Epilogue
“ W here do you want this picture, honey?” At Julian’s cabin– their cabin– Annie unpacked a box with ‘Office’ written on the side with black marker. “In our bedroom?” she suggested.
“Over the bed? We can take turns looking at it.” Julian put a hand on her shoulder, then ran it down to the small of her back. A pleasant tingle went up her spine. Annie laughed and pecked him on the cheek.
“Mur, mur,” Kitty chuffed from a small stack of a boxes. He poked his snout between the crack of the crossed flaps and sniffed. He sneezed before shoving his paw inside. “Meow?”
“Silly boy.” Annie moved to shoo the tuxedo cat away, but Julian only held her tighter.
“Hey, I’m not done with you yet.” He planted a kiss on her cheek.
“Oh? Aren’t you now?” Annie turned around in his arms and kissed his lips.
But Kitty had other ideas. From the box, his claws pulled out the pink yarn Annie hoped to use for the crochet project she wanted to start.
“Naughty!” Annie gasped. Julian let her go. She tried to take the yarn away, but Kitty resisted, gnawing on the web of tangle of threads. “No, this isn’ t for you, mister.”
“You sure you want this to be your new hobby?” Julian laid a few strokes down Kitty’s back before picking him up. He held Kitty while Annie cautiously extracted the yarn from his flashing paws. “He’s going to be relentless.”
“‘Tis the season for trying all the new things. There. Now to hide it…”
A couple of weeks before, Annie had happily accepted Julian’s invitation to move in together. She’d missed him so terribly after a weekend trip to visit Molly and Peter that it had felt like it was time to take the next step.
And within the last few months since moving to Northgold, Annie had started working at the diner.
Even though she was only a waitress and had only worked there for three weeks, she loved it.
She hoped to be in the kitchen soon, just as Ellie promised.
At first, Julian was worried — what with his dad being around.
Ellie had conspicuously made Tuesdays Annie’s days off, and she surmised that Julian had had some say in it.
But a handful of Tuesdays had come and gone, and according to Ellie, Clive hadn’t returned to NWD even once.
It saddened Annie on some level, but overall, his absence made things less stressful.
She still took a few writing assignments, but she’d realized after spending every weekend at the diner as a patron that her passion for cooking was calling her.
Julian had also fully established his furniture making gig. He’d quickly outgrown the space at his home, and had needed to rent out a shop in town to keep up with demand.
Signing the lease, he’d grinned from ear to ear. “Was shaking in my boots when I picked up that pen,” he’d told her later, “but I... It’s all going so much better than I ever could have imagined.”
A year had passed now since they’d bumped into each other at Buckeye's Convenience Store. Presently, Julian put Kitty aside and laughed. After a moment, he grew serious. He gathered Annie into his arms. “You know, after I was done with rehab, I’d resigned myself to being alone in this town. How’d I get so lucky? ”
Annie giggled. “I’d almost resigned myself to being alone in someone else’s company.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Then I met you.” She hugged him closer.
“Now all you need is a little something on your hand.”
Annie raised her eyebrow. “I just moved in and you’re already hinting at more?”
He kissed her cheek and chuckled. From his back pocket, he pulled out a small band with a dark blue stone setting.
Annie gasped. “Julian! You’re not serious!”
“Completely serious, I’m afraid.” He got down on one knee. “I tried to base it on the pieces I found in your jewelry box. Figured you’d want something less traditional.” He slipped it onto her ring finger.
Tears pricked her eyes. The ring was so pretty. “Thank you.” When he stood back up, she hugged him close. “Thank you for loving me. I love you.”
“Of course, I love you, too,” Julian whispered, and kissed the top of her head. “This is just the beginning… Oh! I guess I interrupted myself — will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Annie croaked out. She couldn’t wait to see where life would take her and her fiance’.
Julian had made her feel joy again.
After the loneliness she’d lived with, not knowing how suffocating it really was.
After she’d run away, not knowing she was moving towards her new life.
And after realizing that not all new beginnings were meant to be traveled alone .
In leaving behind those who had not known her, she’d set out on a journey that allowed her to come back to life. And into a complete, normal flow where she didn’t once feel swallowed whole.
“I love you,” she whispered. A smile lit up her cheeks.
Julian rocked her back and forth in his arms. “Love you, too, Annie.”