Chapter 19
GINNY
“Oh, good, you’re all here,” I say, sweeping into the living room at my parents’ house.
It’s my dad, Graham, and Margot. Mom is still at the bakery.
But she’s the least likely to be surprised by this.
Or to have big feelings about it. She’s always supportive, always happy if we’re happy.
And I’m also sure she already knows I’m in love with Everett.
Mom is just like that. She always knows things before we think she should know them.
“Hey,” Graham says, grinning at me from the couch where he’s got his phone propped on the ankle resting on his opposite knee, and Margot tucked against his side. “Welcome back. How was it?”
“Awesome,” I tell him, stopping in the middle of the room and facing them. My dad is in his chair on the other side of the end table. He’s got his glasses on and a pile of folders in his lap, as usual, but he looks up. “They want to build four farms. They’re meeting with their banker tomorrow.”
Graham’s eyes go wide. “What? Really?”
“Yep. I’m great at my job.”
“Well… yeah,” Graham says.
“And Sofia did a fantastic job filling them in ahead of time.”
He nods. “That makes sense, too.” He looks at Margot. “I’m going to have to be doing fewer and fewer of these meetings.”
“So, yeah, they’re ready to sign contracts. And, I quit.”
There’s a beat of silence. The Graham straightens. “What did you say?”
“I quit. Athena Acres offered me a job, and I’m going to take it.”
I know my dad is always listening, even when it seems he’s not, but now he closes the file folder he has open in his lap and takes his glasses off, focusing on me.
Oh, this is a big deal.
“I won’t have to move. I can work remotely. So I’ll stay here in Sapphire Falls. There will be travel involved, of course. But I’m going to be amazing in that job.”
“You’re amazing at the job with IES,” Graham says. “We need you.”
I smile at him. “Thank you. And I know I’m amazing in this job. But actually, you don’t need me. Sofia is also amazing in this job, and she’s going to take over.”
Margot is watching me carefully. “Is this about Everett?”
Graham looks at her, then back to me. “Are you quitting because of Everett?”
“I’ve given this a lot of thought. I think maybe at first I thought I was,” I say.
“But no. I know I could keep working for IES and still be with Everett. The truth is, I love what you guys are doing, and I’ll always be here for you.
We’re family. I’m going to help you, however I can.
But I can also help Athena Acres do amazing things.
And who knows who else.” I take a deep breath and look at all of them, feeling completely sure of myself and at ease for the first time in months.
“Now we can talk about all of this more later, but I have to get on the road to Omaha. I have to catch a flight. I’m going to Denver to propose to Everett. ”
“Propose?”
I whirl toward the voice behind me.
Everett and my mom are standing in the doorway from the kitchen.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him, my heart flipping at the sight of him.
“Waiting for you.” He glances at my mom. “Well, decorating cookies and getting some great advice, and waiting for you.”
“And bringing me on as his first consulting client,” my mom says.
“Wait,” I say. “His what?”
“That’s the other reason I’m here,” Everett says, stepping into the living room. “I came to tell you that I’m quitting IES.” He looks at Graham. “Both of you. I’m stepping down as CFO. I’m opening my own consulting company. And your mom hired me this afternoon.”
“You don’t have to step down, Everett,” I tell him. “We’re fine. I promise. And I’m taking this new job, but not because of us. We can be together no matter what.”
He comes toward me, stopping right in front of me. He doesn’t touch me, but his eyes scan over my face, seemingly taking in every detail.
“I know. I’m starting this new company because of me. I want to do something else. And I’m thrilled about your new job if that’s what you really want.”
I nod. “It is.”
“But you ruined my proposal, Ginger,” he says.
My heartbeat skips. “I did?”
“Yep. I was going to ask you tonight.”
Oh. I feel my smile start. “You can still ask.”
“You’re both going to leave me?” Graham asks, loudly, getting up from the couch. “What? You can’t do that!”
“You’ll be fine,” my mom says. “You don’t need them.”
Everett and I turn toward her.
“I mean, of course you’re both great, and he’d be lucky to have you,” she says quickly. “But he’s also very capable of running IES on his own.”
“No,” Graham says, shaking his head emphatically. “I’m really not.”
“I’ll still be here for you,” Everett says. “I’m starting a consulting business. Doing exactly what I do for IES, but for others, too. I’ll still be here for whatever you need.”
“He’s going to help me start up my online business, and I’m going to approach a couple of restaurants in Lincoln about supplying their baked goods,” my mom says.
I look at her with wide eyes. “That’s what I’m going to help Athena Acres with! Getting their produce into stores, restaurants, and bakeries. We should talk, Mom. I’d love to help you, too.”
Her face lights up. “I would love that, Ginny! It would be so fun to work together that way!”
“Hello!” Graham yells. “Can we go back to the part where you’re both leaving me? I once ran a company with my best friend and my sister, and now I’ve got no one?”
Margot grabs his hand and pulls him back down onto the couch. “You’re going to be just fine. Sofia will be there to help you, and we’ll hire Ginny and Everett to consult, and you can hire whoever else you need. But…you need to move back here permanently.”
He studies her face. Then he nods. “I really do.”
She grins. “Soon.”
“Very soon,” he agrees.
She snuggles into his side again.
“So, Margot,” he says. “How about I hire you? You could be my executive assistant.”
She laughs. “Oh, no. Absolutely not. We’re not going to work together.”
He sighs.
“But I’ll be there for anything you need,” she promises, squeezing his leg. “Just like everyone else.”
We all nod.
My mom looks at my dad. “What do you think of all of this?”
He seems puzzled for a moment. “What do I think about our children being wildly successful and incredibly happy? It’s absolutely what I always expected.”
