Epilogue
Dax
“Do you think we need another layer of paint?” Libby asks as she inspects the beet pink bookcase that just finished drying.
“I think if you added any more layers, the bookcase will be an inch thicker than when we started,” I tell her.
“Well fine then,” she says, playfully shoving me out of the way so she can climb the ladder to put the books back. One by one the girls hand her romance book after romance book, and she organizes them thoughtfully.
“So many books about love,” Poppy says.
“That’s because love is everyone’s favorite thing to read about.”
“That and unicorns,” Poppy says, and I chuckle.
“Everyone certainly does love a good unicorn,” Libby agrees.
She stands on the ladder looking around the shop.
Everything is new but nothing is different if that makes any sense.
Hemingway never did buy out Way With Words, though I may have had a hand in some of the remodeling.
And by had a hand I mean I literally put my hands to work.
All the bookcases and shelves have been repainted or stained.
The cashwrap is the same, an oak island in the middle of the shop but with a new, faster system that includes book club perks.
The kids’ corner is brighter thanks to the girls’ artistic talents.
And there is a coffee shop, though not inside the bookstore.
Considering I bought the neighboring buildings, I had to do something with them. One of them is a coffee shop called Poppy & Delilah’s Coffee and Sweets. On the other side is a new expansion– used books and more seating, perfect for book signings and book clubs.
But everything within Way With Words is the same. Because it’s perfect the way it is. As I smile up at Libby in her yellow dress, her dark wavy hair falling around her shoulders and her lips curled in a content smile, I realize that literally everything is perfect the way it is.
“Daddy?” Poppy tugs at my pants and I look down at her. “Are you going to do the thing?” she whispers.
Libby isn’t paying attention as she organizes a few more books on the top shelf.
“Well, Daddy? Are you?” Delilah asks.
“Should I?” I ask.
“Should you what?” Libby asks without turning around.
“He has a surprise for you,” Poppy says.
“Oh, does he now?” Libby asks with a smile in her voice. “And what is this surpri–”
She stops. Because I am at the foot of the ladder looking up at her on one knee, a small velvet box in my hand.
“Ask her Daddy!” Delilah giggles.
“Yeah, Daddy. Ask her!” Poppy chimes in.
Libby steps down and attempts to cover her smile with her hand. But I can still see it in her green eyes.
God those eyes.
“Well,” she asks. “Do you have something to ask me?”
“Will you marry me?”
The girls explode in excitement before she even says anything. But Libby nods with a laugh and I slip the ring on her finger. Then I stand up, and I pull her into a short, sweet kiss.
“We should have a party!” Delilah says as she dances around the shop.
“Yes! With cake and balloons and pizza!” Poppy agrees, joining her sister.
Meanwhile, I hold Libby against me.
“Yes?” I ask her.
“Yes. A million times yes,” she whispers. “But also…I have something for you too.”
“You don’t have to give me anything,” I say. “I already have everything I could ever want. Right now. Right here. With you and the girls.”
I lean in to kiss her again, but Libby’s words stop me. “I’m pregnant.”
This time I am the one who is speechless. My hands instinctively go to her stomach, and my eyes follow.
“You’re…”
She nods, laughing and crying at the same time.
“Do the girls know?” I ask. But when I look over at them, giggling and smiling I realize they do.
“Are you happy?” Libby asks.
“Are you kidding? Nothing could make me happier,” I answer, and my mouth covers hers.
The girls laugh and squeal and dance around, but everything fades.
Everything except this woman who has turned my world upside down, knocked it off its axis and made it all right again.
For the first time in a very long time, things feel right.
Things feel whole and good and as I look around at the brightly colored shelves and abstract art and old floors, I realize I wouldn’t change a thing.
It’s vibrant and beautiful and everything I could ever want.