Epilogue
HANNAH JANE
One Year Later
I saac tapped his foot impatiently by the front door.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” I yelled as I sat on top of my suitcase and tugged on the zipper.
Didn’t he know it took me way longer to put outfits together and pack than it took him to pull out a few suits and ties and toss a comb in with my things?
Men had it so easy.
My suitcase bumped down the staircase as I hurried down. “Sorry, I looked at the weather again and it’s supposed to rain now. I threw in a few more things.”
He raised an eyebrow at the straining zipper of my carry-on. “A few things?” Isaac cracked a smile. “This trip is twelve hours max. You won’t need more than what you’ve got on now. Business deal, dinner, and we’re on a plane back home.” He leaned down and kissed me. “But you look lovely, Miss Hayes. ”
My smile lingered against his. “Thank you.” I looked down at the Carolina blue dress I picked out. It seemed perfect for Charleston. The breezy A-line skirt flowed nicely and stopped mid-calf. The sweetheart neckline of the bodice gave my girls a little extra oomph .
Alice had transitioned from New York to Beaufort and loved the lack of traffic. She picked up my bag and loaded it into the car. Isaac locked the front door and offered me his arm. My Charles David feather heels were great for being seen in. Not so great for walking in.
We snuggled up in the back of the car for the thirty-second ride to the airstrip. The last year hadn’t been easy by any stretch of the imagination, but we had made it.
We flew back and forth for an entire year and savored every moment we had together. Long-distance made life hectic, but boy was it good.
We kept our relationship under the radar. Maybe a little too under the radar.
Isaac’s long absences did not go unnoticed, and questions about his whereabouts arose. Gossip spread and assumptions were made. So, Spenser crafted a statement for the tabloids explaining that Mr. Lawson is in a serious, long-term relationship—not hiding out in rehab.
The media went ballistic. Cameras followed him around for days after the internet-breaking headline: Infamous Playboy No More.
Lucky for me, Isaac maintained his former reputation in our bedroom. He kept me on our toes there, but the gossip columns didn’t need to know that.
Some things were just best kept between us.
The pressure and endless commentary that accompanied public life didn’t interest me. Beaufort was a reprieve .
Isaac kept me wild, and I gave him a place to stay grounded—a home and a family.
We arrived at the airstrip and hurried up the steps of Isaac’s plane. Two glasses of champagne waited for us onboard. He handed me a flute and lifted the other to his lips.
“You’re drinking?” I asked.
Isaac had settled down. He enjoyed the occasional glass of top shelf whatever, but it was rare.
“You haven’t even closed the deal yet. A little premature, don’t you think?”
We clinked our glasses together. He took a sip and smiled. “I have a good feeling about this one.”
The plane lifted off and bumped through the crosswinds as we rose through the sky. The Taylor Creek Inn and Revanche turned into specks down below. We ascended along the coastline until clouds covered the shore.
The flight lasted barely over an hour. Sunshine and breezy palmettos greeted us when we touched down in Charleston.
“Mr. Lawson, Miss Hayes,” the driver said as he opened the door for us. Isaac held my hand as I slid in first.
“So, where is this meeting?” I asked, pulling my phone out of my handbag and texting Maddie that we landed safely in South Carolina.
"It’s about a thirty-minute drive," Isaac said, cool as a cucumber. He had unshakable confidence. Negotiations never made him sweat.
“Do you want me to meet you at a restaurant for dinner? I can entertain myself until you finish.” The boutiques in the city were calling my name.
He smirked. “You realize how dirty that sounds, right?”
I giggled. “Get your head out of the gutter, Lawson.”
Isaac shook his head. “I’d like you to come with me, if you don’t mind. ”
I was surprised. We always cheered each other on, but never felt the need to be overly involved in each other’s careers. “Oh? Yeah, um, sure.” I looked down at my dress. “Is this appropriate to meet with your client?”
He leaned over and pressed his lips to my temple. “Absolutely.”
Half an hour later, the driver pulled through a grove of cypress trees and stopped.
“Um, Isaac?” I looked around, but he was already getting out of the car. “Don’t these business meetings happen in, you know, like offices? Or restaurants? Or a hotel?”
He rested his hand on top of the car and leaned down. “Come on, Princess.”
“Are you going to chop me up into bits and sprinkle me in a swamp? I mean, just tell me now so I can take my shoes off. I don’t think I can get blood out of feathers.”
“You’re turning into Maddie.” Isaac held out his hand. “No blood, no chopping. Just come with me.”
I eyed him warily and clasped my hand with his. He helped me out of the car, and the driver immediately drove away.
“Well, that’s ominous. Now I really think I’m about to get murdered.”
He eyed my shoes. “Want me to carry you? The dirt’s pretty soft here.”
“ Pfft— please. I could go hiking in these.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You barely made it down the stairs this morning.”
“They just need to get broken in.”
“Two words, Princess: flip flops. ”
I snorted. “Never.”
Sunlight spilled through the groves of tupelo trees and sparkled across the water. Lily pads dotted the glassy river. It was magic. There was something so familiar about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on it .
“Isaac?”
“Down here, Princess.”
I spun around to find Isaac sitting in a rowboat. “What on God’s green earth are you doing?”
He held out his hand. “Do you trust me?”
I hesitated but nodded.
“Then get in the boat.”
His nervous smile made the butterflies in my stomach go berserk.
I lowered one foot down and stepped precariously into the wobbly boat. Before I could put two feet on the bottom of the boat, a breeze caused it to rock. I fell hard on my ass, giggling.
“Shit!” Isaac jumped up. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” His hands were all over me, checking for injuries.
I blew a lock of hair out of my face and laughed. “Aye aye, Captain.”
