Epilogue - 10 months later
Laurel
Laurel stood in the conference centre at Little Willow Farm, tightly gripping Nate’s elbow.
‘What if they don’t like me?’ she asked, pulling at her slightly too tight dress to adjust it. Again.
‘They will love you, Laurel,’ Nate whispered, trying to loosen the grip she had on his arm.
But what if they didn’t? What if they laughed at them, laughed at her? She only had a degree. She wasn’t a doctor like Nate, and she had never, ever published anything. Let alone something with so much media interest.
Jess had been right: human interest sells. The media had been all over them both since the day his declaration of love had been aired, wanting an update, wanting a happily ever after. It was a classic take of girl fancies boy, boy’s friend steals her work and publishes it with said friend as his own, boy meets girl ten years later, falls in love, boy’s friend’s duplicity is discovered, girl feels betrayed, and boy announces his love on national television.
But apparently, people were invested and that was good, because Little Willow had never been as busy as it was now. Ever.
The conference centre was booked months in advance, they were full every weekend throughout the spring and summer for weddings. The cafe was expanding into home delivery veg boxes, meat boxes, and even some restaurant supply. The Pick Your Own was still closed, but reviving.
Sylvie headed up on stage, absolutely rocking the tight midi skirt and heeled boots that she had taken to wearing with her new job as Deputy Manager. Laurel hadn’t the time so much anymore, not since Nate had persuaded her, not that it took much persuasion, to take a Masters in archaeology part-time. Of course, so she could still have oversight of the farm.
Giving more responsibility to Sylvie had been a steep learning curve for Laurel. Letting go of some of her need to be in control of everything was hard. But Sylvie was amazing. Here were cameras on her, and an awful lot more people here than when Nate and Alex had presented the Anglo-Saxon finds at Little Willow, but Sylvie’s voice didn’t waver once. Pride bloomed in her chest.
‘So, without any further ado, I would like to introduce Dr Nate Daley and Laurel Fletcher.’
There was applause as Nate led Laurel up to the stage.
‘Come on, they’re waiting for us,’ he said, smiling down at her.
Laurel reached up onto her toes and kissed him.
‘No surprises, like the last time you were on TV?’ she murmured.
Nate breathed out a laugh.
‘No surprises,’ he assured her.
‘Okay, let’s go,’ she said, slipping her hand into his and tugging him up the steps to the stage.
Laurel accepted the microphone from Sylvie, and Nate grabbed the spare one from the table.
‘Thank you all for coming today. I’m Dr Nate Daley,’ he said.
‘And I’m Laurel Fletcher.’ She let him take the lead.
‘She is, but one day, I’m hoping she’ll be Laurel Daley,’ Nate said. The audience tittered.
Laurel’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Nate shot her a smug wink. She rubbed her belly gently.
No surprises, indeed.