Epilogue
“Careful.” Sebastian and Ty eased up the front porch steps and set the whiskey barrel planter opposite its mate by the front door. The bright-faced impatiens nodded in the early May breeze, a nice contrast to the freshly-painted house.
Further down the porch, Harrison and Ivy hung the last of the massive Boston ferns from eye bolts in the eaves.
In the yard, the last of Porter’s crew packed up their trucks.
It had been a whirlwind week, taking advantage of the fact that Laurel was out of town, meeting with the board of the Calico Foundation to settle on this year’s grant recipients.
Sebastian had recruited all his friends to help him finally tackle the exterior of the old farmhouse.
After the funding came through, he and Laurel had moved in to Josiah Massey’s place last summer.
With the addition of the three smaller grants they’d received, there’d been enough to rehab the barn and get the therapy program solidly started.
They’d managed all the basic repairs on the house, but the focus had necessarily been on the business.
The business was thriving now. Felicity Harmon, their new therapist, had been a Godsend, allowing Sebastian to spend the majority of time on his rescues.
Now he was thinking toward the future. That meant taking the steps to give her the home she’d imagined all those months ago.
Looking at it now, he thought they’d pulled it off.
The siding had been painted the blue-gray she’d described, with crisp white trim and new dark gray shutters.
Window boxes he’d built with his own hands were mounted across the front of the house, multi-colored petunias spilling over the edges.
At the far end, a big porch swing, with bright, overstuffed cushions—Ivy’s contribution— hung looking out over the view of the barn and pastures beyond.
Mr. Rochester had already taken ownership of that, curling up on one end and swishing his tail.
They needed some kind of a table to put in front of it for that coffee and lemonade, but Laurel would probably want to pick that out herself.
As the last of Porter’s crew pulled out of the drive, Sebastian cast a final look around. “That should do it. Thank y’all for all your help. I couldn’t have pulled this off without you.”
Harrison clapped him on the shoulder. “Happy you finally asked for help with something.”
“See? And it didn’t even kill you,” Ty teased.
“I’m all about supporting love,” Porter announced. “Congratulations, man.”
“You can’t congratulate me until she says yes.”
“She’s not gonna say no,” Ivy insisted. “When is she supposed to be getting home?”
“Soon. Y’all need to vamoose.” He tugged out his phone and pulled up her location. “She’s—oh hell, she’s a quarter mile away! They’re early! There’s no way you can get out of here without being seen. Scatter.”
“Where?” Ty asked.
“I don’t know! For fuck’s sake go hide. Y’all weren’t supposed to be here for this.” Tunneling both hands through his hair, Sebastian reviewed the plan, wondering what needed to change.
His friends bolted for the barn. Maybe she wouldn’t look down there. Maybe she’d just think it was the latest therapy clients. As long as Logan had the blindfold in place and Laurel was cooperating…
A truck turned in at the end of the drive. Logan’s truck. Sebastian’s palms went damp.
You got this.
They pulled up in front of the house. He checked to make sure the guys were hidden away, then circled around to open the passenger door.
“Why am I blindfolded?” Laurel demanded.
Lips quirking, he leaned in to brush a kiss to her cheek as he unbuckled her seatbelt. “Hello to you, too.”
“Sebastian, what is going on?”
“A surprise.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about surprises.”
“You’re going to like this one.” God, he sure as hell hoped she did.
Taking her hands, he helped her out of the truck. Logan grabbed her suitcase from the back and deposited it by the steps.
“I’m gonna get on home to Athena. Welcome back, Pip.” To Sebastian he mouthed, “Good luck,” and climbed back in the truck.
As soon as he disappeared, Sebastian’s tongue turned thick and clumsy. Feeling more than a little stupid, he blurted, “How was your trip?”
“Seriously? You’ve got me standing here blindfolded and you want to chat about my trip?”
“Okay, okay.” It was time. He could do this.
Walking her out a little ways, he turned her to face the house, so she could get the full effect. “Welcome home, baby.” With that, he slid off the blindfold.
Laurel gasped, bringing both hands to her mouth as her eyes went wide. “Sebastian!”
“I hope I got it right.”
“It’s perfect!”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she was already moving up the steps, running her hands over the freshly painted railing, the flowers in the barrels, the trailing ends of the ferns.
Christ this was happening so much faster than he’d planned. He hurried to catch up.
“And my swing!” As she rushed over to investigate it, he dropped down to one knee. “Sebastian, this is so—oh!”
Her legs seemed to go out from under her and she sat down hard on the swing, almost missing the seat entirely and narrowly avoiding the cat. Mr. Rochester yowled in protest and leapt down, disappearing around the edge of the house.
Swallowing hard, he tried to remember the speech he’d prepared. “Laurel, I think you know I love you.”
Her lips quirked. “Yeah I’ve kinda had a suspicion.”
Her tone of dry amusement eased some of the tension in his chest. “The first time we came here, you painted a picture of how you imagined the house, the grounds, the life that could be built here. Over the last year, we’ve come a long way toward bringing that picture to life, but there’s still one piece missing.
And it wasn’t from what you described that day.
It’s from what I saw in my own head—getting to wake up every morning and come out here to have a cup of coffee with my wife before going to do the life’s work she helped to make a reality. ”
He pulled the ring out of his pocket, grateful he’d taken to carrying it around for the last two weeks.
“In all our time together, I’ve never asked you for anything.
Asking has always been hard for me. But asking you this isn’t hard, because I know, deep down, that it’s exactly right.
So what do you say to doing this last thing, making all this perfection official. Will you marry me?”
Her eyes shone and her smile was the brightest thing he’d ever seen. “There’s nothing I want to do more.”
Blowing out a breath, he rose and moved to slip the ring on her finger.
An explosion of cheers pulled their attention down to the barn, where the peanut gallery hadn’t stayed in the barn.
“Sorry. They were supposed to be gone already. You got home early.”
She looped her arms around his neck. “I couldn’t wait to see you. And this is the best surprise ever. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He kissed her, immediately sinking deeper and wishing he could cart her upstairs.
Easing back Laurel grinned up at him. “Let’s go accept our congratulations and kick them out. We have some celebrating to do.”
I Need Moar!