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“I’m hungry,” Shawn says, making his way to the table, but Maeve slaps his hand. “Ouch.”
“You can’t eat until Izzy gets here.”
Maeve, Maggie, Lexi, and Anastasia fuss with the balloons that spell CONGRATS on the wall, and we’re all armed with noisemakers when the woman of the hour walks through the door.
“Congratulations!” we all yell and make our noise, and I watch in horror as the woman I love disolves into tears.
“Whoa. No, no, no. Don’t cry, love.” I open my arms, and she walks right into them and buries her face in my chest. “Shh, don’t cry. I’m sorry you didn’t want a party, I didn’t know.”
“I want a party,” she mutters against my shirt. “It’s just I’m so grateful and so tired.”
She steps back and wipes away her tears.
“You did so great,” Kane says and pulls her in for his own hug. “You’re a superstar, darling.”
“Pass her around,” Da says, taking my girl from Kane. “It’s a lovely woman you are, Izzy me darlin’. I’m so proud of you.”
“You’re all making me cry.” Izzy sniffs. “Oh my gosh, this is so amazing.”
Everyone takes their turn, hugging her and fussing over her. Finally, Lexi asks her, “What time did you have to get up this morning?”
“One,” Izzy replies. “I had to be at the studio by three, and we were on the air at five.”
“Damn,” Shawn says. “You were up before the pub even closed.”
“Yeah.” She wipes her tears dry and takes in all the balloons and food. “Oh, you guys. This is amazing. Thank you so much.”
“We watched every minute of it,” Ma says. “We all sat together, right here, and watched you. You were wonderful, Izzy. Smart and sassy, and as beautiful as the sun.”
“I just stopped crying,” Izzy says and tears up again. “I was so nervous. But it was exhilarating. And so fun. Everyone there is really nice, and I even have my own little cubicle, which I didn’t expect since I’m only part-time. And I have to admit, I’m glad it’s part-time. Because while it’s amazing, I also love the pub, and this way, I can do both.”
“It’s not often a person can do everything they love,” Da says and pats Izzy’s shoulder. “Good for you.”
“A celebration drink,” Maggie says and passes Izzy a champagne glass full of orange juice and bubbly.
I can’t help but chuckle every time I see orange juice now.
“To Izzy, the best weather girl Seattle’s ever seen,” I say with my glass raised.
“To Izzy!” everyone says and takes a drink from their glasses.
Izzy scrunches up her nose. “I think my tummy is still nervous. I’d better just have OJ. God knows I don’t need any more coffee.”
We settle in with food and drinks, chatting about Izzy’s first day. After everything is cleaned up, and we’ve taken lots of pictures for social media, and everyone has snuggled the baby, people start to leave, to go about their days.
When Izzy and I are left with Kane and Anastasia, I turn to the love of my life and eye her heels. “Do you have more sensible shoes in your car?”
“Just flip-flops. That’s all I grabbed this morning.”
“I have sneakers you can borrow,” Stasia offers, “if they’ll fit.”
Thankfully, they do, and I lead Izzy outside and along the cliffs.
“It’s beautiful out here,” she says. “You just can’t beat the view.”
“No, you can’t.” When we reach the place where Kane and I talked before, I stop her. “What do you think of this?”
She turns to the water, but I shake my head, brace her shoulders in my hands, and turn her to the land. It’s a flat spot with some trees and a small meadow, which would be the perfect spot for a home.
“Not the view, the land, love.”
She frowns and looks around. “It’s pretty, that’s for sure. I like the trees. I’m sorry, what am I missing here?”
I wrap my arm around her shoulders and kiss her temple. “How would you feel about building a home here? With me.”
Her head whips around, and she stares up at me in shock, the way she did when I asked her to move in with me.
Was that just a week ago? It feels like a lifetime.
“Seriously? You own this property?”
“If you like it, we’ll own it.”
Her jaw drops. She takes it all in again and then turns to look out at the ocean.
“I don’t see anything here not to like, Keegan.”
“It won’t happen overnight. It’ll take time to find the right plans and then actually break ground and build. But it’s something I’d love to do with you.”
She smiles and leans into me, offering her lips, which I gladly kiss. “I’m honored and excited. It’s gorgeous.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to live in the apartment above the pub, though? Because I don’t mind it at all, Keegan. I don’t want you to think that I hate it there or something. I’m fine.”
