father, Cooper and his fiancée were able to secure some council land to expand their hotel. That wasn’t the only thing that was expanding; their home was extending from the kitchen and bedrooms. The architect they first hired had suggested the removal of the cherry blossom tree, and Peyton had fired him instantly. Cooper was impressed, proud of his confident fiancée.

His life with Peyton was perfect. He had wanted to marry her right away. But with the changes at the hotel, their plans to get hitched were put on hold. At first, he had been frustrated, but he had learnt to be patient. Then one day, she had said, ‘We should get married, Coop, like actually married.’ And that day had finally come. Many days had led up to their wedding. Anniversaries that still made her cry and smile. Traditions were upheld and new ones were made.

One day, Cooper had come home from picking up some items for a wedding to find her eating a cupcake, crying. It was Callum Reid’s birthday. When he asked if she was okay, she had told him that she had tried to reach out to Mrs Reid and that she had changed her number. When Cooper had gotten a hold of Callum’s best friend, Oliver, he had assured him that the Reids were okay and that they were vacationing in Venice. Cooper had discovered that after a family holiday in the Italian city when Callum was twelve, he had been inspired by the beautiful city to hope that someday someone loved his designs the way he loved European architecture.

And people had.

The Spencer-Reid continuously awed people.

After Cooper had gotten off the phone with Oliver, he had told Peyton that the Reids would call when they returned. She had burst into tears as the relief consumed her face. She had thanked him for helping her and that kiss she had given him made it into the notebook. Just last week, after he had taken a Polaroid of her standing by the lake and then written about how beautiful she looked at that moment, she had asked what the purpose of the notebook was. All he had said was that the blank lines were waiting for him to write all her moments in. Someday, when it was filled, he’d read them to their children and they would learn that he had loved their mother every day of his life. Peyton had stared at him and that love swirling in her blue eyes had him wrapping his arms around her and whispering just how much he loved her.

“You actually scrub up all right,” Margot said, snapping him out of his daydream.

Cooper glanced down at his grey suit and tie combination. He caught sight of the vibrant pink cherry blossom and lavender pinned to his suit. It had been his idea to combine the two flowers. It was a way to have a part of Callum with them. Inside the lining of his jacket was Peyton’s present. It was one of her wedding gifts. She had promised a few surprises throughout their wedding. She had pinned a locket with the destination of their honeymoon in the inside of his jacket. She had instructed him not to open it until he met her by the divider at the door that led out to the cliff that overlooked the lake. He had wanted to peek several times. But he knew she had put in so much effort into her surprises that he couldn’t ruin them for her.