Epilogue
EPILOGUE
H ow long do roosters live?” I mumbled, and it sounded like a whine. Dan rolled over, chuckled, and pulled me into his arms.
“You ask me that almost every morning, beautiful.” He gave me a morning-breath kiss. “And every morning, I tell you that if King Richard were ever to meet an untimely demise, we’d just have to get another rooster.”
I gave him a side-eye and pursed my lips.
“One that might be louder.”
“He’s so loud,” I groaned.
“I don’t like it when my girlfriend is grumpy.”
My belly did a little flip when he called me his girlfriend, even though he’d been doing it for the past year.
“Well, your girlfriend is exhausted because her boyfriend kept her up very”—I pressed a kiss to his lips—“very late last night.”
“I wanted to start celebrating our anniversary early.”
“I can’t believe you want to celebrate the anniversary of catching me in the men’s room in my underwear with a dress over my face.” I chuckled. “Usually, people celebrate the anniversary of their first kiss, the first time they said I love you, or the beginning of their relationship.”
“I’m sorry to inform you, my dear, but that was the start of our relationship.” He rolled on top of me and painted my belly with kisses. “I’m quite sure I fell in love with you that day.”
“Then why were you so mean to me?” I giggled when he tickled my inner thigh with his beard.
“Mean to you?” He gasped and pushed my thighs apart. “Zipping up your dress. Making sure you didn’t go home in that death trap of a car. Feeding you. Making sure you got a proper night’s sleep before making a four-hour drive.” He kissed the spot he had just tickled with his beard before moving his lips inward. “Yeah, I sound like a real arsehole. How do you put up with me?” My chuckle was cut short when Dan moved his mouth to the junction of my thighs, and suddenly, I wasn’t tired anymore.
“Happy anniversary!” Erica chimed when we walked into Greenie’s.
“Did you tell everybody?” I whispered to Dan with a chuckle when we took a seat in our favorite booth. He shook his head and shrugged in response.
“I had nothing to do with this.”
Erica walked over to our table with Melissa in tow. Our preteen hostess seemed to have grown into a young lady in the year I’d known her. She now willingly wore dresses and shiny lip gloss, though she lamented that her mother wouldn’t let her wear ones with color. She was still a menace on the softball field. She’d also been seizure free for the last six months.
Melissa set a plate of Mavis’s blueberry muffins on the table, adorned with a lit candle in the shape of a number one.
“It’s been exactly one year since you came into town,” Melissa informed me, probably reading my confused expression. “And we wanted to celebrate.”
“That’s so sweet.” I swallowed a lump in my throat and blinked back tears.
“Well, you can’t cry yet, Emma.” Erica laughed. “We have one more anniversary surprise for you.” She walked toward the back of the restaurant. I furrowed my brow in confusion and looked at Dan.
“Okay.” He smiled. “This one I actually did know about.”
“What are you…” My voice died when I heard the rhythm of clicking heels that I would have recognized anywhere. I whipped around toward the sound, and my eyes filled with tears when I saw Maxima striding toward our table. She wasn’t alone. My work wife was joined by my college roommate. The diner was filled with a high-pitched squealing noise, and it took me a moment to realize that it was coming from me as I jumped up from the table and ran toward my best friends with my arms outstretched. We squeezed each other for a very long time before we finally returned to our table.
“I actually have to run a couple of errands.” Dan grinned and stood, making room for Max and Rebecca to slide into the booth.
“What errands?” I asked. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No.” He smirked and shot a knowing glance at my friends, who returned his look with furtive glances of their own. “Enjoy your lunch, love. I’ll see you at home later.” He leaned down and kissed me. “Ladies.”
He was greeted with a chorus of high-pitched calls of “Bye, Dan.”
“What the hell was that about?” I asked after we watched him disappear from the restaurant.
“I really like him for you, Em.” Becks smiled at me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy.” It was such a relief to hear this from Rebecca, and I couldn’t believe I had been so worried about her reaction to my breakup with Teddy. Speaking of breaking up with Teddy, as I predicted, he had a bit of a rough time repairing his image after word spread about his disastrous visit to town. His senate race failed, and he was fired from his firm. The Atlanta elite began to distance themselves from him, as well as a very prominent New York surgeon and his wife, who was currently grinning at me from across the booth.
“I know,” Max chimed in. “She’s glowing.”
“That’s sweat.” I rolled my eyes. “It is hot as hell outside.”
We laughed.
“I might have been wrong about this whole farm, small-town thing.” Max waved an arm around the diner before breaking off a piece of a muffin and shoving it into her mouth.
“You’re not thinking about leaving LA, are you?” Erica asked. When I’d turned down Nina’s job offer for good, I suggested that she offer the West Coast office to Max, who jumped at the chance to leave Atlanta.
