Epilogue
ELIZABETH
Six months later, and Sunday dinners at the Blackwell estate had become my favorite tradition. Mimi kept a brownstone in the city but had been spending more time at the Blackwell estate outside the city. Adrian and I would often come up and stay for a weekend. I loved the place.
The estate itself was magnificent. It was a sprawling property in Westchester with manicured gardens, a guest house that was bigger than most people’s actual houses, and a main residence that felt more like a boutique hotel than a home.
But Mimi had a way of making it feel warm despite its size.
She always had fresh flowers from the garden in beautiful vases around the house.
There were family photos on every surface.
The smell of home cooking that greeted you the moment you walked through the door was always a treat.
I remembered that first family dinner so vividly. I had been nervous and felt so out of place.
Now I was just here. I was part of the family. My chair had become my chair, the spot where everyone expected to find me every Sunday at six o’clock sharp. We all had our usual places.
The dining room was full of noise and laughter and the smell of Mimi’s incredible cooking.
She insisted on making at least part of the meal herself every week, even though they could afford any chef in the world.
Tonight, it was her famous roasted chicken with herbs from the garden, potatoes that were somehow both crispy and fluffy, and vegetables that actually tasted good instead of like an obligation.
“Pass the potatoes,” Dash demanded, reaching across the table with his characteristic lack of table manners.
“Say please,” Mimi instructed without looking up from her plate, her mother-radar still functioning perfectly despite her children being grown up and definitely knowing better.
Dash sighed. “Please pass the potatoes.”
“Better.” She smiled and passed them herself, adding an extra scoop to his plate like she always did. Dash was her baby, and everyone knew it, even if no one said it out loud.
I loved this. The chaos, the bickering, the obvious affection underneath all the teasing.
My own family dinners had been tense, quiet affairs.
My mother usually dominated the conversation, criticizing everything from my posture to my career choices.
My father was the guy placating and trying to keep the peace.
This was different. This was what family should be. It was loud and messy and full of people who showed love by roasting each other mercilessly.
“So Elizabeth,” Sebastian said, grinning at me with that troublemaker gleam in his eye that meant he was about to say something designed to embarrass someone. “How does it feel to be the woman who finally got Adrian Blackwell to settle down?”
“Like I should get a medal,” I shot back. Everyone laughed. “Or hazard pay. One of the two.”
Mimi smiled. “You’ve been so good for him, dear. For all of them, really. I am looking forward to the day they’re all settled.”
“Speaking of settling down,” Adrian said. “Who do we think is next? Which Blackwell brother falls next?”
“Not Sebastian,” Dash said immediately, pointing his fork at Sebastian for emphasis. “You’re going to be single until you’re eighty, slutting around the retirement home.”
“Excuse you, I’ll be a very distinguished slut, thank you very much.” Sebastian raised his wine glass with mock dignity. “And I’ll have excellent taste in walkers. Only the finest mobility aids for Sebastian Blackwell.”
“My money’s on Briggs,” I said, studying the middle brother who was trying very hard to look like he wasn’t listening. Briggs was definitely the serious one, but I always got the feeling he was ready for a wife and kids. He dated his fair share, but he was more discreet.
Briggs looked alarmed, his composed facade cracking just slightly. “I don’t think so.”
Mimi smiled. “You’re just like your father. All business on the outside, complete softie on the inside.”
“I resent that characterization.”
“Resent it all you want, it’s true.” Adrian was grinning now, clearly enjoying his brother’s discomfort. “Remember when he cried at that commercial with the puppy?”
“That was a very emotional commercial about pet adoption.”
“You sobbed for ten minutes.”
“I also had allergies.”
“It was December. Nothing was blooming.”
“Indoor allergies are a thing.”
We all dissolved into laughter. The conversation moved on to other topics, including Dash’s upcoming show in Tokyo, which apparently involved some kind of gravity-defying runway.
The guys teased Sebastian about his latest tabloid scandal.
He’d been photographed leaving a club with twin sisters who were apparently married to NFL guys.
And we discussed my designs for the fall collection.
It was perfect. Chaotic and warm and everything I’d never known I was missing.
This was what Adrian had given me, beyond the career and the recognition.
I felt like I gained a family that actually felt like family.
Mimi and I talked on the phone at least once a week and texted several times a day.
She was the mom I never had. I loved my mother, but our relationship worked by keeping our distance.
I was going to be successful, and she didn’t like it.
And that was that.
After dinner, we moved to the living room for coffee and dessert.
The living room was my favorite space in the house.
Tall windows overlooked the gardens. The furniture was very comfortable and was meant to be sat on rather than admired.
There was a fireplace that Mimi insisted on lighting even though it was May.
It just made everything cozy, even if it meant cranking the air-conditioner to keep from baking.
I was sitting on one of the couches, squeezed between Adrian and Sebastian, arguing about whether artificial intelligence would eventually replace fashion designers. It wouldn’t. That was my opinion, and I was sticking to it.
