Epilogue
Elise
Six Months Later
I flipped the sign to Closed and sank back against the cool glass. The temperature had dropped with the October weather, and business was suddenly booming. Between the Almabtrieb and Harvest festival, the film fest coming up, and excitement for ski season brewing, Silvertonians and tourists alike were straight up gobbling down the donuts.
Thank goodness.
The exhaustion was real, but I felt only gratitude and joy. With Luc’s insistence, I’d cut down my virtual assistant job to part-time this fall and soon, I’d whittle down to even less. I might even quit. It still made me nervous, but I had a safety net.
And no, the net wasn’t my millionaire boyfriend. He’d kept the part of the business he’d bought from Callum, but I’d been slowly paying him back. Assuming the ski season did even seventy percent of what it did last year, I would pay him back in full by the end of January. I’d had the same plan with Callum… if he’d only let me.
Happily, I didn’t need to think about him since he’d been in jail since kidnapping me. The best part was how shocked he was at the sentencing. He’d gotten the best lawyer he could buy and still ended up with six years in jail. His many pleas that he’d been coerced or bribed by Bernard and Cynthia de Valois had fallen on deaf ears. They’d been sentenced in federal courts for some reason, but they both got some jail time and then they’d be on house arrest… sorry not sorry.
The only person I felt for was Odette, but she’d been emailing and she and her partner were delighted to be free of her parents and their delusions for her future. They were planning to come visit this winter and do some skiing.
A knock on the door in the kitchen pulled me from my mental wanderings and I hustled through to the space I loved, then opened the back door.
“Um, hi.” My friends were standing outside the door in a weird little semicircle, each bundled up in jackets to ward away the winter chill and holding flowers.
“Your tenacity,” Nikki said, then handed me two gorgeous bright pink roses, the same shade as my little Glazed mascot logo.
“Your heart,” Winnie said, giving me another pair of perfect pink roses.
Jo beamed and held out her two matching flowers. “Your love for your friends.”
I sucked in a breath, not entirely sure what was happening, but feeling… something big was afoot.
“Your empathy,” Catherine said, smiling as she added her stems to my growing collection.
Jess grinned. “Your grit.” She pressed two flowers into my growing bouquet and patted my shaking hands.
Liz gave the opposite of spy face as she beamed, handing me two more bright pink blooms. “Your resilience, and I’m sorry but I have to add, your donuts.”
Everyone laughed and smiled. My heart felt like it might grow too big for my body, so filled up already.
Dove stepped up then raised her roses and her bright blue eyes found mine. Of course, there were tears clinging to her lashes as she said, “Your beautiful heart.”
She pulled me in for a hug and then stage-whispered, “And don’t mind if I say so, but dat ass. ”
More laughing as they wiped away tears. “This was so lovely, you guys, but?—”
They parted, and behind them was Luc on one knee.
My heart stuttered, then sprinted. Dove took the flowers from me and guided me forward until Luc held my hand in his.
“Elise, mon c?ur .”
He smiled that heartbreaking smile of his and I couldn’t help but loose a laugh-sob, so much happiness and love flowing out of me.
“Luc,” I said, not knowing what else to do with myself but grasp his hand and listen as he spoke.
“These months with you have been the happiest in my life. There are so many reasons I love you. Your friends helped me express a few of them—even the ad libbed additions.”
Everyone laughed, and I became aware that more people were here, witnessing the moment. Behind Luc were a crowd of faces I knew and loved—my friends’ partners, his sister and Michele, some of my other local friends… so many beloved people.
“It hasn’t been all that long, but I’m sure. Honestly, I’ve been sure since I asked you if you wanted more—I was just too scared to acknowledge what I wanted. I’ve wanted you in one way or another since the first time I saw you and my desire to know you and be yours has only multiplied with the days that’ve passed. We aren’t perfect together, Elise, but we’re right.”
I nodded, because every word he said, I echoed.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, clicking it open with his thumb and showing me a gorgeous, sparkling, very familiar ring.
“Take me as your husband and let me be yours until our hearts give out. Let’s share this life. Let’s get married.”
I couldn’t control the tears as they slipped down. This man had said everything right, just like he’d demonstrated he’d do day in and day out since this wild ride started. We disagreed, sometimes even fought, but it was never mean-spirited. It wasn’t the kind of purposeful hurting or gaslighting. It came from genuine mistakes, confusion, or miscommunication. Because we were two imperfect people, and he was so completely correct.
“We’re right together. I’ll be yours if you’ll be mine,” I said, hands shaking and desperate to hug him.
“Yes. I’m all yours.”
I grinned through the tears now. “And I’m all yours. Yes. I’ll marry you.”
I launched into his arms as he stood, and we kissed as he twirled me around. The whole crowd was whistling and laughing and cheering.
After a moment, he pulled away. “I wanted them all here because they all love you. They support you , Elise, and they love you. You are never alone, and neither am I. We have each other and this whole messy family.”
More tears and laughter, and another soft, perfect kiss.
He slid the ring on my finger. It was still huge, but I couldn’t pretend I didn’t love it. His smile practically exploded off his face at the sight of that ring back on my hand, and he hugged me close again.
Our friends—or better yet, the family we’d made—began circling around, hugging us, laughing, clapping, and congratulating us both. I was so happy, so full of joy I never would’ve imagined, and so deeply grateful.
And as Dove wiped another round of tears from her cheeks and Liz hugged me again, as Kenny pulled me and Luc into an obnoxiously tight group hug, and Dorian stepped out from the shadows to shake my hand and hug Luc… there it was. A thought I’d had more than once these last few months, but one that was loud and clear now.
This was better than any fantasy I could dream up.
* * *
I hope you loved Luc and Elise’s story!