Epilogue
Nine Months Later
Annie
I can’t believe I’m in my last month of vet school rotations.
Today marked my very last first week of a new rotation, and the beginning of my externship at the Milwaukee Zoo as part of their Animal Health Center program. After this month, I’ll start my three-year Zoological Medicine Residency, working with the zoo and all the exotic animals.
It’s been a busy year—and it’s not slowing down anytime soon—but I love it and never felt so confident in where I am, what I’m doing, and where I’m going. I’m grateful to have the world’s best partner supporting me through it, even more grateful to have finally learned to let him.
I’m on my way to meet Luke at Hey Honey’s now to help him close for the night before we head over to Lenny’s to meet our friends for a few drinks.
I’ve barely heard from Drew or Mia all week, so I’m excited to have some time to catch up with them. It’s weird to hear so little from them, but I chalked it up to them both having their hands full lately .
My two best friends are both moms now, and it freaks me out if I think about it too much. Lennon is just over a year old—the girl already being such a sassy extrovert, so different from both her parents and keeping them both on their toes—and Mia gave birth to freaking twins a few weeks ago.
It fills my heart in ways I can’t explain to see our little Lenny’s family growing more and more with Lennon, Nadia, and Naomi, and I can’t wait for Luke and me to add to the mix one day.
But for right now, we have Hey Honey’s as our addition to the family.
Business has been great for the coffee shop, and I love that it’s right next door to Lenny’s—the two of us and our friends now having another place to spend time together.
Another place that’s ours.
And even after nine months, l can’t believe he named the place after his stupid nickname for me.
Luke is the only person in the world who uses the word “sweet” to describe me, even if I’m still convinced he just says it to get a rise out of me, and I think it actually just proves that he’s insane.
And even though I tell Luke everything now, after keeping him in the dark for seven years, I’m going to keep to myself that I never really hated the nickname to begin with.
It was all hands on deck for the Lenny’s crew the first month the shop was open. We figured it would be easy because we all worked so many bartending shifts at Lenny’s, but we realized very quickly that Emmett, Eddie, and I were not meant to be baristas.
There was a learning curve for Luke too, but he was able to staff the place by January, hiring Ava as his manager—the coffee shop hours working better for her than the bar’s—so he could take on more managerial duties.
Hey Honey’s has also brought in a lot of customers to all the businesses in the building, and I’m so incredibly proud of Luke. He’s worked his ass off since the grand opening on Bennett’s birthday, and I know having something that’s his means so much to him.
Not going to lie, it was a little rocky at first because he put so much into it, trying to distract himself from dealing with the loss of his brother. His grief was unpredictable, and I didn’t want him to bury it.
It took some time, but he eventually found a healthy balance.
I think Luke sees everything he’s putting into Hey Honey’s as fulfilling a promise he made to himself—and Bennett. Luke is doing what he wants to do while living by the lessons Bennett taught him.
It was really a lesson we all needed because life truly is too short to not chase after the things we want or hold on to things that try to hold us back.
Especially when that thing holding you back is yourself.
Luke works so hard to make Hey Honey’s into something not only he can be proud of but something he knows Bennett would be proud of too.
When I pull into the parking lot, I notice Luke already turned the lights off. The coffee shop closes at eight on weeknights, which isn’t for a few more minutes, so I’m not sure why it already looks like he shut everything down for the night.
It isn’t until I climb out of my car and walk up to the door, looking through the rose wreath vinyl on the glass, that I see he hasn't closed just yet.
He’s waiting for me.
I pull the door open about to ask what the hell is going on, but I can’t.
My mouth goes dry when I see the shop lit up with candles, the welcoming scent of coffee still lingering in the air from another busy day.
I look down to the floor to see a path lined with rose petals.
A path that leads me to the coffee bar where Luke is standing.
He’s in his work attire, jeans and a white t-shirt with his black apron strapped around his waist, a black Sharpie still tucked behind his ear.
He looks like he does after every shift on any normal day.
“Hey, honey,” he says with a grin, so calm and nonchalant. It’s a stark contrast to how fast my heart is starting to beat. The bright smile on his face lights up the room almost as much as the candles, and it makes my knees go weak, the same way it always has.
I know he wants me to walk down this path he set out for me with the rose petals, but I can’t get my feet to move. It’s fitting that, even in a moment like this, I don’t do what he wants me to. It just so happens that I can’t right now.
I’m too busy spiraling over what the hell is happening.
“Cat got your tongue?” he asks, as he closes the distance between us.
He takes a hand out of his pocket to place his index finger under my chin, closing my mouth I didn’t even know I had left open.
This isn’t actually happening.
He isn’t actually about to do what I think he’s going to.
Right ?
No, he wouldn’t choose a random Friday night when I’m just coming to help him close before we get drinks with our friends. I’m still in my stupid scrubs from the day, my hair braided back in two French braids I’m sure are seconds away from falling out.
This is not happening tonight.
He places a small kiss on my lips, but I notice he keeps his other hand in the pocket of his apron.
I want to ask him what all of this means, but all thoughts cease when he opens his mouth.
"Well, while I've got you quiet," he starts, smirking. I should give him back my usual sass, but I couldn't even if I wanted to.
No words are coming to mind.
"Annie girl," he whispers, bringing me back to focus on him. "There's something I've wanted to ask you from the moment I saw you."
There’s a slight blush to his cheeks, his blonde hair looking more golden in the candle light. He keeps his eyes on mine as he slowly drops down to one knee, and my hands go to cover my mouth. My eyes start to prickle as I see him pull his hand out of his apron, and the first tear falls when I see the little blue box.
“It probably wouldn’t have meant much at the time, seeing as though we were only six, but it’s true. I’ve always known you were it for me, Annie girl, and I plan on spending the rest of my life proving it to you.” In disbelief, a small laugh escapes from me and another tear trails down my cheek—and I let it, no longer afraid of letting them fall.
He really is going to do this right now.
This is happening.
“You’re the anchor that keeps me grounded, the moon in my sky. I want nothing more than to be yours forever.” I watch as he opens the small box in his hands, pulling out a ring I can’t even take a moment to look at because he’s already slipping it on my finger as he asks, “Will you marry me?”
This helps me find my voice, “You can’t even wait for my answer?” The sentiment makes his eyes sparkle even more. He knows my answer, knows that he’s it for me too. After all we’ve been through, all our history and what we’ve overcome, we’re inevitable in the very best way.
I look down at where Luke holds my hand, and I’m rendered speechless again.
“Luke,” I manage to say.
“Just like the one I gave you, all those years ago,” Luke says, but I still feel his eyes on me. “When you let me be your boyfriend. The first time,” he adds, making me let out another small laugh.
The ring he chose has a band made to look like a vine, with little diamonds as the leaves, making the largest diamond in the middle the rose.
“It’s perfect,” I whisper as I meet his gaze.
I have more to say to him—I want to tell him how much I love him, how much I can’t wait to be his wife, how grateful I am that we made it here.
I want to tell him how proud of us I am, so proud that we finally made it—we did it.
But I don’t have to.
He knows—he always does.