Epilogue
Robin
One month later, I’m restocking the wedding invitation display when the bell above the shop door chimes.
I look up, and there’s Colter, standing in the doorway with that smile that still makes my stomach flip after all this time. He’s holding a paper bag from the Sunrise Bakery down the street, our Tuesday lunch tradition, revived since we got back from the cruise.
“You’re early,“
I say, setting down the stack of sample cards.
“Couldn’t wait.“
He crosses the shop and kisses me, soft and sweet, like he has all the time in the world. “Besides, I have something for you.”
“Is it the maple pecan scone? Because if it’s not the maple pecan scone, you can turn around and try again.”
He laughs. “It’s the maple pecan scone. But that’s not what I meant.”
There’s something different in his voice. Something that makes me still.
“Colter?”
He sets the bakery bag on the counter and takes my hands in his. His palms are warm, slightly sweaty, and when I look at his face, I realize he’s nervous. Colter doesn’t get nervous. Colter negotiates million-dollar real estate deals without breaking a sweat.
“Robin,“
he says, and his voice is steady even though his hands aren’t. “I spent five years loving you and not telling you what I wanted. I’m not making that mistake again.”
My heart starts pounding.
“I want to marry you,“
he continues. “I want to buy a house with a yard big enough for kids to play in. I want to wake up next to you every morning and fall asleep beside you every night. I want to build a life with you.”
He releases one of my hands and reaches into his pocket. When he pulls out a small velvet box and sinks down onto one knee, right there in the middle of my shop, I forget how to breathe.
“I know it’s only been a month since we got back together,“
he says, opening the box to reveal a simple gold band. “But I’ve known I wanted this for years. I was just too scared to ask.” He looks up at me, dark eyes shining. “Robin, will you marry me?”
Through the shop window, I can see his office across the street. The same view I’ve had for years. The same view that used to make my chest ache with longing.
Now it just makes me smile.
“Yes,“
I say, and my voice cracks on the word. “Yes, of course. A thousand times yes.”
Colter’s face breaks into the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. He slides the ring onto my finger, and it fits perfectly, and then he’s on his feet and I’m in his arms and we’re kissing in the middle of my shop.
The bell above the door chimes again.
“Oh, thank god,“
Jules says from the doorway. Marc is right behind him, phone raised, clearly recording. “He’s been carrying that ring around for two weeks. I thought he was going to combust.”
“You knew?“
I pull back from Colter just enough to glare at my best friend. “You knew and you didn’t tell me?”
“I learned my lesson about meddling,“
Jules says innocently. Then he grins. “Okay, no, I didn’t. But I figured this one Colter could handle on his own.”
Marc lowers his phone and beams at us. “For the record, I’m taking full credit for this. If we hadn’t planned that cruise—”
“You’d be taking credit for nothing,“
Colter interrupts, but he’s laughing. “Get over here.”
There’s a messy group hug in the middle of my shop, all four of us tangled together, laughing and talking over each other. Jules is already asking about wedding dates. Marc is suggesting we have the ceremony on another RNJ cruise. Colter’s arm is wrapped firmly around my waist, like he’s never letting go.
I look down at the ring on my finger. Simple. Perfect. Everything I ever wanted.
When I look back up, Colter is watching me.
“Happy?“
he asks softly.
I think about the months of heartache. The longing glances across the street. I think about Jules and Marc and their ridiculous scheming. I think about a cruise ship, a kiss on a dance floor and two tiny beds pushed together.
I think about how sometimes you have to lose something to realize how much you need it.
“Yeah,“
I say, leaning into him. “I really am.”