Epilogue
ARLAND
Over the moon that Mariam had said yes, I kissed her until we were both panting, our naked bodies pressed together and my tip much too close to her entrance. Groaning as I broke my mouth away from hers, I reached for her hand again and finally slid the ring onto her finger, overcome by far too many emotions at the sight of it there. It even made me momentarily forget how much I wanted her.
A lump formed in my throat as I stroked my thumb over the ring. My gaze hovered there for a moment before I looked back into her eyes. “I promise you a life full of joy and family, Mimi. I promise you a life full of travel and adventure, of exploring places some have never even heard of and of being on the night shift together once we have a baby. Everything you want, I will give you if it’s in my power to do so, and if it’s not, I will move heaven and earth to give it to you anyway.”
Fat tears welled on her eyelids. She pressed her lips to mine in a much gentler kiss this time. “Did my brother know that you were planning on proposing?”
I nodded. “I even asked for his permission. I haven’t asked your dad, though. I suppose I should probably do that.”
Eyes loving and tender on mine, she shook her head and squeezed my hand. “I practically raised myself. The only person whose permission you need to marry me is me, and you have that, but I’m glad you asked Brian. I know how much he probably appreciates it.”
“He seemed excited for us,” I murmured before I groaned again and rolled away from her. “Alright, fiancée. Let’s get that breakfast before we end up staying in bed all day.”
“What’s wrong with staying in bed all day?” She watched me get up and collect the room service menu from the dresser across the room. “Isn’t that what newly engaged people are supposed to do?”
I chuckled and carried the menu back to bed. Mariam had the sheets pulled up to her chest, but the knowledge that she was naked under there made it damn difficult to stick to my guns about this.
“If it was up to me, we would be staying in bed all day,” I said honestly. “All week. Maybe even all month.”
“It is up to you.”
I shook my head, leaning over to press a chaste kiss to her swollen lips. “All your family and friends are here in Austin, and we don’t know when you’ll be coming back once you leave here this time. Christmas was the last trip you had planned here for the foreseeable future, am I right?”
“Yeah, but…” She trailed off before she dragged in a deep, shuddering breath. “That’s right.”
“Exactly, and as it is, you were going to cut your time here short to be with me, but now I’m here with you and I’d love to get to know everybody. I won’t take away this precious time you had planned with your people, Mimi. That’s just not me.”
She paused for a beat, then smiled against my lips. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”
“Yeah, but I’m never going to get tired of hearing it,” I replied before I remembered about breakfast. “Let’s order some food. Then you can tell me everything I need to know before we head out.”
“Do we have to?” she complained playfully. “Can’t we just spend some time with them tomorrow?”
“That depends.” I opened the menu and set it down between us on the bed. “When is Laurel going back to Franklin?”
Mariam sighed. “Day after tomorrow, but she’s flying out first thing in the morning, so she’s really only got today and tomorrow left here.”
“How about Gemma?” I asked.
She shot a quick glance at the grandfather clock in the corner. “I’m pretty sure she and Noah are already gone. They had an early flight to New York.”
“That’s a pity,” I said, and I meant it. “I was looking forward to getting know all of them in person. I even Googled City Lights on my flight over here so I would know who the hell this Noah guy is. I was afraid I’d look like an old fart if I didn’t know why he’s such a big deal.”
She giggled. “You would’ve looked like an old fart, but he’d never have made you feel that way. Noah is pretty cool for someone so famous.”
“How about me?” I asked teasingly. “Am I pretty cool for an old fart?”
She winked. “The coolest.”
I smiled as I returned my gaze to the menu. “First things first, what are we eating?”
“Pancakes and bacon,” she said without skipping a beat. “On second thought, if I’m going to have to fit into a wedding dress anytime soon, maybe it should be fruit and?—”
“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” I growled, dropping the menu to grab her hips. “You’re perfect exactly the way you are. You’re the sexiest, most beautiful woman on the face of this earth and I don’t want you thinking that you have to change a single thing about yourself just for the sake of a dress.”
She narrowed her eyes playfully before she nipped at my lips. “Why don’t you prove it, then? Show me how sexy you think I am.”
I groaned and flattened her body on the mattress beneath my own. “Well played, Mimi. Well fucking played.”
