Epilogue
Eighteen months later
“Do we really need to walk all the way to Rockefeller Center again?”
“It’s two blocks away, and you know it makes me happy.”
“It’s just a Christmas tree, sweetheart.”
“First of all, how dare you. Second of all, you know you love it just as much as I do.” I loop my arm through Ben’s, tugging him in the direction he already knows we’re going to end up going. Because if I don’t see the tree at least once a day, the holiday spirit just seeps right out of me and we start catching glimpses of the old Cam.
Okay, not really, the old Cam is well and truly buried at this point, but you definitely don’t want to mess with me before I’ve had my morning peppermint mocha.
“How are things going with the case?” Ben pulls his scarf up, burrowing down into the cashmere. My grandmother gifted him the scarf last Christmas and it became his instant favorite.
When we got back from Heart Springs and I told my grandmother I didn’t want to work for her anymore, she took it a lot better than I thought she would. Or at least, she did after she had some time to calm down. While she will never fully understand why I wanted to give up my stake in a multimillion-dollar law firm, the one thing she understands better than most is the need to make something for myself.
Also, I find it way easier to get along with not just her but the rest of my family, when we’re not all working together. Our relationships are still a work in progress, but at least we’re working on them.
And speaking of working on them, after I had my come-to-Jesus moment with Grandmother, I made a phone call I never expected to make: to my mom. I opened the conversation by letting her know I was leaving the firm, and well, I guess you could say that opened the floodgates. I always blamed my mom for leaving, but there was much more to her relationship with Grandmother, things I never witnessed and never knew. Our relationship is far from perfectly settled, but I’m set on finding space for her in this new life I’m creating.
It didn’t take long for me to decide to open my own law firm. We specialize in helping the little guy (metaphorically, the majority of our clients are women and nonbinary folks) take down the man (not metaphorical, pretty much all of our opponents are straight white dudes). We’ve only officially been in business for about a year, but already the job is making me happier than just about anything in my life.
At least happier than anything aside from the man walking next to me.
Ben is everything he was to me in Heart Springs, and more. Despite both of us working demanding, time-consuming jobs, we always make time for each other. Ben makes us dinner at least twice a week and I plan our date nights, sometimes at fancy restaurants, sometimes at smaller cafés. He’s the first person I call when I have something to celebrate and I’m the one he turns to when the stress of his job starts to take a toll. We’re both there to pull the other one back when the temptation to become completely absorbed in our jobs strikes. He knows me better than just about anyone, and he accepts me and loves me just the way I am. He did even when I couldn’t accept and love myself.
But I don’t have any issues with that anymore, the lessons I learned in Heart Springs still ingrained in me.
“Want a gingerbread latte before we get to the tree?”
“Do you even need to ask me that question?”
“I think there’s a new bakery that just opened up on this corner. Let’s check it out.”
My heart squeezes just a tad. I got to keep Ben and all of our memories from Heart Springs, but I still miss the other friends I made there from time to time. The painting I bought Ben for Christmas somehow ended up back at his apartment, hung on the wall, and I often wonder how Emma and Ethan might be doing, what Mimi and the rest of the townspeople might be getting up to. Did life for them keep right on rolling along without us? Do they even remember us?
Ben jerks to a stop, halting me with him.
I was so lost in my thoughts of Emma, I didn’t realize we were already in front of the new bakery. It’s got a purple and white striped awning and adorable yellow café tables and chairs out front.
I walk up to the door and gasp when I see the name stenciled on the glass. Throwing open the door, I stride right up to the counter, searching for brown eyes and lustrous curls.
“Emma?”
The woman turns around and offers me her brightest Emma smile.
“Holy shit, it’s really you. I can’t believe you’re here.” I reach behind me, needing Ben’s hand to keep me grounded.
Emma’s brow wrinkles. “Have we met before?”
My heart sinks. Ben’s fingers squeeze mine.
Of course. Something had to give. Having Emma here in the real world would make things just a little too perfect.
“Wait, aren’t you that lawyer?” Emma’s eyes study me, and her lips curl back into their usual smile. “I read an article about you; you opened that law firm to help small-business owners.”
I smile right back. “That’s me.”
“What can I get you? It’s on the house today. I have to say, I love what you’re doing.” She turns and starts prepping my order before I’ve even given it to her.
“Thank you. Believe it or not, I think I get more out of it than my clients do.”
She spins back around and hands me a lavender to-go cup. “It’s Campbell, right?”
I nod. “My friends call me Cam.”
“Well, Cam, I hope you come in again soon. I’d love to chat with you more.”
“I’d love that too.”
I stare at her for an awkwardly long minute, until Ben tugs on my hand, pulling me from the shop.
“That really just happened, right? You saw her too?”
Ben releases my hand so he can tuck me into his side, his arm wrapping firmly around my waist. “I saw her too.”
I tilt my head up expectantly, waiting for a kiss.
He drops one on my lips as we cross the street to see the huge Christmas tree, the centerpiece of the holidays in New York.
We may have left small-town living behind in Heart Springs, but even in New York, the holidays are full of magic.
And so are we.