Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER
Jillian curled up on the couch in the living room, a cup of hot chocolate warming her hands as the lights of the Christmas tree warmed the room. Bing Crosby played softly through the Bluetooth and she smiled at the memory of learning, when moving in his record collection, that Levi had a soft spot for the classics. For his birthday in October, Ollie had insisted they get him a new retro-style turntable, and he’d loved it.
For Jilly, it felt sort of surreal to listen to music her mom had loved, in the house her parents raised her in, while dancing around the living room with her own daughter and the man she’d loved for the better part of her life. The past and the present had done a lot of merging in the months that followed their making up.
Levi came down the hallway, his gaze and smile competing for brightness against the backdrop of the tree.
“Ollie’s asleep. I don’t know why she wanted me to read ’Twas the Night Before Christmas . She had the entire thing memorized,” he said with a laugh, sitting down next to her, careful of her hot drink.
Jillian leaned her head on his shoulder. “It’s a family favorite.”
Slipping his hand over her thigh, he sat with her listening to the music, the softness of the lights and the crackle of the fire adding an air of romance to the mood. Or maybe that was Levi. Everything felt more romantic, more right, now that he was in her life.
“Will it be strange for you if your parents don’t come up first thing in the morning?” Levi asked.
Jillian set her mug on the coffee table she and Levi had debated over for far longer than they should have needed to. Turned out, no matter how compatible a couple was, they could still have entirely different furniture tastes when redecorating.
They’d chosen the style he wanted—wide planked with barn-style doors on each side—in the color she wanted—a faded, somewhat distressed-looking blue.
Turning into him, she smiled when his arm came around her, pulling her closer.
“I want us to start our own traditions. Waking up with just you and Ollie is new and I want to enjoy that. They’ll be up for brunch, and everyone else will join then, too.”
Levi tapped her nose with his finger, then kissed her. “I know the plan. I made it with you. I asked if it’ll be strange for you.”
She shrugged. “I guess. Different, for sure. Just like it will be for you. How many years has it been since you had Christmas dinner with your parents?”
His fingers trailed over the sensitive skin of her neck. “Too many. I’m looking forward to it. They really adore Ollie. And you.”
“Believe it or not, your dad really adores you, too. I overheard him telling Ollie about when you were a kid at Christmas. I can’t imagine, as a mom, what it would be like to have Ollie move so far away. When we’re doing it ourselves, like you, me, Beckett, and Grayson did, it feels natural, like that’s how it’s supposed to be. It’s strange to be on this side of it now, knowing Ollie may live her adult life far away. It would definitely be hard to wrap my head around.”
Things weren’t always smooth between Levi and his dad, but for the most part, they’d both let go of whatever expectations they’d had of each other and started to accept who the other was in the here and now. As for her parents, Levi’s dad had done a wonderful job with the suite downstairs. They had their own entrance around the back, making it feel like two completely separate homes.
“You never know, she could go and then come home and move in with you again.”
Jillian laughed. “Let’s hope not. I love her, but something tells me she might get bossier. She’ll need her own space to be in charge of. It’s hard enough compromising with you.”
He stretched his foot out to tap the coffee table. “You love this thing. You know you do.”
She’d wanted one with no storage underneath so they weren’t tempted to just collect things they didn’t need. Levi insisted having storage would make her less irritated by the number of food magazines he purchased because then they’d have a place to hide.
“I love you. I know that.” She tipped her head back and looked at him. She really did. More each day, and what truly made her wake up every day in awe was knowing, in her heart and her mind, that he loved her back. The words were powerful and she cherished them but, with Levi, it was more about what he did; how he showed his love.
Levi leaned in, kissing her soft and slow, drowning her in gentleness. She was sinking into it, her bones melting with the sensuousness of his mouth moving against hers, when that admirable patience of his seemed to snap. As he pulled her onto his lap, his kisses grew rougher, like he couldn’t fight his need for her and like it still surprised him. Jillian loved that; loved knowing he craved her touch, her nearness, the same way she did his. It was one thing to love, but being loved back was something she’d never take for granted. She’d never understood the magic of knowing how much she mattered to someone who mattered so much to her.