She laughs and crosses to where he’s sitting. He moves the pile of files and pulls her into his lap.
“They’re giving up the big city to live in a small town,” she says, sliding her hand behind his neck and threading her fingers into his hair.
He nods. “I believe that we both did the same. I gave up Washington, D.C., and harassing the President of the United States on a regular basis to live here.” He looks at me, then over at Graham. “It makes complete sense this is where they finally settle.”
My mom bends to kiss him. “I always knew you were a genius.”
I roll my eyes and look at my brother, who’s grinning at my parents with the same affection I always feel when I watch them together. Then I look up at the man beside me.
I have a few things to talk to Everett about. Like if he’ll marry me.
This man is going to be chosen. He’s going to know that I want him, love him, and don’t want to live another day without him as mine.
“Maybe we should find some privacy,” I tell him.
He chuckles. “Here? In Sapphire Falls?”
I grin and nod, taking his hand and tugging him into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, he starts to pull out a stool at the breakfast bar where we have spent so much time talking and… doing other things. But I shake my head. I have another idea.
I pull him toward the back door, grab our coats from the wall hooks, then drag him through the garage and out to the driveway.
“Where are we going?” he asks when he’s in the passenger seat of my car, and we’re headed out of town toward a spot where I know we won’t be interrupted.
“This is small-town Nebraska,” I tell him. “There are all kinds of back roads and little nooks and crannies where we can tuck away and hide out for a little bit.”
He turns on his seat. “Are you telling me that all this time we could have found places to spend time alone? With plenty of privacy?”
I giggle. “Yup.”
Ten minutes later, we’re bumping over the dirt path that’s thankfully still frozen enough that I don’t have to worry about getting my tires stuck in the mud.
I pull into the packed-dirt area where our friend group builds bonfires and parties when the weather is nice.
“What’s this place?” Everett asks.
“The site of many important conversations, very good times, and life-changing moments,” I tell him.
I turn off the car and pivot to face him.
“And which will this be?” he asks.
I grin, then slip across the seat and into his lap, straddling his thighs. I cup his jaw in my hands, studying the face that has become so familiar and so beloved.
“All of the above.”
His hands are resting on my hips, and I feel his fingers curl in, holding me tighter. “I love you.” His voice is gruff.
“I love you too.”
“Let’s ask each other at the same time.”
I nod, knowing exactly what he’s talking about.
“One, two, three,” he counts off.
“Will you marry me?”
“Will you marry me?”
We ask at the same time.
Even though I knew it was coming, my eyes still fill with tears. I nod quickly, and we both say, “Yes,” at the same time as well.
I start to lean in, needing to kiss him desperately, but he stops me. “I have one more question for you before we do that,” he says.
“Okay,”
“We really can live in Sapphire Falls, right? That’s not just family teasing? We’ll both have to travel some, but this is really where I want to—”
“Yes!” I laugh. “Of course. There’s nowhere else we should be.”
He blows out a breath. “Good. I’ll never get good at decorating cookies if we’re traveling constantly.”
I laugh. “Now, if you’re going to become a Sapphire Falls boy, there is something you need to experience and get good at.”
“I’m ready to learn it all,” he tells me.
“Sex in a car or truck parked at the river is a must.”
His gaze instantly heats, and I start shifting, unbuttoning, and unzipping.
A minute later, his brows up, he says, “I don’t think I want to know how you got so good at slipping out of your jeans and panties in the front seat of a car.”
I giggle. “You’re right. You don’t want to know.” I lean in and kiss him. “But this is about being quick and dirty.”
His hands are already sliding up and down my thighs. “So you’re saying you don’t want me to treat this like cookie decorating?”
“Where you take forever and need it to be perfect? Nope. Just fun. Don’t overthink it.”
He kisses me deeply, and I start wiggling in his lap as my body starts to heat just that easily.
But he pulls back and says against my lips, “Then you’re not at all interested in the container of buttercream frosting I have in my coat pocket?”
I hesitate. Then laugh. “You have buttercream frosting in your pocket?” I shake my head. “I might be concerned if I wasn’t so turned on.”
He shrugs. “I mean, it’s fine. I’ll just keep it and—”
“Everett,” I interrupt. “Treat me like a great big naked sugar cookie.”
He chuckles and reaches into his pocket before shrugging out of his coat. “That’s what I thought.” He pulls the lid off the container and dips a finger inside.
I watch him suck the frosting from his index finger, and I suddenly think this is the best idea anyone’s ever had.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever had buttercream out here at the river,” I say as he scoops another dollop of frosting out of the container.
“Interesting,” he says as he drags his finger over my lower lip and then leans in to lick the frosting off. “I had never hung out at a bar in costume on Halloween, never played Settlers of Catan, never sung Jingle Bell Rock at karaoke—”
I gasp. “You told me you—”
“The point,” he says, cutting me off, “is that you’ve been the best damned time of my life, Ginger. You have been the reason I’ve done all these new, out-of-character things that have led me to friends, community, a new job, and family.”
I feel my eyes stinging with tears. God, I’m so happy that he has all of that and knows it now.
“And,” he says, his voice husky. “I intend to return the favor for the next seventy-five years or so.”
I give him a big smile, then wrap my arms around his neck. “Seventy-five years doesn’t seem like enough. But, yeah, let’s start with that.”
Then I teach him about sex by the river.
He teaches me that he can still be a perfectionist, even in very tight spaces.
And we teach each other that there’s nothing more important than love.
Though buttercream frosting is right up there.
Thank you so much for reading Making It Happen! I hope you loved Everett and Ginny’s story!