“And I don’t just mean today. I mean the whole trip so far. Being with you, well, it’s …” He trailed off, then glanced at me and returned his eyes to the road. I knew he had something important to say, so I kept silent, not wanting him to feel pressured to say it.

I was right. After a few moments, he sighed heavily. “Sarah, what I want to say is that I absolutely love being with you.” My breath hitched on the L-word, but I said nothing. “Thank you again for coming all this way. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you did that.”

I squeaked out a feeble reply, on the verge of being overcome with emotion. I understood exactly what Josh was saying. We’d had a few awkward moments at the beginning, but mostly we were the same “Josh and Sarah” we’d been in Greece. How we were together—that affinity—was what made me love being with him.

Of course, I’d also come to Hawaii to see if what we had in Greece was real or just a holiday fling—to see if we could be something more. I hoped Josh was there for the same reason. Sitting next to him in the car, having just shared an incredible experience, I wondered if he’d come to some sort of conclusion.

“The other thing is that being with you makes me question what the hell I’m doing with my life.” I wasn’t sure how to take that. Was that good or bad? Was this conversation going to end up like the time I’d told Neil about getting promoted and he’d accused me of shoving my success in his face? I hoped not.

“You’re so in your life. You’re doing all the things you said you would do when we were in Greece. You’re going after your bigger life. And I’m stuck. Other than planning this trip and coming here—and you have to know that this is huge for me, and I’m so glad I came—but other than Hawaii, I’ve been stagnating. Being here with you …”

I was holding my breath, and even when I realised that, I didn’t let it out. Sometimes you really do wait for something with bated breath.

“… It reminds me of what I want. And that I need to make it happen. You inspire me, Sarah. You make me want to be better. I’m so glad you’re in my life.”

So, Josh was not only glad to be there with me, I wasn’t his big fear. I wasn’t what was holding him in place. I let out the breath—probably a little more forcefully than I realised, because Josh shot me a quick look. “You okay?” he asked.

Am I?

A flurry of thoughts and emotions competed for my attention. Tears prickled my eyes, and my nails made tiny crescents in my palm. It wasn’t exactly “I love you”, but I hadn’t expected that from Josh. What he had said was that I was important to him, that he was happy being there with me, and he was glad I was in his life. Those were all good things. After a moment, I nodded, then realised he was watching the road and not me. “Yeah, I’m okay,” I said.