His fingers were buried in her hair, her legs on either side of his waist, when he leaned away, his head against the back of the couch. “Superbolts.”
Dazed and still lost in him, she blinked. “What?”
He smiled, his thumb tracing over her lower lip. “They’re stronger than lightning and rare, less expected. I never saw you coming. And every time I’m with you, touching you, kissing you, or just looking at you, I feel like my entire body is a live wire.”
“Superbolts,” she repeated softly.
He nodded. “Yup. You literally light me up inside, Jillian.”
Pressing both of her hands to his face, she squeezed it gently. “You’re already perfect for me. When you say things like that, it’s almost too much.”
He gave her one of his classic Levi grins. The one that said he wasn’t sorry at all and knew exactly how into him she was. “Want me to stop saying things like that?”
Jillian gave him a noisy kiss. “Don’t you dare.”
His hands wandered down to her hips. “Want one of your presents?”
“Now?” She let her gaze roam over him in his gray Henley that stretched over his chest, then followed with her hands.
With little effort, Levi lifted her and plopped her down beside him. Sliding one of the mini barn doors open on the coffee table, he pulled out an oddly shaped, somewhat messily wrapped gift. It was about the length of her hand and very narrow.
Handing it to her, he scooted back a bit on the couch. She took the gift. It was stiff, with a little ridge. When she looked up at him through lowered lashes he was smiling, but there was tension, or maybe nerves, peeking through as well.
“Unwrap it,” he urged.
Focusing on the present, Jillian tore at the holiday wrap to find a standard black pen, much like the ones she used at the lodge. This one, however, had a thin strip of paper wrapped around it.
“I am always running out of pens,” she teased.
Levi laughed, eased a little farther back, while Jillian picked at the tape carefully to unroll the paper.
Using both hands, Jillian held on to the pen while opening the curled paper.
WILL YOU MARRY ME?
Yes
Obviously
Absolutely
Jillian’s hand flew to her mouth automatically, covering her gasp. She dropped the pen and looked up at the same time to see Levi had slipped off the couch cushion to one knee. He held a stunning diamond solitaire on a thin platinum band between his thumb and index finger. His gaze was steady even though his hand shook just a little.
“You’ll need the pen. The note says it all but just in case you need to hear it, I love you, Jillian Keller. Nothing would make me happier than being your husband. I want to stand up in front of all of our friends and family and vow to spend the rest of my days loving you and sharing your life. Our life. I want to watch Ollie grow up with you, maybe have some more kids, travel, any of it, all of it. I want it all with you, Jillian. Will you be my wife?”
How was he talking? She couldn’t make words leave her mouth, so she nodded. Emphatically, her gaze jumping back and forth between the ring in his hand and him.
“Use the pen, Jilly.”
She gave a watery laugh and picked it up off the floor, quickly putting large checkmarks in each one of the boxes.
Levi laughed and she tossed the pen and paper down, held out her hand.
“I love you,” he whispered as the ring slid perfectly onto her finger.
“I love you,” she said. “I can’t wait to marry you.”
He leaned up at the same time she leaned down, like they’d synchronized their movements.
Between kisses and laughter, some tears, and more laughter, he kept telling her how much she mattered, how much she meant. She said the same to him, marveling at the fact that, in some ways, her life hadn’t changed at all. She was in the living room she’d grown up in; the one she’d spent most of her Christmases in, in the small town she’d always considered home. But in other ways, absolutely everything was different. The familiarity mixed with the newness of it all was a kind of magic Jillian had never known. Levi Bright was the boy she’d loved and the man she’d marry. And while she’d learned the hard way that fairy tales weren’t real, she also knew the reality of spending every day with him was better than anything she could have ever imagined.
IT’S NEVER REALLY THE END.