Adrian suddenly stood up. “Before we start on dessert, I’d like to say something.”
All eyes went to him. I looked at Mimi and then the brothers. They all looked just as confused.
“Elizabeth.” He moved to stand in front of me, and then—oh God—he was getting down on one knee.
I heard Mimi’s sharp intake of breath.
“Finally,” I heard Sebastian whispered.
“Holy shit,” Dash murmured.
“Wow.” Briggs let out a low whistle.
“I thought about doing this publicly,” Adrian said, pulling a small velvet box from his pocket. “Some big romantic gesture at a fashion show or in front of photographers. Make it an event.
“But then I realized that’s not us. Not anymore.” He smiled and glanced at his brothers. “We’ve had enough public moments. This should be private. Just us and family. Something real that’s not for the world to consume.”
Tears were already streaming down my face.
“You’ve changed my life, Elizabeth Laramie. You made me remember how to smile and how to feel. You showed me how to live instead of just existing. You pushed me to be better and braver. You showed me how to be the man I wanted to be instead of the one I thought I had to be.”
He opened the box, revealing a ring that was absolutely stunning. It was a large sapphire surrounded by diamonds. I loved that it wasn’t the classic diamond, but something just a little flashy.
“I love you. I’ve loved you since you walked a runway in New York to save my show. Maybe even before that, if I’m honest. And I want to spend the rest of my life loving you, supporting you, watching you design beautiful things and be the incredible person you are.”
He took a breath.
“Will you marry me, Laramie?”
It was his little rhyme that gave him such a kick in the very beginning. I started laughing through my tears, which probably wasn’t the reaction he expected, but I couldn’t help it.
“Yes,” I managed through the laughter and crying. “Yes, of course, yes. But only if I can design my own dress.”
“You can design a hundred dresses if you want.” He was laughing too now, sliding the ring onto my finger where it fit perfectly. “Whatever you want. Forever.”
Then he was standing and pulling me up and kissing me while his family cheered and whistled. Sebastian yelled something inappropriate about finally getting to plan a bachelor party.
When we finally broke apart, Mimi was crying.
Sebastian pulled me into a hug that lifted me off my feet. “Welcome to the family.”
“I thought I was already family.”
“You were. But now it’s official.” He grinned. “Which means I can really give you shit at family dinners.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Mimi hugged me next, holding on tight. “I’m so happy for you both. Your father would have loved her,” she said to Adrian.
“He would have,” Adrian agreed, his voice thick with emotion. “He would have said she’s exactly what I needed.”
“He would have been right.” Mimi kissed both our cheeks. “Now, let’s have some champagne to celebrate. Briggs, get the good stuff from your father’s cellar.”
The rest of the evening passed in a blur of champagne and toasts and planning. Mimi already had ideas for venues. Sebastian was insisting on a destination wedding, which I was absolutely against. Dash wanted to design the invitations.
Through it all, Adrian kept me close, kept looking at me like he couldn’t quite believe this was real.
I knew the feeling. It was too much. Too perfect. Too impossible.
“What are you thinking?” Adrian murmured in my ear during a break in the chaos.
“This feels like a dream. Like I’m going to wake up and be back in my old apartment, waiting tables, none of this real.”
“It’s real.” He lifted my left hand, where the sapphire caught the firelight. “See? Evidence.”
“I see it. I’m just having trouble believing it.”
“Believe it.” He kissed my temple. “You’re stuck with me now, Laramie. No takebacks.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Later, much later, when we’d finally escaped back to Adrian’s penthouse and collapsed onto his couch still dressed in our dinner clothes, I looked at the ring again.
“It’s perfect,” I said.
“So, about this dress you’re designing.”
“Oh, I have so many ideas.” I was already sketching in my mind. “Something romantic but modern. Classic silhouette but unexpected details. Maybe that heart motif from my logo worked into the lace.”
“You’re already designing it.”
“Of course I am. This is the most important dress I’ll ever make.” I looked up at him. “I want it to be perfect.”
“It will be. Because you’re making it.” He kissed me softly. “Just like everything else you create.”
“Adrian?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
“For proposing?” he asked.
“For taking a chance.”
“Thank you for saying yes. Both times.” He smiled against my hair. “Once when I asked you to be my fake fiancée, and now when I asked you to be my real wife.”
“Best decision I ever made. Both times.”
“Agreed.” He pulled back to look at me seriously. “I love you, future Mrs. Blackwell.”
“I love you too, future Mr. Laramie-Blackwell.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“We can hyphenate. Very modern.”
“Absolutely not.”
I laughed. He kissed me to shut me up. I couldn’t wait to start the rest of our lives together. A year ago, my big goal was getting a job in the fashion industry.
And now I was marrying the top dog in the industry and designing my own line.
And my own wedding dress.