Epilogue #2
The yard exploded in applause and Drew and Ellie were immediately swarmed with well wishes from everyone.
It hit me then. Not disappointment exactly. Just a readjustment of the moment I’d planned. And somehow that was okay. I was happy for my brother and Ellie.
Delaney and I stood back waiting for an opening. Her arm slid around my waist and mine around hers. “This is so sweet.”
“It is, “ I said.
Then she gave me a sassy grin, her hand sliding down my back to cup my ass. She gave it a quick squeeze, and then another one as a furrow between her brow appeared. “What’s in your pocket?”
I stilled for a second. “Nothing.”
She leaned, trying to look around me. “That was said suspiciously fast, Kingsley.”
“It wasn’t.” Damnit. I needed to distract her.
“Oh, you’re definitely hiding something.” Her eyes lit, wicked and curious. “Should I ask Glamma what’s going on?” She took a step away.
“Absolutely not.” I caught her hand before she could move any farther, tugging her back to me. She used the opportunity against me immediately, slipping her fingers into my back pocket.
I exhaled, dropping my forehead to hers. “Delaney.”
She leaned back and opened her palm. The key now rested in it, the bow slightly crushed. Her brows drew together. “Why do you have a key with a bow on it?”
I waited, watching the realization, as her eyes widened. “Is this for me?”
I nodded.
“Are you asking me to move in with you?” she whisper-yelled.
“I was,” I admitted. “Before—” I nodded toward Drew and Ellie.
She glanced over, then back at me, her expression softening. “I don’t think Drew planned that, either.”
Then she cupped my cheek and kissed me. “We can keep this between us,” she murmured. “But just so you know? You asking me to move in is incredibly hot.”
Despite everything, I laughed. “Good to know.”
Delaney tucked the key into her pocket. “No take-backsies.”
“Never.” I lifted my chin in the direction of Drew and Ellie. “Do you want that?”
“To be engaged? Have a baby?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I responded hesitantly, remembering the panic in her voice the night she thought I was proposing.
She studied me for a second, her gaze taking on a thoughtful look. “Someday.”
“With me?” I asked.
“Only you.” Her smile came slowly. Certain, though.
“Good. I want that, too.” I threaded our fingers together.
“Before that though, I want some time for just us. To enjoy being boyfriend and girlfriend for a little while before we become husband and wife. Or decide when a baby might fit into those plans.”
“I like the sound of that.” Relief moved through me knowing that she wanted the same thing.
She grinned. “Look at you, being flexible.”
“Don’t get used to it,” I said playfully.
“Too late,” she said, huffing out a laugh as I tickled her side before wrapping my arm around her.
“Just so you know,” I said, dropping my voice low enough that it was only for her. “I look forward to the day I can call you my wife.”
The word ran through me the moment I said it—wife. Heat hit me, and a shudder I didn’t bother to suppress. I hadn’t anticipated that. How much weight one word could carry when it was aimed at the right person.
Delaney’s eyes darkened. Her chin tipped up slightly.
“Is that so.” Not a question. A statement.
The particular tone that told me she was turning over the word in her mind and liked what she found.
“Maybe we can do some role-playing in the meantime.” Her mouth curved.
“Starting tonight. In celebration of us moving in together.”
“Anything you want,” I said, tightening my hold on her.
She held my gaze for one more second before she turned back around, toward my family—our family—slipping easily back into the noise and laughter. That beautiful brand of over-the-top-do-anything-for-you type energy we were known for.
Chaos pressed against her leg, bow tie askew. Delaney didn’t miss a beat, and reached down to fix it. And something in me settled so completely it took my breath away.
I’d spent most of my life in the measurable world.
Proved things. Documented outcomes. The comfort of knowing what the data said and building accordingly.
And then Delaney Hart walked back into my life and without my permission, and entirely without a plan, I’d started to see things I couldn’t account for.
The way certain moments arrived just at the right time.
The way Jem had left us these tiny clues about our relationship.
The way Delaney had decided to come back and how we’d both been willing to see past our hatred.
All of this somehow ended up being what I was missing without knowing it.
I didn’t have an explanation for any of it. And I’d stopped looking for one.
I loved how we fit, I loved how perfect my life was with her in it.
We’d been enemies for most of it. There would be times we’d disagree.
We would argue over the things that matter.
I was precise where she was go-with-the-flow.
And I was cautious where she led with both hands wide open.
But that was exactly why we worked … She reached for things that I held back on, and I steadied the things that she ran toward too fast. And somewhere beneath all the differences, we found something that worked for us.
I thought about the key in her pocket, the slightly crushed bow, and how it felt right having her here in this home with me.
I thought about the house that had been renovated exactly to my specifications and how it had always felt like it was waiting for one more thing.
I thought about a goat who had chosen her the moment he laid eyes on her, even if he was being difficult, and who, frankly, had better instincts than I’d given him credit for.
Across the yard, Drew and Ellie were glowing, surrounded by family and the beginning of their next chapter already written in the way they kept finding each other’s eyes. My brother had found his person.
So had I—twenty years later than I might have chosen, by a route I never would’ve planned, through every argument, misunderstanding, and careful distance I’d built—and she’d eventually dismantled without even trying.
Someday I would ask Delaney to marry me properly. There would be a moment—slow and unhurried, planned—and it would be exactly as it was meant to be. I held her tighter and smiled. This ordinary, extraordinary moment, in the life we were building was enough. It was exactly right.