Epilogue
ANNA
I hated these things. I knew it was for a good cause, and I wanted to be charitable, but I hated auctioning myself off.
It was just for lunch with me, and it was at a predetermined restaurant—a place that was allowing us to eat for free as their donation. Archer was here and was my backup plan.
A few years ago, I had an elderly woman bid on lunch with me because she always wanted to be a news anchor but never got the opportunity.
She bought the lunch because she was super wealthy and just wanted to ask me questions about my career.
If that woman, or someone like her, did the bidding, I was perfectly fine with that.
This was to benefit a local foster youth charity, so I wanted whoever would bid the highest to win…
with one exception. That exception was if it was someone creepy.
So, my backup plan, just in case the person bidding turned out to be a creep, was Archer . I told him I would give him a certain look and he would know to make a bid.
Dan was also here to be auctioned off, though he was excited about it. People loved to talk sports and loved to ask him about all the famous athletes he had interviewed during his career. Dan was usually the one who got the highest bid because men and women alike wanted to have lunch with him.
The bidding had already begun and the first few people up were local celebrity chefs, authors, or artists.
They each netted several hundred dollars to even a few thousand, which was great.
There were a few other local TV personalities and one radio host who were also up.
It was my turn next, and I was admittedly nervous.
“We’ll start the bidding at one hundred dollars,” the auctioneer began. “ Do I have one hundred dollars?”
A few paddles went up, and I scoped the room trying to see who had their bidding paddle up. There were two women and a couple of men, so I kept calm hoping all of them were normal people and not weirdos.
The auctioneer kept going, getting up to one thousand dollars rather quickly, before I noticed it was four main paddles vying for the lunch.
I squinted my eyes to see who they were.
I recognized Archer since he was sitting in the fourth row on the far left.
But there were two other men near the front whom I did not recognize.
There was also one man in the far back who kept sticking his paddle up but was also standing up every time.
It made me chuckle because that was not necessary.
So either he didn’t know that, or he was standing up to see in front of him since he was all the way in the back.
“Fourteen hundred. Do I have fourteen hundred?” the auctioneer yelled. “ I have fourteen. Do I have fifteen hundred? Fifteen hundred. Do I have sixteen hundred?”
I squinted, realizing it was between Archer and the man in the back. When his paddle went down, I realized it was Axel who was bidding from the back.
Why in the world were Archer and Axel competing for this?
I only told Archer to do it if he felt it was up against some creepy dude I didn’t know.
“Eighteen hundred. Do I have eighteen hundred?” the auctioneer yelled again. “ Eighteen . Do I have nineteen hundred?”
Okay, this was getting out of hand. I tossed a look at Archer , hopefully telling him to stop. He didn’t. He just smiled back at me.
“Two thousand. I have two thousand. Do I have twenty-one hundred?”
Finally, after giving him another look, he put his paddle down.
“Twenty-two hundred. Do I have twenty-three hundred? Going once, going twice, sold for twenty-two hundred dollars.” The auctioneer slammed the gavel on the podium, and people clapped.
I walked down to meet the winner— Axel —who was beaming.
“I winned,” he said, smiling from ear to ear. Axel’s English was getting better, but every now and then he still struggled with some slang terms, grammar, or linguistic structure.
I chuckled at his excitement. “ You didn’t have to bid that much. You both could have stopped several hundred dollars before that when the other man dropped out.”
“Yes, but now I get to have a good lunch, and hopefully you will feel obligated to go curling with me again since I help your charity,” Axel said, looking hopeful.
I laughed at his plan as Archer walked up next to us. “ I would have gone curling with you for free,” I told Axel .
“Yes, but this is for a good cause, so we are both winners,” Axel said. Grinning ear to ear.
“I have an idea,” I told him. “ I’ll make you a deal. In exchange for buying this lunch, I’ll take you curling and treat you to the Swedish bakery I told you about.”
I’m not sure how his face could light up any further, but it did. “ I accept this idea,” he responded.
“Good. I’m excited,” I told him, smiling.
“Yes, me also,” he replied.
He turned to go to the booth to make his payment, and Archer slid his arm around me as we stood behind the auction area.
“What do I get for second place?” he asked me, curling me into his body and wrapping me up in a hug.