Ignoring my resolve not to keep her in bed all day when she could be with the people she loved, I did what she asked, spending the next couple hours showing her exactly how perfect I found her to be. When we finally came up for air, we ordered an early lunch instead of breakfast and then we headed over to Deb’s, where Leif and Laurel were apparently catching her up on his plans to move to Franklin.
“When she texted me, she said they’d be at Deb’s all afternoon,” Mariam said as we parked in front of the big house belonging to Laurel’s mother.
The woman was an author I’d never heard of, but judging by the size of this place, she had to be a pretty big deal. Deciding that I’d look her up later to find out who she was, I reached over and squeezed Mariam’s hand. “I’m sure they’re here.”
“I don’t see their cars, but maybe they’re parked in the garage.” She fidgeted with her fingers a little bit and I frowned.
“Are you nervous?”
Mariam laughed and shook her head, turning to face me. She brought her hands to my neck and cupped it gently, her gaze firmly on mine. “I am. I don’t want Laurel to think that we’re stealing their thunder. They only got engaged yesterday, for heaven’s sake, and they’ve been together forever. With a few years’ break in between, that is.”
“We don’t have to tell them today,” I said, but my insides rebelled against the idea of keeping it quiet. “It’s up to you. Just let me know what to say if someone asks this time.”
She smiled. “We’re definitely telling them. I just hope they’ll know that I’m still going to support them and to be available for anything they need for their wedding.”
“From what you’ve told me about them, I’m sure they’re going to be thrilled for us. You’ve never made them seem like the jealous type, or the type that would feel like you’re trying to one-up them.”
“You’re right.” She inhaled and exhaled and then grinned at me. “You’re so right. I’m just being silly. They’re going to be so happy for us. Let’s go.”
Laurel opened the door for us. Almost as if she’d known to look for it, her dark eyes zeroed in on the ring on Mariam’s finger and she shrieked. “Oh my gosh! Leif! Mom! Come look what Mimi’s got.”
She tossed her arms around Mariam’s shoulders, pulling her in for a tight hug that ended with the two of them squealing and jumping up and down together. Leif chuckled when he saw them, then stuck his hand out toward me.
“Congratulations,” he said warmly. “Welcome to the family. They’re crazy but super fun.”
“We’re not crazy.” Deb punched him in the arm as she came up behind him, but she didn’t stop at his side like I’d expected her to. “We’re just authentic. We’re true to ourselves and I know you love it.”
She said the last sentence to him over her shoulder but didn’t stop walking until she was right in front of me. Looking up into my eyes with sincere, motherly joy, she opened her arms to let me know what she intended to do. Then she hugged me.
“Be good to our girl, Arland. I know you will be because I’ve heard so darn much about you, but I have to say it anyway. Take care of her. She’s one of a kind and I don’t want her heart broken, you hear?”
“I wouldn’t dream of doing that,” I promised as I hugged her, already feeling strangely fond of this woman even though I’d only met her yesterday. “Thank you for always being there for her, Deb. It means the world to her, which means that it means everything to me now, too.”
“You’re both very welcome, but there’s no thanks necessary. I might not have given birth to her, but she’s a daughter to me.”
Laurel finally released Mariam but immediately grabbed her hand to inspect the ring. Deb went over to hug them both at the same time, murmuring to them for a few seconds before they came to rejoin Leif and me.
We stayed with them for the rest of the day, the girls dreaming out loud about the weddings and our futures while Leif and I talked and got to know each other. He was a good guy. I liked him. Deb eventually left us to do some writing, but came back around dinnertime and announced we were ordering in.
Celebrating with them felt almost like celebrating with the people I was closest to, but we would do that once we got back home. We’d video called my mom, my siblings, and Brian already, though. Tomorrow, we would tackle the Walkers.
“What about Gemma?” I asked when we walked back into the hotel.
Mariam smiled. “I want to tell Gem in person. She’s bound to be swamped with arranging that event for New Year’s. But if you’ve got time, we might need to take a trip to New York soon. Or maybe it’ll be Nashville. I’m not really sure where they’ll be on January first. I’m going to need to tell her as soon as the event is behind them, though. Otherwise, she’ll never forgive me.”
