Chapter 44
forty-four
. . .
Violet
“Whitley, what are we doing?”
I’m currently being dragged against my will through every shop in town.
“Why can’t we just stay at the house and watch movies?” I groan, my feet already aching from the three boutiques she’s dragged me through. “It’s New Year’s Eve. We should be relaxing before tonight.”
Whitley barely glances my way, her attention fixed on a display of sparkly earrings. “Because you need something fabulous to wear tonight. Your wardrobe is begging for an intervention.”
“My wardrobe is perfectly fine,” I protest, but she’s already shoving a sequined dress at me that would make a disco ball look understated.
“Try this on.”
“Whit, we’re not going to a club. We’re just having a small gathering at the house.”
She waves her hand dismissively. “Small gathering, big moment. Same difference.”
Something about her tone makes me pause. “What do you mean, ‘big moment’?”
Her eyes widen before she recovers. “It’s New Year’s Eve! The biggest night of the year! New beginnings and all that jazz.” She shoves me toward the dressing room. “Now go try this on before I physically dress you myself.”
I reluctantly step into the dressing room, clutching the sequined monstrosity that Whitley seems determined to pour me into. As I slide the dress over my head, I catch my reflection in the mirror and wince. I look like I’m auditioning for a Vegas show.
“Let me see!” Whitley calls from outside.
I step out, arms crossed over my chest. “I look ridiculous.”
She tilts her head, studying me with narrowed eyes. “Hmm, maybe a bit much for a house party. But we’re getting closer! Go back in there and get naked. I saw a few other ones I want you to try on.”
While I’m still cringing in the dressing room mirror, Whitley disappears and returns in a flash, draping more dresses over the dressing room door.
“Try the green one first,” she instructs.
I sigh but comply, slipping into an emerald silk dress that falls just above my knees. The material is luxurious against my skin, but the neckline is so low I’m afraid to breathe too deeply.
“Not this one, either,” I call out. “I’d spend the whole night tugging it up.”
She huffs on the other side of the door. “Fine. Try the blue one next.”
I shed the green dress and turn to the blue one in question, pulling it on. The fabric hugs my curves without being too tight, and the length is perfect. When I turn to see the back, I notice it dips low enough to be interesting without being too scandalous.
I step out of the dressing room, and Whitley’s jaw actually drops. “Holy shit, you’re so hot. Weapon level hot.”
“Whit, what does that even—”
“Doesn’t matter. Yes, yes, yes. Keep this one.”
I turn, examining myself in the three-way mirror. The deep blue fabric catches the light as I move. “You think?”
“I know,” she says with conviction. “Rowan’s going to swallow his tongue when he sees you in this.”
“It is really pretty,” I admit, smoothing my hands over the silky material.
“Pretty? Violet, it’s perfect. It’s like this dress was waiting for you.” She circles me, nodding with approval. “You need to get it. I won’t accept any other answer.”
I check the price tag and wince. “It’s a bit more than I wanted to spend…”
“For a dress that makes your ass look like that? It’s a bargain.” Whitley crosses her arms. “Besides, Rowan deserves a little reward for being so good lately.”
I laugh. “You make him sound like a puppy.”
“Indeed. A very well-trained one, at that,” she quips.
I buy the dress, and as it turns out, future me will be very glad I did.
The blue silk dress clings to my curves as I navigate through the house, searching for Rowan. I haven’t seen him for the past twenty minutes, which is concerning since our house isn’t that big, despite there being a decent crowd in here.
“Have you seen Rowan?” I ask, catching Whitley’s arm.
“Last I saw, he was on the back deck with Beau.” She checks her watch, eyes widening. “It’s almost 11:50. I should go…check on the music.”
Before I can question her suspicious behavior, she disappears into the crowd.
I weave through the living room. The house is full of familiar faces—friends we’ve known for years, a few of Rowan’s colleagues from his new security consulting business, and some of my coworkers from the veterinary clinic. Everyone’s laughing, drinking, waiting for midnight.
The door to the back porch is cracked open, letting in a wisp of cold air. I step outside, the chill immediately raising goosebumps on my exposed skin. The porch is empty except for Beau, who’s leaning against the railing with a beer in hand.
“Hey,” I say, hugging myself against the cold. “Have you seen Rowan?”
Beau straightens up. “Uh, he said something about checking on Echo.”
“Now?” I frown. “It’s freezing out here.”
Echo is perfectly fine in her heated stable with her winter blanket. Rowan wouldn’t just disappear when we have a house full of people.
Beau just shrugs. “Yup…I guess you could go check up on him.”
“Okay…” I say slowly. “I’ll do that.”
