Caleb stood and walked over to the bed. He sat next to me. “You know, Emma, when I first met your sister, she was struggling with many of the same thoughts and feelings you are. You’re both very lucky to have each other now. Because a shared experience is always easier than going through it alone. No matter where Teagan is, you’ll never have to feel alone again.”

  Emma smiled shyly. “I’m so happy she found me.”

  “Actually...” I corrected. “Caleb found you.”

  Her eyes widened as she turned to him. “You did?”

  “Yes.” He glanced over at me and grinned.

  “How?”

  “The magical Internet, lovely. I’m so happy it worked out.”

  “Thank you, Caleb, for finding me.”

  He looked a bit choked up. “Of course.”

  I took his hand. “You’re really lucky to have a good daddy, too, Emma. Just like I did. We’re both lucky.”

  “What’s your dad’s name?” she asked.

  “Lorne.”

  “That’s a funny name. So is Teagan a little, although I like it.”

  “Well, Emma is a beautiful name.”

  I looked at Caleb.

  “My sister’s name was Emma,” he told her. “She passed when we were little.”

  “Really? That’s so sad.”

  “Yeah. I miss her very much.” He took a deep breath and said, “You and your sister are so lucky to have each other.”

  “I can be your new sister Emma, if you want.”

  My heart melted, and Caleb smiled from ear to ear. “I would love that.” He looked at me. “The three of us can be like a family. Your dad included, of course.”

  “You’re not like a family. You are my family,” she said, reaching out her hand to me.

  I held on to her for a long time. “You know what else, Emma? Someday you’ll meet someone, like I did with Caleb, and the fact that our mom wasn’t around will mean even less. Because that person will love you enough to make up for it all. In the meantime, you will have us to make up for it, okay? No more going through this alone. We’re a team now.”

  “Do you like s’mores?” Caleb asked.

  Emma crinkled her nose. “What are s’mores?”

  “Oh, I forgot—you’re English like me,” he said with a laugh.

  “S’mores are an amazing treat,” I explained. “People light a fire outside and make them.”

  Caleb never wasted an opportunity. “Why don’t I go to the store and buy the stuff to make them right now? I’ll check with your dad first to see if he’ll allow us to light a fire.”

  And so, that evening we introduced my little sister to s’mores. It was the start of what I knew would become a family tradition, and the start of an entirely new future I never could have anticipated.

  TEAGAN

  I was nearing the halfway point of my stay in England. Now that summer was over, the reality that my days here were numbered had started to creep in. The beginning of the fall semester meant Caleb’s schedule of classes was heavier, so he was around less. That only gave me more time alone to worry about the future.

  Caleb had to stay in the UK to finish school, but I had a couple of choices to make. I could go back to the US and finish my last year of school there, or I could figure out a way to come back here sooner. Either way, the consensus seemed to be that I would be returning to the States, at least for a while, after this trip ended. Unfortunately, although I did miss my parents and Shelley, this was not at all what I wanted.

  I loved spending time with Emma, and even the job at the flower shop was starting to grow on me. Arranging bouquets had a meditative effect I hadn’t been anticipating. I was going to miss it.

  But most of all, I was deeply in love with Caleb and couldn’t imagine having to separate from him. I felt at home here with him and Poppy. His mother had become one of my favorite people. Caleb would often need to study, so his mother and I would sit in the kitchen and talk or venture out shopping together. She’d taught me how to cook a few things Caleb loved. As much as I hated being away from my own family, Caleb and Poppy had become my family, too. The thought of leaving them—and especially now Emma—had me panicked.

  But Caleb and I were handling the unknowns of my impending departure much like we’d handled things for a time before he left the US. We were having lots of sex and not talking about anything upsetting, as if the inevitable weren’t looming. While that helped us to enjoy each moment, it didn’t prepare us for the heartbreak of another separation.

  One day, Caleb surprised me with a trip to Nottingham, a place he’d always said he wanted to show me before I left.

  We spent the day walking around Nottingham Castle and the big cathedral. We also visited City of Caves, a historical underworld of sorts beneath the city.

  Then Caleb pulled up in front of Bo Cheng’s, the restaurant he’d called me about last Christmas, the one that had signaled him to finally reach out to me again.

  “I totally forgot about this place,” I said as we exited the car to head in for a late lunch.

  “We couldn’t come to Nottingham without noshing at Bo Cheng’s, love.”

  Caleb and I went inside and enjoyed the most deliciously decadent Chinese food I’d eaten in a long time.

  As we were paying the bill, he announced, “I have a surprise for you.”

  I perked up. “What?”

  He reached across the table for my hands. “We’re not going home tonight.”

  “We’re not?”

  “I booked us an evening at a local cottage. I got a good deal.”

  “Oh my God. Really?” We’d be alone at night for the first time since my arrival. “We can screw as loudly as we want!”

  He wriggled his brows. “Damn right.”

  We arrived at the cottage twenty minutes later. It was just a short distance from the city center and totally exceeded my expectations. The small, Victorian structure had an old-world charm on the outside and featured a lovely courtyard out back, but it was more modern on the inside. The living room was bright and inviting with yellow walls and cozy furniture.