“Just let me know where we need to fly to, and I’ll make the arrangements,” I promised, my heart soaring at the fact that she’d said we needed to take the trip.
With how close she was to her friends, I’d been wondering if they would turn it into an opportunity for another girls’ trip. I wouldn’t have blamed them, but I was excited to go with her. I still needed to get to know Gemma. She was the one who had pushed me to keep Mariam company her first night in Idaho.
I owed her a lot for playing Cupid.
For the next couple days, we spent time with Mariam’s friends and family, and then we flew back to Sun Valley together. When we arrived at the Chalet late in the afternoon, I was surprised at the amount of cars parked in the visitors’ lot.
Our overnight guests had a different parking area, either next to their respective lodges or under covered spots on the far side of the building. I looked around, curious about why there were so many people at the restaurant. “Think your brother organized an event he forgot to tell us about?”
Mariam chuckled. “Either that or word has gotten out about Carl’s mashed potatoes. I could eat only that for the rest of my life and never tire of them.”
“He told me his secret,” I said. “Sour cream.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, that’s what he said.” I shrugged. “Unless he was yanking my chain.”
“I’m the only one who gets to yank your chain from now on,” she said, playfully narrowing her eyes at me.
“You don’t have to be jealous of Carl. I’m all yours.”
“Good.”
When we walked in, I saw my whole family, all our coworkers, and friends, and I knew immediately that this wasn’t about mashed potatoes. Everybody burst into applause when they saw us and Mariam stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide as her hands shot up to cover her mouth.
“What is this?” she asked breathlessly. “Did you know about any of this?”
“I wish I had organized this,” I said. “But I can’t take credit.”
“This is your engagement party,” Brian said, appearing at his sister’s side and pulling her into a big hug, smooshing her face against his chest. “To answer your question, he didn’t know about it. We wanted to surprise you. Congratulations, you crazy kids.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she took in the scene. “Thank you, Brian. I can’t believe you did all this for us.”
“Well, I had a little help from your friends, and a lot of help from the Stones. Lillian and Mrs. Stone have practically been sleeping here. She’s way more nurturing than our mom. I want to adopt her.”
“We’ll be in-laws soon enough.” Mom came up and patted my cheek, giving me a teary smile as she held my gaze. “We wanted to celebrate your love at the place where it all began. Congratulations, baby. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”
All choked up, I didn’t reply, simply reaching for her small frame and tugging her into a hug. I held her for a long time before I finally had to release her so I could hug my sister too. Then my brothers, their wives, all my nieces, nephews, and friends.
Well, minus one brother, to my profound relief.
It was almost midnight by the time we finally got to bed, and as I lay Mariam down, I looked into her eyes and I honestly couldn’t believe that I would get to love her for the rest of my life. I trusted her fully, which I never thought I would be able to do again. As I pulled her into my side, I finally allowed myself to believe that this beautiful, incredible young woman was really mine.
“So,” I whispered just before I sensed we were both about to fall asleep. “Where are we traveling to first?”
She let out a sleepy giggle and cuddled into me. “I don’t know yet, my love. We’ll have to make a list. Those have been working out pretty well for me lately.”
I chuckled and pressed a kiss to her temple, knowing it was a play on the Naughty List she’d made with her friends. Honestly, I didn’t know if she would have come home with me that first night if not for the list, so it had worked out pretty damn great for me too.
“You got it,” I murmured. “We’ll make a list of our very own and we won’t stop traveling until we’ve visited every last place on it, and then, when we’re done, we’ll come right back here and I’ll keep putting babies in you until you beg me to stop.”
“An even dozen,” she murmured lazily, glancing up at me through gorgeous but tired eyes. “And then we’ll have our happily ever after?”
I shook my head. “No, my love. Our happily ever after starts right here. Tonight. Like my mom said, in the place where it all began. Hell, I started living mine as soon as I met you.”
She let out a happy sigh and closed her eyes. “So did mine, Arland. Every minute with you has been my happily ever after. I’m just really glad we get to live it in public now.”
Honestly? So was I. There had been a time when I thought we would never get here, but now that we were, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Mariam and I belonged together and now the entire world could finally know about it.
***