I head back inside to grab my coat. Something feels off. First Whitley’s strange behavior, now Rowan disappearing to the stables minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve?
The night air bites at my cheeks as I make my way across the yard, my heels crunching on the frozen grass. The stable door is cracked open, warm light spilling out into the darkness.
“Rowan?” I call, pushing the door wider.
I stop dead in my tracks. The stable has been transformed. Dozens of string lights hang from the rafters, casting a soft golden glow over everything. Rose petals form a path down the center aisle, and Echo stands in her stall, adorned with a wreath of winter flowers around her neck.
And there, at the end of the rose petal path, stands Rowan.
My heart stops.
“Rowan, what is all this?” I whisper, taking a tentative step forward.
He offers that crooked smile that still makes my stomach flip after all this time. “Come here,” he says softly.
I walk toward him, rose petals brushing against my heels as I make my way toward him.
“I know I said it earlier, but I’ll say it again. You look beautiful,” he says when I reach him, his eyes taking in the blue silk dress that Whitley was so insistent I buy. “Absolutely stunning.”
“You planned this with Whitley, didn’t you?” I say, suddenly understanding her strange behavior all day.
He chuckles. “Guilty.”
“And Beau, too, I’m guessing?” I ask, my heart racing as I take in the transformed stable.
“Mmhmm.” He reaches for my hands, his fingers are warm despite the winter chill, and I notice they’re trembling. “Even your dad.”
“My dad?” I laugh in disbelief. “Now I know you’re lying.”
“I swear. Ask him yourself.” His eyes are so intense, so full of emotion that my breath catches. “I asked for his blessing weeks ago.”
Oh my god. This is happening. This is really happening.
“Violet,” he says, his voice a little unsteady as he reaches into his pocket. “I had this whole speech planned. I was going to tell you about how you’re the center of my universe. How any road I could have taken would always lead back to you.”
He drops to one knee, and I press my hand to my mouth, emotion welling in my eyes.
“But now that you’re standing here, looking like something out of a dream, I can’t remember a damn word of it.”
A laugh bubbles up as I take in the man kneeling before me. The one who’s seen me at my worst and somehow still looks at me like I’m made of starlight.
“You know what?” Rowan says, fumbling with a small velvet box. “Screw the speech. I love you, Violet Larkin. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I loved you during those years we were apart, and I’ll love you until I take my last breath. Will you marry me?”
He opens the box, revealing a vintage ring with a delicate emerald surrounded by tiny diamonds. My grandmother’s. The one I used to try on when I visited her as a child.
“Is that—” I can barely get the words out.
“Yep,” he confirms, his blue eyes shining. “Your dad gave it to me. Said she would have wanted you to have it.”
Echo chooses this moment to let out a loud whinny, startling us both. I burst into laughter, and Rowan grins up at me.
“Even the horse is getting impatient for your answer,” he says.
“Yes,” I gasp, laughing and crying all at once. “Yes, of course, yes!”
Rowan stands and pulls me into a hug that makes my knees go weak. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear that,” he whispers against my hair.
He slides the ring onto my finger, then kisses me as if he’s making up for every lost second, every missed sunrise, every moment we weren’t together.
Whitley whoops from behind me, making me jump as her voice echoes through the stable.
“The future Mrs. Wolfe Boy!” she shrieks.
I turn to see her beaming face, mascara running down her cheeks. Behind her, Beau stands in the doorway, his usual stoic expression cracking as a reluctant smile spreads across his face.
“I’m not crying, you are,” Whitley insists, furiously wiping at her face.
My hands tremble as I stare at the ring on my finger, the emerald catching the light from the strings overhead.
“It’s almost midnight!” Whitley announces, checking her phone. “We should get back to the house.”
Rowan’s arms tighten around me. “Give us a minute,” he says, not taking his eyes off me.
Once Whitley and Beau take off toward the house, Rowan nudges my hand. “Check the inside of the ring.
I slip it off my finger, tilting it until I notice the tiny engraving on the inside.
Always yours.
Tears blur my vision, but I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my face. “You really did this.”
“I did,” he says, his thumb brushing over my knuckle. “I want you to know, every single day, that I’m yours, Violet. And you’re mine. Always.”
He helps me slip the ring back on, and I rest my forehead against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. Every almost and what if are nothing but distant memories now.
Rowan was my first love. The one that gave me butterflies in my stomach that I clung to when I didn’t know better.
Rowan was my second love. The unraveling that taught me how to survive heartbreak.
But above all else, Rowan is my third love. The love that found me when I wasn’t chasing it anymore.
The love that’s here to stay.