Epilogue #2
"I love you," I say simply. "I loved you at eighteen, I loved you through ten years apart, and I'll love you for the rest of my life if you'll let me. Kendall Greene, will you marry me?"
"Yes," she says immediately, dropping to her knees in front of me. "Yes, of course yes!"
I slip the ring onto her finger with trembling hands, and then she's kissing me while the puppy tries to wedge between us, barking excitedly.
"Is this our dog?" she asks when we break apart, both of us laughing and crying.
"If you want her," I say. "I thought we could start our life here with a new family member."
"She's perfect," Kendall says, picking up the puppy, who immediately licks her face. "What's her name?"
"That's up to you," I tell her.
She looks at the puppy thoughtfully. "Hope. Her name is Hope."
"Hope," I repeat, liking how it sounds. "Perfect."
We sit there in our backyard, under the lights, with our new puppy, and I think about all the paths that led us here. The goat chaos that brought us back together, the fires that tested us, the trial that proved we could face anything together.
"I want to get married here," Kendall says suddenly. "In our backyard. With all our people."
"Even the Walking Ladies?" I ask.
"Especially the Walking Ladies," she laughs. "They can be flower girls again."
"They'll wear their FBI badges," I warn.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
My phone buzzes with a text from Hudson.
Hudson: Did she say yes?????
Before I can respond, more texts flood in.
Kane: The suspense is killing us!
Kate: ANSWER YOUR PHONE!
Declan: If she said no, drinks are on me.
Grace: She didn't say no. Right? RIGHT?
Charli: I'm outside in my car. I couldn't stay away. WHAT HAPPENED?
I show the phone to Kendall, who laughs and takes it from me. She snaps a selfie of us with Hope, her ring visible, all three of us grinning.
She sends it to the group chat with one word: "YES!"
The responses are immediate and enthusiastic, with lots of capital letters and exclamation points. Charli apparently lays on her horn in celebration because we can hear it from the backyard.
"Should we invite them over?" Kendall asks.
"In a minute," I say, pulling her close again. "I want to enjoy this moment. Just us."
"And Hope," she adds as the puppy wiggles between us.
"And Hope," I agree.
We sit at our beautifully set table, eating Italian food and talking about our wedding, our future, our life in this house. Hope falls asleep under the table, occasionally snoring in little puppy huffs.
"I can't believe you managed all this without me knowing," Kendall says, gesturing at the transformed backyard.
"I'm good at keeping secrets," I say.
"No more secrets," she says. "From now on, we tell each other everything."
"Everything," I agree. "Starting with: I already bought Hope a ton of toys and they're hidden in the garage."
"And I already looked at wedding dresses online during my lunch break," she confesses.
"When?"
"For the past month," she admits, blushing. "I was hoping..."
"I've been carrying that ring around for two weeks," I tell her. "Hudson almost had to physically restrain me from proposing at kickball last weekend."
She laughs. "That would have been very public."
"The Walking Ladies would have loved that."
"They're going to lose their minds when we tell them," she says. "Gladys has probably already started planning the wedding."
As if summoned by the mention of their name, my phone buzzes with a text from Gladys.
Gladys: Heard the good news! FBI (Fabulous Bridal Investigators) at your service! We're already planning the bachelor party!
"Please tell me the Walking Ladies aren't planning my bachelor party," I groan.
"It'll be memorable," Kendall says, grinning.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
Eventually, we let our friends descend on the house. They bring champagne and joy and chaos. Hudson and Kane reenact how nervous I was setting up. Grace tells everyone about the puppy almost eating the ring box while she was driving. Kate's already pulling up Pinterest boards for wedding ideas.
"Spring or fall?" Mia asks, appearing with Ian and a bottle of very expensive champagne.
"Spring," Kendall says. "In the backyard when everything's blooming."
"I can see it," Brooke says, her author's eye already composing the scene. "Lights like tonight, wildflowers everywhere, Hope as the ring bearer."
"She'll be bigger by spring," I point out.
"Even better," Riley says. "She can pull Nicholas in a wagon as ring bearer."
"Can I drive?" Nicholas asks excitedly.
"No one's driving the dog," Declan says firmly.
The party spills through our empty house, our friends christening each room with laughter and plans. Hope follows everyone, tail never stopping, already perfectly at home.
"Are you happy?" I ask Kendall, finding her on the front porch looking out at our street.
"So happy," she says, leaning into me. "This is everything I never let myself dream about."
"Dream bigger," I tell her. "We're just getting started."
She holds up her hand, watching the ring catch the porch light. "I love you. Thank you for not giving up on us."
"Thank you for giving us another chance," I respond.
A crash comes from inside, followed by laughter and Kane yelling, "The dog did it!"
"We should probably check on that," Kendall says.
"Probably," I agree, but neither of us moves.
We stand on the porch of our house, listening to our friends create chaos inside, our dog barking happily, our whole future stretched out before us.
"No goats at the wedding," I blurt.
"What about Gertie? She's practically family now."
"No goats," I repeat firmly.
"We'll see," she says, and I hear the smile in her voice.
"Kendall..."
"I'm kidding," she laughs. "Mostly."
I spin her around to face me. "Promise me. No goats."
"I promise no goats at our wedding," she says solemnly. Then grins. "But I make no promises about the rehearsal dinner."
I groan, but I'm laughing too. This is my life now—chaos and comedy, friends who are family, a woman who steals my sanity and my heart in equal measure, and apparently, the eternal threat of goats.
I wouldn't change a thing.
"Come on," Kendall says, pulling me toward the door. "Let's go see what Hope destroyed."
We walk into our house—our home—hand in hand, ready for whatever comes next.
Even if it involves goats.
Especially if it involves goats.
Because that's what love is—choosing the person who makes even the chaos worthwhile, and knowing that whatever comes next, you'll face it together.
And as Hope barrels toward us with what looks like someone's shoe in her mouth, Charli chasing after her, and the Walking Ladies arriving with their own champagne and FBI badges, I know we're exactly where we're supposed to be.
Home.