“For you,” Cat added. “I did this for you.”

He moved behind the desk, trailing a palm over the silk smooth surface before sinking down into the leather chair. “This is too much.”

“This was supposed to be a goodbye present,” Cat said, swallowing hard.

She saw the pain, the sharp edge of it in his eyes and pressed on.

“After we started… getting to know each other,” she shook her head and tried to clear the emotion from her throat. “I just. You’re the best person I know. You work hard, you try hard. You want to fix everything and protect everyone. You could have gone a hundred different directions because of your father. But you became this quiet, steady hero, and I just wanted you to have something really, really great before I packed up and left town.”

“Before you moved on,” he added quietly. He fidgeted with a pen she’d left on the desk blotter.

She nodded. “Yeah. But somewhere along the line, this stopped being a goodbye present. It became a present present.”

“A present present?”

“Shut up, Noah. I’m not good at this, and if you keep interrupting me it’s going to come out so much worse.”

He held up his hands.

Cat cleared her throat again. The clock tower chimed midnight, and they listened to every bong of the bell. It rang clear and sweet. And on the twelfth strike, Cat could hear the distant notes of “For Old Acquaintance.”

“What I’m choking on here is that I love you, and I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want you to get attached, get hurt. The network offered me a new show if I move the school to L.A.”

Noah’s shoulders sagged. “I know. Gannon told me.”

Cat held up her hand. “You know how badly I want that school.”

He nodded.

“So you can imagine how much I must love you because I turned them down this morning. If I have to choose between you and my school, it’s going to be you. I’ll figure something out eventually. But I’m not walking away from you, from Sara, from this ridiculously festive town.”

“What are you saying, Cat?”

“I’m saying that I’m choosing you. You’re my dream come true, not some bricks and mortar. Not another TV show. It’s you that I want more than all the rest. You taught me that it’s okay to lean, and I didn’t even realize how hard I was leaning on you.”

“You can always lean on me, Cat.”

“I love you. I fucking love you, and if you don’t say it back right now, I’m going to die in your new office, and I’ll haunt you here for the rest of your days.” The tears threatened to spill forth in a never-ending flood.

“Cat.” Noah pushed away from the desk and rose.