  Caleb wasted no time starting a fire in the fireplace, and the house was soon warm and intimate. It felt like a dream to stay in this oasis with him overnight. Aside from our night at that hotel in Boston, we’d never been totally alone.

  We planted ourselves on the ground in front of the flames.

  Resting my head against Caleb’s chest, I let out the thoughts that had been on my mind all day. “I’m so scared to leave you.”

  I turned around to gauge his reaction.

  He looked really…tense, like something was on his mind.

  It took almost a full minute for him to respond. “I…think we should get married.”

  “What?”

  “I think we should get married—soon. Then we can start the paperwork to switch your status over to a spousal visa. It’s the only way to guarantee that it will be easy for us.” He wrapped his legs around me as he looked into my eyes. “But here’s the thing, I would want to marry you even if the distance weren’t separating us. Because there’s no one else I’d rather spend my life with. You’re everything to me. I don’t want to lose you because of stupid rules and regulations. Life is too short. Be with me. Marry me, Teagan.”

  My heart pounded so hard. He had no clue that I’d prayed he would come to this conclusion. In my head, it seemed like an extreme possibility. But in my heart, I knew it was the only way we stood a chance at being together without complications. I just never thought he’d go for it so soon. But there was no part of me that didn’t feel ready to commit to him.

  “I will absolutely marry you.”

  He beamed. “Yeah?”

  “I can tell you were nervous to ask me, but I’ve been hoping you would.”

  He slipped his hand into his back pocket and took out a ring box. His proposal had seemed so impulsive, but apparently he’d planned this.

  “I was afraid to take this out. I felt like I needed to feel you out first, to confirm you didn’t think my suggestion was too crazy. But now that I know we’re on the same page, this is me getting down on one knee.”

  Technically, since we were lying on the ground, he stood up on one knee. I sat up and placed my hand over my heart.

  “Teagan, you’ve made my life brighter from the moment you yelled at me through your keyboard. And it’s only been better from there. You’re the best friend and lover anyone could ask for.” He opened the box and looked down at the sparkly round diamond set in a gold band. “This ring was my nan’s. She gave it to my mother some years ago and asked her to give it to me only when Mum was certain I’d found the one. My mother didn’t hesitate to hand this over when she realized how worried I was about you leaving England. She helped me come to the conclusion that I should take the risk of asking you to marry me, that the worst that could happen was you’d say no.” He looked up at me. “Teagan, my love, once again, will you be my wife?”

  “Yes!”

  We fell into a long kiss, rolling around on the carpet in bliss.

  “When is this happening?” I asked.

  “The sooner the better. We can book an appointment at the Home Office tomorrow to see what we need to do. If all goes well, we can get everything sorted before your six months is up.”

  Hope filled me. “And then I’ll never have to leave?”

  “That’s the idea.”

  My mind began to whirl. “We have a little wedding to plan!”

  “It’ll be fun. Emma can be your flower girl—bridesmaid, whatever. We’ll keep it small. Someday we’ll have a real one in Boston with all of your family and friends. Maybe fly Mum over, too.”

  My heart leaped for joy. “That sounds like a plan. I don’t need a big wedding. I’d rather use the money for our future house, wherever that may be. And I kind of want it to be here. I want to be here for Emma—living here.”

  Caleb smiled wide. “That makes me incredibly happy. You know I don’t want to leave my mother. But I want to make something very clear. If you don’t want to stay here forever, you come first. I would go absolutely anywhere you wanted me to because I can’t live without you.”

  The following morning over breakfast and tea in the adorable cottage kitchen, Caleb got a bright idea.

  “I wonder if I could call Bo Cheng.”

  I chuckled. “Why would you want to do that?”

  “I want to thank him. If he hadn’t given up his room in your house, I wouldn’t be blissfully happy right now. God knows where I would be without you, Teagan.” Caleb hugged me and kissed behind my ear. “Do you still have access to the student directory at Northern?”

  “Yeah, since my attendance is on hold, I’m still considered active.”

  I logged into the student portal from my phone and searched for Bo Cheng’s name. It came right up, and I recited the number for Caleb as he entered it into his phone. He put the call on speaker.

  Someone answered. “Hello?”

  “Bo?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Bo Cheng?”

  “Yes.” He sounded like we’d maybe woken him up from a nap.

  “You don’t know me. My name is Caleb Yates, but I owe you a huge thank you for…well, for your allergies.”

  Covering my mouth, I cracked up as he continued.

  “If you hadn’t been greatly allergic to Catlin Jenner, I would’ve never met my girl, Teagan. We wouldn’t be in England right now planning a future together. She wouldn’t have found her long-lost sister, and I might never have tasted s’mores or Hot Cheetos in my life. You, Bo Cheng, and your allergies are magical, my friend. You’ve changed our world.”

  The next thing we heard was…a click.

  My mouth dropped. “Did Bo Cheng just fucking hang up on us?”

  Caleb snorted. “It seems he did.”

  CALEB

  The Carrolls gathered around the computer screen while Shelley spoke to Emma on Skype.

  “I’m trying to get my parents to come to England next summer. Then we can finally meet!”

