Epilogue One
Eight Months Later
I hit the passenger door with my hip, hoisting the box in my arms. Today, Leif and I moved into our new house.
A few months ago, he was working on a restaurant renovation and would pass this cute little cottage every day.
The white siding and double bay windows look familiar to the beach shack I shared with Lex, but the front garden is filled with roses in every colour.
Leif had smiled at the house each time he passed it until one day, he drove past and saw a For Sale sign perched in front of the white picket fence.
He stopped straight away and knocked on the door, asking the owners every question he could think of, including how much he would need to pay over the asking price to take the sign down that very day.
When he brought me here later that week, I fell in love.
It’s a little closer to the salon, which is a plus, and it has a workshop in the back garden. It felt like a grownup house for a grownup couple who were slowly working at bringing their two lives together as one.
He and Mason have been renovating it over the last few months to add on an extension.
A new kitchen and living area, two more bedrooms and another bathroom. I can’t imagine why we need so much room. The existing house already had three bedrooms. When I asked Leif why we would need more, he just bobbed his eyebrows at me and winked.
I’m sad at the thought of not living with my bestie, but we’re both moving into the next phase of our lives.
We still make time for each other, and Sunday morning breakfasts at Sweet Escape have become a staple. Our little girl gang has expanded over the last few months to include Liv, and her daughter, Daisy. Westley’s sister, Callie moved to Heart City right before her daughter was born. Every now and then, when we need a girls’ night, we manage to convince Westley and Leif to be on baby duty.
I won’t tell Leif yet, but being surrounded by the babies definitely makes me think of making our own babies together.
I’m happy with just the two of us for now, though.
Working on our businesses, constantly learning about each other, and melding our families together.
Our mothers have become good friends, and now that Leif has a girlfriend and the twins have been travelling around Europe, Freya’s set her sights upon finding a man for Mum.
Mum finds the thought repulsive, but at least twice a month, they go out together and regularly, Lex, Liv, Callie, and I crash their girls’ nights. I think Mum’s starting to warm up to the idea of not being so alone.
I step onto the timber porch, brushing my shoes against the welcome mat before stepping into the house.
As you walk in, there’s a formal dining room on the left and a lounge room on the right, both overlooking the lush garden. The scent of roses follows you everywhere you go.
I move further into the house, passing the staircase that leads up to the master bedroom.
There are two spare bedrooms and a bathroom beyond that, and a new kitchen, dining and lounge room in the new extension. I place the box down on the floor, wondering why it’s so quiet.
When I left for the last box, the house was still full, with Leif, Tristan and William unloading furniture from the moving truck. Freya and Mum were emptying boxes in the kitchen and Lex and I were cleaning the bathroom before loading up all my stuff. I realised I was missing a box and wanted to go back to get it so we could set the room up properly. Lex said she’d go get us all some pizzas for an early dinner, but now the house is eerily empty.
“Hello?” I call to the space, but it mostly echoes back at me since only the bare bones of furniture fill the rooms.
“Hey, Bombshell.” I whip around at the cool, honeyed voice of my boyfriend. Now standing casually in the kitchen.
“Hey. When did you get there?” He just smiles and slides an orange cocktail, topped with a cherry, over the bench in front of the barstool.
“Thought we’d like to have a celebratory drink.” He rounds the island, his own beer in hand, and pulls on my hand, tugging me over to join him.
I look around, still confused where everyone else is.
“Okay. Where is everyone?”
“They’ll be back soon,” he reassures me. “I made your favourite.” He tilts his chin to my drink.
I look down at the ombre of red and orange liquid in my glass.
“A sex on the beach?”
He picks up the drink, holding it out for me to accept, clinking his beer against it once it’s firmly in my hands. A smirk coats his face, and to be honest, he’s being really fucking weird.
I take a sip of my cocktail, keeping my eyes on him before I turn in my seat, looking out the back windows.
“Is Tristan waiting to jump out and scare me or something?”
Leif shakes his head and picks up my free hand, placing a kiss against it before smiling at me with the adoring stare he’s mastered.
“I asked everyone to give us a few minutes,” he says.
My back stiffens. “What? Why?”
He puts his beer down on the counter and then takes my glass to join it before standing in front of me.
He swivels my chair around, clinging to my left hand as he kneels down.
“So I could do this.”
Tears instantly fill my eyes as I look at the love of my life down on one knee before me. I cover my face with my free hand, trying desperately not to ugly girl cry right now.
“Look at me, Claire,” Leif whispers.
I suck up the tears and look down at him, his bright eyes glistening as he smiles at me.
“A little over a year ago,” is as far as he gets before I’m full on blubbering.
I feel a long kiss press against my hand, still gripped in his. “Baby,” he coos, trying to bring me back to him.
I can feel snot running out of my nose and I just don’t know how anyone could want to ask me the question I know Leif is about to ask.
I wipe my arm under my nose, demanding myself to bring it together before I look down at Leif again.
He smiles and starts again. “A little over a year ago—”
It’s embarrassing to be myself right now.
“Fuck, Claire.” Leif laughs. “Will you marry me?”
I wail and nod, but Leif just laughs into my neck as he wraps himself around me.
“Do you know how long I’ve been practising that, Bombshell?” He rocks me gently, a hand held against my head while the other strokes up and down my back. “That was barely a quarter of my speech.” He laughs.
When my tears finally settle down, he pulls back to swipe them away.
“I love you, Claire.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper.
He reaches into his back pocket, pulling out a black velvet box with a smile.
I wipe at my face as he pops the lid, showing a rose gold band littered with diamonds. A huge, glittering pink teardrop diamond sits in the middle, with more diamonds bordering it.
Like two fumbling idiots, we smile at each other as Leif places the ring on my finger. Smiling and laughing at each other, I jump into his arms, wrapping my limbs around him, never wanting to let go.
I don’t know how long we stand together, but it feels like forever.