Epilogue - Thirteen Months Later
A ny visit to Coffee Loft is a treat, whether it happens at the beginning of your day, or at the end . ~ Merry Hill
A freshly cut Douglas fir towering above them in Cal’s living room stood as a noble audience to the chaos playing out around it. She and Cal sat cross-legged on the floor in front of it on Christmas Eve amidst a flurry of animals and torn wrapping paper.
Ridley, giddy with a new beef bone, dashed around the room with Peaches in hot pursuit. Ornaments swung on the tree branches each time they completed a lap around the room’s perimeter. Daisy, who’d pawed at Peaches’ bag of doggie dental sticks earlier, had secretly carried the package onto the highest shelf flanking the fireplace. The cat looked down at the mayhem in willful disdain while tearing into the bag. Bits of packaging floated to the floor like metallic blue snowflakes.
Ginger pulled back the tissue paper of Cal’s gifts for Daisy and Peaches, smiling at the matching turquoise dog and cat collars studded with rhinestones nestled in the bottom of the box. She held them up, barely able to contain a laugh.
“Daisy and Peaches will love these, I’m sure.” She nodded to the gift next to Cal. “Now open Ridley’s.”
Cal let out a whoop when he unwrapped Ridley's gift. A much larger dog collar, purple with a dangling silver paw charm, was inscribed with “Coffee and Canines—the Pawfect Blend.”
“Great minds think alike,” he said, turning it over in his hands. Cal called over Ridley and switched out his collar. Once Cal snapped it in place, the dog seemed to know he wore a slicker version of the old one, judging by the jaunty steps he took between Cal and his dog bed to get back to his new bone.
“Now I feel bad. Maybe I should have their collars inscribed, too,” he said. “How about ‘Coffee and Cats—the Purrfect Blend’ for Daisy?”
She chuckled. “Daisy would be offended. She doesn’t want to be paired with anything. She’s an independent woman.”
“Of course, she is.” He rolled his eyes before his gaze settled on her again. He took her hand, grinning as he looked down and clasped his fingers between hers. “Speaking of independent women, I was at a loss when it came time to shop for you. ”
A pang of disappointment pinched her insides. She’d had trouble shopping for him, too, but she finally settled on a smart mug so his coffee at home never went cold. She’d had it personalized, too. It wasn’t anything elegant; he was admittedly a practical guy.
“That’s okay. I didn’t really expect?”
He brought his hand out from around his back. “So I bought the one I liked best and told the jeweler I might be exchanging it…er, we might be exchanging it for something you’ll love more.”
The little black box with a silver crown etched into the lid wasn’t even opened yet and she was already nodding her head yes. Happy tears blurred her vision so much that when she looked up at Cal, he was all wavy, as if a vintage pane of glass stood between them.
“I looked at three different stores, and this is the closest I could find to something as beautiful as you.” He got off the floor and reached for her to pull her up, too. When she was on her feet, he chuckled as he plucked the ring from its velvet-lined resting place.
“Will you marry me, Ginger?”
A teardrop diamond ring surrounded by a halo of smaller diamonds winked at her. She swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat as she looked up at him, and found him struggling to keep the smile contained to his face. He looked near to bursting, his cheeks plumped with the widest grin, as he slipped it onto her finger.
Ginger threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his collar.
“Yes,” she breathed. It was the only word she could manage at the moment. Her throat constricted, and a little happy sob escaped.
“Is it too big? I’ll take it back. I had no idea what I was doing, and the guy kept bringing out more and more until I was totally flustered, but then I felt a little pressured because the place got busy while I was in there, and…this was the one I picked.” He said all of this into her hair, and she couldn’t keep from laughing at his excited babbling.
“It’s what I would’ve picked, too,” she finally said in a throaty whisper, pulling away so she could see how perfect it looked on her hand.
His brows knitted together. “Really?”
She nodded and dabbed at the tears pricking the corners of her eyes. “Really.”
Cal cupped her face between his hands and brushed her lips with a kiss.
“You have no idea how much I love you,” he whispered as he rested his forehead against hers. “If you knew even a fraction of the amount, it might scare you.”
“Never. It would just make me want more.” She pulled him into a hug again and splayed her fingers over his shoulder to marvel at the ring, at what it symbolized.
Together. For a lifetime .
“I wouldn’t complain,” he said.
They walked over to the front window. Cal shut off the lamp, and they stared at the wintry scene outside. Freshly fallen snow and a full moon lit the lawn with a dazzling luminescence. Daisy must have sensed the momentous occasion because she leapt down from the shelf, landing on the armchair behind Cal. She placed her two paws on his hip, as if bestowing her blessing on the happy arrangement.
Cal shifted to scratch Daisy’s head.
She suppressed a laugh. “I think she’s asking about her role in the wedding already.”
“She’ll insist on being in charge of something, I’m sure,” he said.
“How about keeping you as close to me as possible?”
Cal looped an arm around her waist, drawing her closer, and kissed her again. It fired every nerve ending in her body. She couldn’t imagine a time in the future when it wouldn’t.
Future .
That seemed so surreal, so perfect.
His eyes burned into her when he drew back.
“That, Future-Mrs.-Donner, should never be a problem.”