“Hell, no.” She laughed with a mouthful of muffin. “I’m loving Cali too much. But I have to say, this place has definitely grown on me.” We all laughed.
“Is that why you’re wearing overalls?” I raised an eyebrow, tilting my head at her denim jumpsuit.
“Overalls?!” she scoffed, scandalized. “Bitch, these are Versace!” The table erupted in cackles, and I almost choked on my muffin.
We spent the rest of the afternoon talking, eating, and planning our next girls’ trip. Over the past year, the four of us had grown incredibly close. Their love for me wasn’t the only thing my three closest friends had in common anymore.
“Taste this sauce.” I held a wooden spoon full of pasta sauce out to Dan, with my hand cradled underneath to catch the drips. He shot me a skeptical look.
“Is it safe?” He smirked with a raised eyebrow.
“The last batch wasn’t that bad.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“It wasn’t that good,” he murmured, “but you are definitely improving.” He leaned forward and kissed me, but he still hadn’t tasted the sauce.
“Seriously, taste it,” I pleaded. “My mother helped me with it.”
“Oh, yeah?” He eyed the sauce with renewed interest. “How is Celeste?”
“She’s great.” I turned back to the stove and resumed stirring, giving up on my taste test. “She and Daddy are leaving for Barbados tomorrow.”
“Another vacation for those two?” He laughed and resumed slicing bread.
“Yeah, they’re like a pair of newlyweds these days.” I shook my head. “They want to come visit when they’re back?” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course; I love it when your parents come to visit.” He shot me a look. “I can get a break from making dinner.”
“Keep it up and this might be all you get to eat tonight.” I pursed my lips and resumed stirring, not meeting his eye. He moved behind me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and kissed my neck.
“I’m sorry, love,” he whispered against my shoulder. “I’m sure your sauce is delicious.” He took the spoon from my hand and brought it to his lips. I whipped around to catch his reaction. He furrowed his brow and tilted his head to the side, but I didn’t see a hint of disgust in his expression.
“Well…?” I raised an eyebrow.
“That’s actually pretty fucking good.” He licked his lips and nodded in disbelief.
“Really?” I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face. “Do you really like it, or are you just saying that to get sex?”
“I would say just about anything to get sex.” He kissed me, and I giggled. “But I’m serious. You did good.” He replaced the spoon in the pot and kissed me on the neck. “I’m gonna set the table.”
“Dinner must have been better than I thought,” I mused after I moved one of my pawns. “A foot rub?” I was stretched out on the couch with my feet in Dan’s lap as he kneaded my flesh with his fingertips.
“Dinner was amazing. Wait until I tell my mum.”
“Tell your mom what?”
“About all of the delicious things you’re feeding her son.” He kissed me on the neck. “Maybe not all of the delicious things…”
“You are too much, Danesh Pednekar.” I kissed him and giggled.
“I love you, Emma.” He released my feet and spun me on the couch to face him. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“I happened to you?” I laughed and furrowed my brow.
“Oh, yeah.” He nodded. “I wasn’t looking for it. I wasn’t expecting it. I tried to fight it, but this year with you has been the best year of my life. I hope it never ends.”
“I love you, too. I felt like I was drowning in my life, like I was strapped to a roller coaster that I couldn’t get off. I was trapped.” I captured his cheeks in my palms. “You rescued me.” I smiled and pressed our foreheads together. “And not just from my death trap of a car. I’ve also had the best year of my life. You make me so happy. Best of all, you taught me how to make myself happy, and I will always love you for that.” I leaned forward and pressed our mouths together. Our tongues caressed each other as I stroked his cheeks and tangled my fingers in his beard. I parted our lips. “You know what would make me happy right now?”
“What’s that, my love?” he whispered.
“If you would make your move.” I tilted my head toward the chessboard. “It’s your turn.” He grinned and reached over to the chessboard positioned on the coffee table. I expected him to reach for his knight, but he surprised me by covering his bishop with his hand and moving it in the direct path of my queen. I narrowed my eyes in confusion, which gave way to shock when he removed his hand.
Dan’s bishop was wearing a large princess-cut emerald solitaire ring as a crown. I turned to look at him. He was smiling, but his brow was furrowed in worry. Was he nervous that I would actually say no?
I grinned at him before using my queen to take his bishop and the ring.
“Is that a yes?” he asked.
“That depends,” I said. “Did you pull that little stunt to make my queen vulnerable to your knight?”
“And if I did?” He took the ring from my hand and slipped it on my finger. The ring was breathtakingly beautiful, and exactly what I would have wanted. It was also a perfect fit, making me suddenly understand the secretive glances exchanged this afternoon at the diner.
“Then I would say it worked.” I climbed into his lap and kissed him. “But I’m still gonna beat you in five moves.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to keep playing until I win.” He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it.
“Well, that could take years.” I kissed him.
“I’m counting on it, love.”