Epilogue #2
“Drew?” My voice came out strangled. “How are you—she never lets anyone—”
“I’ve been visiting,” he said quietly, walking slowly towards me. Stormy’s eyes locked on mine, and her whole body tensed with recognition. “Every day this week. Building her trust. Bringing her treats. Sitting near her kennel until she let me close.”
Tears blurred my vision. “You’ve been coming here without me? So all of your lunch meetings with Glamma were you coming here?”
He nodded. “I wanted to surprise you.” He stopped in front of me, and Stormy let out a long, plaintive meow. “She’s all yours, Ellie. I’ve already done the paperwork, paid the adoption fee, and got all her vet records. I’ve been waiting for the right moment to—”
Stormy squirmed, her patience officially exhausted. She launched herself from Drew’s arms toward me, and I caught her, her solid weight familiar and solid against my chest.
She purred. Loud, rattling, rolling purring that reverberated through both of us. Her head butted against my chin, then my cheek, her whole body vibrating with happiness. She patted at my face with her paw—claws sheathed—the way she always did when she was with me.
I nuzzled my face into her neck. “Hi, sweet girl. I missed you.”
Stormy merped—her special sound reserved only for me—and settled into my arms like she’d been waiting her whole life for this moment.
With her next headbutt, I heard a jangle. Something was clanking against the metal tag on her purple collar.
A key.
It dangled from her neck, half-hidden in her fur. I looked at Drew through the tears pooling in my eyes, unable to form words.
“I asked you to move in with me last night,” he said, and there was something raw in his voice.
Vulnerable. “And I meant it. I want you there. I want to come home to you every day. I want to build a life with you.” He stepped closer, his hand gentle on Stormy’s head.
And she let him. “But I need you to know—this isn’t conditional.
That key is yours whether you choose to live with me or find your own place here in Ruby River, but Stormy is yours.
You two need each other. I’ve known that since the first day she found you. ”
“Drew—”
“No pressure,” he continued, like he’d practiced this speech.
“I know last night was intense, and you might need time to think about the moving-in thing. That’s okay.
That’s more than okay. But I couldn’t watch you leave her here one more time.
I couldn’t watch you break your own heart over and over because you thought you couldn’t have what you wanted. ”
A sob broke free. “You did this for me.”
“Of course I did.” He cupped my face with one hand, his thumb catching my tears. “I love you. And part of loving you is making sure you know you deserve good things. Even when you can’t take them for yourself, I’ll make sure you get them anyway.”
Stormy butted her head against Drew’s wrist, then returned to rubbing her face all over mine, purring so loudly I could barely think.
“She likes you,” I managed.
“Tolerates me is probably more accurate.” His smile was soft. “She wiggled the whole way out here. But she was willing to put up with me if it meant getting to you.”
“That’s huge. That’s—” I looked down at Stormy, at her golden eyes, her fluffy gray and brown fur, at the way she’d settled in my arms. “No one wanted her. And I got that, you know? I understood being the one no one chose.”
“I chose you,” Drew said simply. “And she chose you. And maybe that’s how it works—sometimes when we least expect it, we find the people or animals that make us whole.”
Around us, the volunteers had quietly resumed their work, giving us the illusion of privacy while hanging on to every word. I heard Karen sniffle and glanced over to see her wiping at her eyes.
“I think it’s time to take Stormy home,” Theo said gruffly, appearing by our sides. “You got all the stuff from the list I sent you the other day?” he asked Drew.
“I did.”
I stared at Drew. “You already bought all of her supplies?”
His cheeks reddened ever so slightly. “Yeah. I might have gotten more than she needed, but I wanted the two of you to have choices. I’d wanted to pick her up last night, but then with everything that happened …”
The tears spilled over, streaming down my face. He’d prepared for her. Bought supplies, made space, assumed I’d say yes to her even if I said no to living with him.
“Let’s go home,” I said.
