Epilogue
Betty
Packing is absolutely the worst activity known to man. Where had all these clothes and the shoes even come from?
Nash and I have three large suitcases laid open on the bed and a fourth, medium-sized one, open on the floor.
Piles of clothes sit everywhere. What do you pack for a five-week trip to Europe? It was a surprise from Nash shortly after I moved into the cabin. He’s yet to confirm whether it was something he’d been planning or if it was a spur-of-the-moment decision.
It didn’t matter to me. This will be my first time outside the United States.
I’m finally going to get to see the stars.
Prague, Great Britain, Spain, Scotland, Greece, and the Netherlands.
It’s just the first trip of many we’ve talked about.
I’d never known Nash wanted to travel the world, too, so it was a pleasant surprise.
The buzz of Nash’s phone on the dresser pulls me out of my overstimulated panic. “Nash, your phone!” I shout. He’s somewhere in this cabin. It’s pretty small, so I honestly can’t say what’s taking him so long.
“Can you answer it for me?” he calls back.
Clicking the green button, I place the phone to my ear. “Hello. Nash Donovan’s phone.”
“Oh, is this Betty? So nice to finally speak with you,” a gruff male voice comes through the line.
“Thank you. May I ask who’s calling?” Balancing the phone between my shoulder and ear, I toss my tennis shoes into the suitcase on the floor.
The slam of a car door sounds through the phone before the man answers. “Oh, yes. I’m Mr. Donovan’s realtor. I was calling to let him know an offer came in on the house, well over asking.” There’s an upbeat tone to his delivery, as if there’s cause for celebration.
My mouth twists to the side, attempting to process what he just said.
“Um, what house?” Had Nash sold the cabin and not told me?
Where will we live? I hadn’t even known it was on the market.
There’s a shuffle of papers in the background before he reads off the address for Nash’s Montana home.
“Oh,” I gasp. “Um, thank you. I’ll let him know. ”
Ending the call, I’m in a trance as I place the phone back on the dresser, staring off into space.
We never talked about him selling the Montana house.
For the past few months, I’ve traveled everywhere with Nash, and we’ve stayed there most of the time, always in the bedroom beside his.
I’ve never told him how much that meant to me.
He’d carved out a space that was just ours, though he’d shared the house with his ex-wife.
“Who was that?” He slides into the room with an armful of towels fresh out of the dryer. The ocean scent of our dryer sheets fills the air, and I inhale deeply, allowing a lazy grin to pull at the corners of my mouth before I remember the call I just answered.
“Your realtor. He said the house sold well over asking.” Nash’s jaw works as he looks down at me. The hurt must be evident on my face. “You never told me you were selling the house.”
Dropping the towels on the bed, he pulls me into his arms, a single finger placed beneath my chin, forcing my gaze up to meet his. “I didn’t think it mattered. I don’t need that house anymore.”
“But why?”
Soft lips brush mine, peppering kisses at the corners of my mouth before he speaks again. “Because, Beatrice Hughes, you’re my home, and if I’m lucky enough, you’ll be my wife. That house doesn’t matter because wherever you are is where I’ll be.”
My whole damn heart just melts as I sink into him, fisting the back of his shirt in my hands.
We say nothing as he holds me, our bodies rocking side to side until I’m sure I won’t cry again.
I swear this man has made me shed more tears out of heartbreak, sadness, frustration, and now love than one would think possible.
“Will you buy something else out there?” I ask, pulling away once again, folding clothes I’m not even sure I want to pack.
He only shrugs. “Maybe.”
“Nash, come on. Your business is out there. There has to be a plan.” My fingers grip the suitcase, staring into those pools of blue I’ve always gotten lost in.
“I can do business from anywhere.” Glancing over at the clock, an electrical jolt seems to run through him. His spine suddenly straightens, his jaw flexing hard.
“What’s wrong?” I pant, unsure why he looks like there’s a fire under his ass as he disappears into the closet, reappearing with a suit. “Are you taking that with you?” I wrinkle my nose.
“Nope, I’m putting it on. There’s a dress in there for you, too. Hurry up,” he swats my ass. “Our ride will be here in ten minutes.”
I swear, this morning is giving me whiplash as I slink into the closet, pulling a white garment bag from the rack and tugging the zipper down. This hadn’t been here this morning when I was yanking clothes out of the closet. Had it?
A simple lace fitted dress with pearl beading and subtle shimmer stares back at me. “Nash, what is this?” I reappear from the closet, holding the dress as far away from me as possible. My eyes scan the room, realizing Nash isn’t standing there anymore. “Nash?”
“Down here, Andromeda.”
My gaze tracks down, and right there at my feet, Nash is down on one knee with a goofy grin on his face. “Nash…”
“I feel like I’ve spilled a lot of my guts, so I don’t have any good words left right now.
But you know the important things. I was an idiot not to fall for you from day one, but I’m glad I finally did.
You gave me chance after chance, and I didn’t deserve them.
So, Andromeda, how about you switch those chains to me? Marry me, Betty.”
My world seems to stop. Every dream, fantasy, and scene that played out in my mind always led us here.
After so long, I never believed it would happen, and then Nash wanted me.
Still, I kept that hope tucked away. I wasn’t strong enough to cling to it out of fear.
“I was wrong too,” I whisper, but I hold out my hand to him.
The violet-colored diamond shimmers inside its black box before he slips it free.
“Is that a yes?” he asks, the ring hovering a hair’s breadth from the tip of my finger.
“In every universe, yes,” I sob, before tackling him to the floor. His lips meet mine, and the two of us laugh in a heap. Staring at the ring, I’m wondering how we got here. How did my drunken confession get me to the man of my dreams? “Nash, one question,” I grunt as we climb up from the floor.
“Anything.”
“Why now?”
Those blue eyes find mine. “You didn’t think I was going to stare up at the stars around the world and not have the brightest one as my wife, did you?”