  Maura leaned over her shoulder and chimed in. “It’s not definite yet. But it’s very likely, sweetie. We can’t wait to meet you.”

  Emma jumped up and down in her seat. “Yay! I’m so excited!”

  Stuart peeked out from behind Emma in the background. “Would love to see you all here.”

  Not only had my wife’s little sister gained an older sibling, it seemed the entire Carroll family had accepted Emma as one of their own. They’d often Skype with her, even when they weren’t Skyping with us. And Emma seemed overjoyed to have an adopted American family.

  Emma also spent quite a bit of time at home with us in Stratford whenever Stuart had plans. My mother had really taken to her. Given that she had my sister’s name, I knew spending time with Emma was also healing for Mum. It was all very cosmic. I’d always known Teagan and I were meant to be together, but finding Emma made it seem so much bigger than that—bigger than us—like all of this was meant to happen in exactly the way it had.

  Teagan and I were in the midst of our first visit back to Boston together since getting married almost a year ago. A couple of weeks after our engagement at the cottage in Nottingham, Teagan and I had a small civil ceremony with just my mother, Stuart, and Emma in attendance. Teagan wore a single flower in her long, flowing hair and a simple white dress. I’d borrowed a suit from my uncle, which happened to fit. It wasn’t the fanciest of affairs, but it hadn’t needed to be. Stuart had connected the Carrolls in live via his computer so they could watch the entire thing from the US.

  We’d spent the weeks after the wedding dealing with the paperwork that would allow Teagan to stay in the UK as my wife. Between finding Emma and getting married, the past year had been a whirlwind in the best possible way.

  Things were better than ever, but certainly not perfect. My relationship with my father remained estranged, although when I’d brought Teagan to meet him at my uncle’s house after we were married, he’d been at least cordial to her. Mum had remained strong and hadn’t taken my father back. It seemed for the time being his drinking was under control, but without living under the same roof with him, we couldn’t be completely sure.

  I’d been doing well since my days in rehab, but I recognized my need to continue therapy. So I’d gone back to seeing someone every other week. In fact, having that consistent outlet and seeing all of the good that was possible because of it helped me decide on a career. I’d changed my major to psychology and hoped to become a counselor myself.

  Teagan would finally be starting her last year of school once we returned to England. Her plan was to continue working at the flower shop while she finished off her marine biology degree at my university. Even though she helped Mum a bit with the rent, she hadn’t had to spend all of the money from the ring Maura gave her, so she’d put the remainder of it in the bank to use toward school. Hopefully, after graduation she’d find a suitable job reasonably close to home. Yes, we still lived with my mother, but we were saving up for our own place. As Teagan had originally proposed, we’d opted to forego the big wedding in Boston in order to use that money toward our future house. We were thinking of possibly settling closer to Brighton, near Emma and Stuart. So many decisions to make, but we’d be making them together.

  As nice as it was to be back in the Carrolls’ house in Brookline, we got so much attention here that I missed my alone time with Teagan. Her family had missed her so much, they wanted to spend every waking minute with us. Back home, my mother kept her distance, even in our small house.

  After we hung up from the family Skype call with Emma, Maura announced, “Dinner’s in ten, guys.”

  I whispered in Teagan’s ear, “We actually have ten minutes alone? Let’s escape.” Pulling her by the hand, I led her down to the basement, where we’d been sleeping.

  “Ten minutes isn’t that much time,” she said.

  “I assure you, ten minutes is all I’ll need.” I winked. “Maybe five.”

  Anytime Teagan and I were alone together downstairs, it made me feel nostalgic. Our lives had changed so much since the days we used to study in this room together. If you’d asked me then if I ever believed Teagan would be living in England with me, I would’ve thought you were crazy. But if you’d asked me whether I thought we would end up together someday, somehow the answer would have been yes. I hadn’t known how that was going to happen, but when I left Boston, I knew in my heart it wasn’t the end.

  And I was about to prove that to her.

  “If I told you I always knew we’d end up together, would you believe me?”

  “You mean from the time you met me?” Teagan brushed her hand along the hairs on my arm as we lay across from each other on the bed.

  “Not quite that long. But when I left Boston to head home, I knew we’d be together again. At the time, I just didn’t know how to make it happen.”

  She laced her fingers with mine and stared down at our wedding rings. “I don’t think I had as much faith as you did. But I was definitely in love with you when you left, and that wasn’t going to change.”

  “You said you found the letter I left you in the makeup drawer. I assume you never found the other one.”

  Her eyes went wide. “There was another one?”

  “Yes. But you weren’t meant to find it.”

  I stood and walked over to the corner of the room. I moved the carpet and lifted one of the floorboards. There it was—the letter I’d hidden the day before I left Boston. Teagan had been showering when I’d snuck the letter into its hiding place, but I’d spent the previous week scouring the room for a secret spot. When I happened upon the loose board, I figured it was my best bet.

  I waved the envelope in the air.

  “Oh my God. That’s been there the entire time? Under the floor?”

  “Yep. Guess I picked a good place for it, eh?”

  She hopped up and ran over to me. “What does it say?”

  I opened the envelope and unfolded the paper before reading her what I’d written.