I shimmied up onto the bench seat as Isaac pushed us away from the tree-lined shore. He expertly maneuvered the oars and guided the boat through the still water.
“You seem like you’ve done this a time or two,” I observed.
He chuckled. “A time or two. I was on the sailing team during my undergrad. Rowboats are child’s play.”
I tucked my ankles one behind the other and laid my hands in my lap.
This was a dream . It had to be.
He had taken off his suit jacket in the car. His rolled sleeves showcased his tan, corded forearms.
We rounded a bend in the glassy swamp, and Isaac’s smile grew. I turned my head to see what he was looking at.
Swans.
Hundreds of swans.
“Oh, Isaac,” I said, realizing why this place seemed familiar. “It’s just like The Notebook. ”
Isaac chuckled. “The exact place.”
I clasped my hands over my mouth. “It’s beautiful.”
Like clockwork, the swans gracefully floated around the boat. “Want to feed them?” he asked, stilling the oars and handing me a small bag of brown pellets. “Just sprinkle a little in the water.”
I did my best flower girl impression, sprinkling swan feed onto the surface of the water. They swam closer and closer, bumping the tips of their beaks against the side of the boat.
Isaac chuckled. “Let me get a little,” he said, leaning over and taking a handful.
“I think they like it.” I giggled as the swans swarmed the boat in a sea of white feathers.
Isaac sprinkled the feed into the water on his end of the boat and then wiped his hands clean.
“Oh!” I squeaked as a swan stretched its neck out and pecked at the bag in my lap. A few of the pellets spilled out into my dress. My attempt to scoop them back into the bag thoroughly displeased the bird.
He hovered over the water and billowed out his broad wings as he zeroed in on me.
“Hannah!” Isaac shouted as I jumped up, spilling the feed all over the boat. It was a siren song for evil waterfowl.
The swan kamikazed toward me, and panic paralyzed me.
“Hannah, no!” Isaac’s warning came too late.
I shrieked as the boat rocked right, and then left, and then right again—tossing us into the water.
The swans scattered, and I screamed as my head went under. Isaac’s arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back to the surface.
Swamp water did not taste good. Great, now I’d have to go get booster shots for a million unknown river diseases.
Something slithered against my ankle, and I lost my shit. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” I screeched, thrashing around in the water. “Holy shit, there’s a snake! Out! Get me out!”
Isaac, as if nothing was wrong, pulled me close to the shore and hoisted me up onto the riverbed. He grabbed a low-hanging branch and pulled himself up, plopping down beside me.
I didn’t know if it was the horror of seeing my life flash before my eyes when a swan wanted to murder me, or the sheer terror of capsizing a rowboat, but I started giggling and couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
I leaned back on the muddy bank and laughed until my stomach hurt.
Isaac sluggishly rolled over and rested his forehead against mine. He wiped the tears from my face, smearing dirt across my cheeks in the process.
We were a soggy, muddy mess. My dress was soaked, see-through, and clinging to me in the most unflattering way. Isaac had lake weed wrapped around his waterlogged tie.
He peeled my wet hair off my face and caressed my cheeks. “You okay, Princess?”
Our legs were tangled together, and we were probably being feasted on by a legion of nuclear mosquitoes, but I didn’t care. “Never better.”
Isaac pulled me in for a kiss, but right before our lips touched, he said, “This is not going according to plan.”
I grinned. “Life never does.”
“Says the wedding planner.” He chuckled. Our noses bumped, and his lashes tickled my cheek.
“How did you expect this to go?” I whispered.
His thumb caressed my hand, and his blue eyes sparkled as they searched mine. “Maybe we should pick up where we left off.”
My eyes widened. “For the love of God, no more swans. Noah and Allie were batshit crazy.”
Isaac threw his head back and laughed. It was the kind of laugh where his smile reached the corners of his eyes, and everything felt right in the world. “C’mere,” he said as he hopped up to his feet, dragging me up with him.
We were filthy. Absolutely wrecked. Goodness gracious, would the driver even let us back in the car?
I looked back at the water where the rowboat was slowly sinking to its unfortunate demise.
“Hannah Jane?”
I turned back to find Isaac down on one knee.
I clapped my hands over my mouth. “Oh my God. You—the knee thing. You’re doing the knee thing. Is this real?”
He looked down and shook his head as he laughed. “You would find out if you’d let me get a word in.”
Tears sprang up again. I was shaking. Isaac pulled the ring out of the box and held it up.
“We haven’t exactly done things in order. I guess it serves me right that my grand proposal got fucked up by a bunch of swans I rented.”
I laughed. “You rented the swans?”
“Details.” He waved his hand dismissively. “We can discuss that later.” Isaac took my hand. “Hannah Jane Hayes, you are quite possibly the most infuriating woman I have ever met.”
“Wow,” I said with raised eyebrows. “You’re crushing this proposal thing.”
He lifted a finger, shushing me. “I thought I had the world, but I didn’t realize how much I was missing until I found you. Until I broke into your office, stole your champagne, and convinced you to make a deal with me—fair and square.”
Isaac stood up and held the ring between us. It was dazzling.
“So, I have one more deal to make with you,” he said, staring deep into my eyes. I wiped away the tears and laughed like a maniac. Isaac took my left hand and turned my palm down. “Marry me. ”
He slid the ring onto my finger and kissed me. I pulled back, holding his cheeks in my hands.
“You didn’t give me a chance to say yes.”
“I’m a confident guy. I told you I had a good feeling about this deal.” Isaac grinned and lifted me off my feet and spun me around. “What do you say, Princess?”
I laughed and kissed him. “Hell yes.”