“An A for effort,” I said, smiling at him.
“That’s it?” he scoffed, acting offended.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked him.
“Lots of things, actually,” he responded in a lower voice, grinning lasciviously. “ Naked things.”
“Hmmm… I’ll think about it,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady as I pretended to be uninterested.
I watched as Archer’s grin got even bigger. He likely knew I was bluffing. Blast this man for knowing my inner thoughts.
Archer released me from his embrace as Axel came back to where we were standing and pulled out his phone. “ Okay , Archer , I am ready.”
He held the phone up as though to take our picture. I turned to Archer to find out what he was talking about and saw Archer down on one knee.
“I didn’t do this right the first or second time, so I’m hoping the third time is the charm,” Archer said, holding out a small jewelry box. “ Anna , will you marry me again—forever this time—and make me the happiest man in the world?”
I stared down at the jewelry box in his hand, opened to what I was sure was the most beautiful ring, though I couldn’t see it very well because my eyes were clouding up with unshed happy tears. “ Yes , Archer , I’ll marry you—again.”
He smiled and then stood and leaned in to kiss me.
“Okay, I got the whole thing on my phone camera, but I stopped when you started kissing because it was weird feeling for me to record that,” Axel interrupted.
I chuckled against Archer’s lips and felt him smile in return. I took another look at the ring, trying to see what it was. There was a large square diamond in the middle, surrounded by two different-colored gemstones. I recognized the one as turquoise.
“Is that my birthstone?” I asked him, recognizing the December birthstone.
“Yes,” Archer responded. “ And my birthstone, ruby, next to it. Both our birthstones together, forever.”
Oh my God .
“It also matches the rubies in your band,” he said. The same band I hadn’t taken off since we came back from Vegas .
I hadn’t wanted to. As odd as our relationship had been over the years, it also just felt right.
I kept staring down at the ring, smiling, but it was getting harder to see it since more tears were coming now—happy tears.
“I love it,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I love you ,” Archer said in return, causing me to look up at him. He was also very blurry but still the most wonderful sight I had ever seen.
“I love you, too,” I told him before kissing him, pouring everything I was feeling in that moment into that kiss.
“Good,” Archer said, removing his lips from mine. “ Then take me home and show me what the second-place prize includes.”
I laughed and then did exactly that. We went home, and I showed him just how much he meant to me.
* * *
Five months later, we were married in his backyard. It was late April , so it was warm but not too hot yet.
It was a low-key affair with everyone from Ranger Shield Security in attendance, plus my entire family, Talia and Dan , and Hector . I’d insisted that Hector come since we likely wouldn’t be here without him.
Archer’s cousin Vince was his best man. Not wanting to pick between all my sisters and piss one of them off, I chose Sara as my maid of honor instead.
Yes , it prevented an argument with my sisters, but just like Hector , I likely wouldn’t be marrying Archer today if it weren’t for Sara . So I wanted her by my side.
This time, I had bought a real dress—a wedding gown I had always pictured myself in.
A strapless gown that poofed out at the waist—like a true princess ball gown.
There was so much tulle fabric in this dress, I was amazed the factory didn’t run out.
Other than the bottom half of the dress being huge, it was rather simple.
The bodice of the gown, however, was filled with beads, rhinestones, and lace.
I loved it. I never wore such intricate things like this, but it felt appropriate for today, so I’d let myself splurge.
“Your dress is all messed up in the back. Let me fix it,” Sara said behind me in the bathroom as I was finishing getting ready.
“Girl, don’t you dare mess her hair up fixing that dress,” Valentino threatened from beside us. “ That took me over an hour to perfect!”
“I won’t, I promise,” Sara calmly informed him.
“You better not,” Valentino grumbled.
I chuckled as Sara delicately adjusted the hook and eye closure on the back of my dress without messing up my beautiful hair. Valentino , excited to do something different than how he styled me at work, had curled my hair and then pinned half of it up so it was out of my face.
“She is beauty…she is grace,” Valentino began to say.
“She is Miss United States ,” I finished the sentence for him, quoting one of our favorite movies, Miss Congeniality .
“Alright, it’s time,” Sara said. “ You ready?”
“Absolutely,” I said, smiling back at her.