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Epilogue
Hannah
I wake with the sun streaming onto my face and a warm hand brushing my wild hair back. The smell of coffee greets me as I peel my gritty eyes open, and a smile settles on my mouth. There’s Seth, squatting down in front of me, looking way too good for only having gotten three hours of sleep last night. We stayed up into the early hours of the morning, getting all of the last-minute touches done for today. Despite that, it still feels like there’s a thousand things to do to get ready.
“Hey,” he says in that deep voice that makes me crazy. My orange cat, Mortimer, comes and cuddles up beside me. The other two, Maximus and Diana, are still sleeping, curled up in a ball together at the foot of the bed.
“What time is it?” I ask as I sit up and stretch my arms up over my head.
He looks at his watch on his wrist and says, “7:00.” That can’t be right, though. I had set my alarm for 6:00, but the brightness outside my window tells me that he is, indeed, correct. We’ve been working ourselves to the bone for nine whole months to get to the grand opening of my bookstore, and I can’t let something stupid like oversleeping ruin this day for me.
I grab my phone and try to figure out why my alarm didn’t wake me up…and oh, that explains it. I set it for 6:00 PM instead of 6:00 AM. Rookie mistake.
I take my cup of coffee from Seth’s hand and chug it in three big gulps, effectively burning my mouth and esophagus. I run to the bathroom, shedding my pajamas as I go, to take a quick shower. Seth walks behind me, picking up my trail of clothes and depositing them into the clothes hamper. I was planning to wash my hair today, but no time for that now. I’ll just have to throw it up in a bun. So much for looking put together for the grand opening pictures.
I step into the cold water, because who has time to wait for water to warm up when you’re running late to start your own business? Not this girl. But holy smokes, that’s a lot colder than I thought it was going to be!
“Hannanah, calm down,” Seth says on the other side of the shower curtain.
“I am calm! I am so tranquil right now I’m basically in the middle of a meditation session over here!”
“Okay, sure. If you say so.”
“I am! Why don’t you believe me?”
“Woman, you just chugged scalding-hot coffee. Now relax and enjoy your shower. You have more than enough time,” he says like a man who hasn’t a care in the world. How is he holding it together? So much of our future is riding on the success of this store. What if it’s an epic failure and puts us in bankruptcy? He’s done so much for me. I’d hate myself if I ruined his future and financial stability.
“Hannah, I can hear you overthinking in there,” he says. I poke my head out to look at him. His hip is leaning against the counter, and he’s casually sipping on his cup of coffee.
“It’s just… Well, what if no one in this town wants to buy books?” I ask. He walks closer and looks over my face. He leans in to plant a kiss on my wet cheek while reaching a hand up and pulling the scrunchie out of my hair at the same time. My hair tumbles down around my shoulders.
“There are plenty of people in this town who enjoy reading and will love having a bookstore in town,” he says. I reach for my scrunchie so I can put my hair back up, but he holds it out of my reach. “Now, wash your hair. There’s paint and dust in it from last night. I love you too much to let you pose for pictures like that,” he says as he walks out of the bathroom.
Seth was right. I had plenty of time to get everything done. Tess picked up donuts for me to set out on the counter for the first fifty-ish customers, Millie made the complimentary coffee for the shoppers, and Seth took care of everything else.
We opened thirty minutes ago, and I’ve already had at least fifteen customers stop by. Admittedly, several people are only here because they’re interested in Millie’s book that she’s signing copies of at the back of the store, but they’re customers, nonetheless. She decided to make her release coincide with the opening of my store to draw more interest in both, and the townsfolk are insanely intrigued. We knew they would be, thanks to their nosy nature.
Tess has been here all morning, helping out wherever she can. Seth is holding Riley in his arms while chasing Lily around the store. Both girls are shrieking in delight, and I realize I have everything I’ve ever wanted. How did I get so lucky to have all of my dreams come true? A year ago, it felt like my life was literally falling apart at the seams, and now I’m practically living in a fairytale of my own making.
I mean, Seth is over there, holding a chunky toddler who is drooling profusely on his arm, and he’s not even batting an eye. It’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. My ovaries are screaming at me to make that man a father.
Oh no. My eyes are leaking again. They’ve still been doing that a lot lately, but it’s more happiness than anything. Sometimes stress, but mostly just intense, overwhelming joy.
The bell on the door chimes, letting me know another customer is coming in. I turn to see the nausea-inducing Shandi walking toward the shelf closest to the entrance. Ah, the bodice-ripper romances. I know that’s her preferred genre from years of working at the library. She peruses the section for several minutes before choosing a book and heading over to the table where Millie has her novel stacked up, ready to sign for customers.
“Hey, Millie. Hello, Hannah,” she says. “I am so excited for you both. It’s very cool what y’all are doing. Pursuing your dreams and all.” Millie and I both blink in surprise. It’s literally the first nice thing she’s ever said to me, and I’m not entirely sure how to respond. My first inclination with her is to try to think of a snarky comeback or to run in the opposite direction, but neither of those options would be appropriate in this scenario.
“Uhh,” I mutter. Yes, I’m very eloquent.
“Thank you, Shandi. That means so much, especially coming from you,” Millie says. Shandi seems pleased by the compliment and decides to buy two signed copies of Millie’s book—one for her and another for her mom. The woman drives me crazy, but I’ll gladly take her money if it means the bills get paid.
Today has been the most exhausting day of my life. The store opening was a huge success. It would seem the good people of Waverly, Texas are thrilled with the idea of having a bookstore they don’t have to drive thirty minutes to get to. I had no idea we had so many readers living in our tiny town.
I didn’t have a second to sit and take a break, and now my feet are feeling the effects. Seth plops down on the couch beside me and groans a sigh of relief. He closes his eyes, and I know he’ll be asleep in five seconds if I don’t act quickly. I reach my hand out and run it through his unruly mess of curls.
“Mmm, that feels nice. I feel like I’ve been run over by a semi-truck. How was today more exhausting than some of my twenty-four-hour shifts at the fire station?”
“It was the kids. You entertained them all day,” I reply with a laugh. Lily and Riley didn’t leave his side until Tess pried them away from him in the afternoon when she declared that it was naptime.