Drew’s expression froze. As if he was afraid to hope for something that wasn’t happening. “Home?”
“Yeah, your place.” I adjusted Stormy’s weight in my arms. “Our place. Let’s go home.”
His eyes widened, “Ellie—”
“I know you were giving me time to make a decision. And yes, this is fast and we should probably take more time, be practical, and consider the logistics. But I don’t want to.
I’m practically living with you anyway, but now I want to stay not because I have to, but because I want to.
” I paused, emotion clogging my voice. “Because you feel like home. Because last night you restructured your entire career to make room for me, and this morning you’re giving me this perfect gift with no strings attached, and I—”
Stormy meowed loudly, as if to say ‘get on with it.’
“I want to move in with you,” I finished. “Not because it’s convenient or because I’m already there. But because I choose you. I choose us. I choose her. I choose this.”
Drew pulled me close—carefully, mindful of Stormy between us—and kissed me. Soft and sweet and tasting like a promise to love me forever.
“Okay,” he whispered. “Okay.”
Behind us, the staff and volunteers erupted in cheers. Stormy hissed at the cacophony, and I laughed through my tears, burying my face in her fur.
“We should probably leave before she goes rogue and decides she’s done with humans,” I said.
“Good plan.” Drew’s hand found the small of my back and guided me towards the exit.
The drive home—because that’s what it was now, home—passed in a blur of tears, laughter, and Stormy’s meowing from her cat carrier as though I betrayed her by putting her in there.
“You’ll need to go back to Maryland eventually,” Drew said as we pulled into his driveway. “For your stuff and to pack your apartment.”
“I know.” I hadn’t let myself think that far ahead. “My lease isn’t up until the end of next month. I can coordinate most of it from here, maybe go back on weekends to pack.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I want to.” He parked and turned to face me. “If you’re doing this—really doing this—then we can do it together.”
Drew came around to open my door, then retrieved the cat carrier from the backseat. Together, we walked into the house. Inside, the living room looked the same as when we’d left this morning, but somehow different. Knowing I was—really staying—changed everything.
I took Stormy out of the carrier and held her tight.
“Close your eyes,” Drew said.
“What? Why?”
“Just do it. Trust me.”
I closed my eyes and cuddled Stormy to me. I heard Drew moving around and after a few minutes heard the soft sounds of things being placed around me.
“Okay. Open,” Drew said.
I opened my eyes.
The corner of the living room had been transformed.
A plush cat bed sat beneath the windows, perfectly poised to catch the afternoon sun.
A tall scratching post with various levels for her to jump on stood nearby, wrapped in sisal rope.
Food and water bowls were full and ready in an elevated stand.
Toys—feather wands and mice and crinkly balls—were scattered across the floor.
“You did all this?” I whispered.
“Grace has been helping me pick these things out.”
I set Stormy down carefully. When all four paws were touching the ground, she bolted toward the corner to investigate, sniffing every surface, examining each toy with the intense focus of a queen surveying her kingdom.
She pawed at the scratching post supporting the tower experimentally, then launched herself onto the lowest platform.
From her new perch, she looked at me and meowed.
“I think she approves,” I said thickly.
“Good.” Drew wrapped his arms around me from behind, his chin resting on the top of my head as we watched Stormy explore. “Because this is hers now. This is yours. All of it.”
I leaned back against him, letting his warmth surround me. “I love you.”
“I love you.” He kissed the top of my head.
This moment—this tiny little slice of life—mended the final broken pieces my family had left behind. The cracks weren’t gone; instead, they were filled with gold like kintsugi, the Japanese art of repair. I was ready to embrace my imperfections, to see the beauty in my scars.
To recognize the strength, resilience, and uniqueness of who I was and who I was becoming.
And none of that would have been possible without Drew.
This man, with all of who he was, was clearly my perfect other half.
I couldn’t wait for each new day—for us to learn and grow together, to build something so beautiful, so magical, so full of love that our lives would never be the same.
In all the best ways possible.