Epilogue. Rob
EPILOGUE
Rob
“You know, that could probably be us one day.”
I turned to Kim, suppressing the smile that was tugging on the corners of my mouth. “You know, that’s not what you would have said one year ago.”
She tsked, a little impatiently, while her eyes were still preoccupied with watching my best friend twirl around one of her best friends on the dance floor.
It was Ellie and Alec’s wedding, and everyone was dancing the night away, except for, as usual, the two of us.
Kim had been on her feet the entire day, job-sharing the maid of honor duties with Jenna, and this was the first chance she had tonight to sit down and rest. I could tell she was exhausted, although she probably wouldn’t admit it until after the night was over.
“Well, that’s what I’m saying now.” Her gaze strayed to the edge of the dance floor, and she smiled to herself as she watched her grandfather dance with Ellie’s mom.
She had been watching him like a hawk, making sure that he wasn’t getting too tired, but she had nothing to worry about—he had been chatting and laughing with everyone else, looking like he was having the best time of his life. “We’ve had a big year, haven’t we?”
“We’ve had a massive year. I don’t know how we even managed to fit everything in.”
The past twelve months hadn’t been just massive. They had been life-changing.
The guy who bought the house that Alec and I had flipped turned out to be a production coordinator on a popular home renovation competition TV show.
He loved the work that we did on the house so much, he managed to convince his producers to bring us both on board as consultants for the show, and we even appeared for fifteen minutes in one episode to chat with the contestants and share our renovating experience.
The outpouring of positive feedback from the viewers on our fifteen-minute appearance was so overwhelming, that the producers sat down with us and floated the idea of starting our own home renovation show.
They wanted to follow Alec and me as we hunted for our next property, renovated it, then searched for the right owners for the newly flipped house.
That was how The Home Matchmaker was born.
Our first episode had over two million viewers, and it became such a huge hit, the network immediately ordered a full season.
Alec and I asked Kim if she wanted to stage the house once the renovation was done.
She did, and her work received a ton of attention and so many positive reviews, that people started asking if they could hire her to stage the property they were selling.
It eventually got to the point where she had to promote Nicole to manage the yarn store full-time, because all her time was now occupied by her property staging work.
I was thrilled for her. More than thrilled.
Because after a few short months of doing it, it was obvious that she was meant to do the job.
Her clients loved her work, and while she might have been perfectly fine working at her grandmother’s yarn store before, it was clear that she’d found her true passion.
There was an extra spring in her step now, which had probably made it easier for her to navigate her newly found relationship with her father.
To his credit, he seemed to be genuinely trying.
He’d only missed probably one or two Sunday dinners with Kim, her grandfather, and me, and had even started teaching Kim to cook healthy nutritional meals for Thomas.
Her grandfather was thrilled to have his entire family around, which probably also helped with his health, because he seemed to be happier and stronger than ever.
“I think I know how we managed to fit everything in,” Kim replied.
“See, there’s this one guy I know that kept saying it’s because of him, because he’s a master multitasker, because of the four sisters he grew up with or whatever.
I mean, sure, he’s a hard worker, and that’s probably why we managed to do everything that we did in the past year, but I personally feel he thinks a bit too highly of himself. ”
“I disagree. I think he deserved all the rave reviews and accolades people are throwing his way. He’s got a great work ethic, he’s good-looking, and honestly, have you noticed how photogenic he is?
” I wiggled my eyebrows at her. “The cameras on The Home Matchmaker loved him. Viewers of the show loved him. Alec might tell you otherwise, but I think that’s the real reason the show is number one six months in a row. Don’t you think so?”
“I think he needs to stop referring to himself in the third person.”
“But does that mean you agree that I’ve got a great work ethic?” I flashed her a teasing grin. “And what I said about the good-looking and photogenic part?”
That earned me an eye roll and a long sigh, and I burst into laughter as I pulled her closer and planted a quick kiss on her cheek, still marveling at how I now have the privilege to do that.
“You’re lucky you’re cute and I love you.
” Her eyes turned soft as she smiled at me.
“Although I have to admit that you’re right.
Because there’s no way I could have pulled everything off on my own.
Well, I guess I could have, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun.
It’s been an amazing year, but my favorite part was getting to be with you, and having you by my side, and sharing all those amazing experiences with you. That was the best part of it all.”
And this, hands down, was one of my favorite parts of being with this woman.
I’d seen every facet of her personality since I’d met her.
She could be the sassy Kim, the hardworking Kim, and the businesswoman Kim.
There was a sexy Kim, the private version of her that only I got to see.
The loyal friend Kim, where she’d do anything and everything for her best friends.
And the filial side of her, where she took care of her grandfather—and even her father—without a word of complaint.
But my favorite version of her was this one. When she smiled at me and looked at me with so much love and trust in her eyes, like no one else in the world existed but us.
And to me, that was the perfect Kim.