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“Okay, fair, you’re welcome,” I said.
I opened the door and let her get off the plane, then I walked down to the airstrip with her to make sure that really was her Uber before she got into the car. Ever since she and I started dating officially, I had been a lot more protective of her. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt it must have had something to do with the way I felt I abandoned her when she needed it most.
I was going to make up for that mistake by making sure I was there for her for everything, including making sure she wasn’t going to make a mistake and get into the wrong car.
“Call me or text me tonight and let me know if you got that promotion,” I told her.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s hope that I tell you I did.”
“But only if you really got it,” I said with a smirk.
She laughed again and climbed into the back of the car, and I handed her her bag before closing the door. She looked out the window at me and waved as the driver pulled the car away from the runway and back toward the gate. I waved to her, too, but I still felt nervous. I hoped against hope she was going to get that promotion, and I was already dying to hear the answer.
But, I was going to have to wait for her to tell me later on. I would give her the space to find out herself and let her come to me when she was ready. Respect was a large part of our relationship, and I knew it was one of the things that would make us last.
We were both in this for the long haul, I knew that, but I also knew that it was going to take a lot of work. We were both stubborn, we were both intense, and we were both very emotionally charged people. But, I knew that wasn’t a bad thing. As long as we had each other’s best interest at heart, we would be able to get through anything.
And right now, all I wanted in the entire world was for Laurel to get her job promotion at work. I knew she had worked her ass off for it, and if there was anyone who deserved it, she was the one.
I turned back to my plane. I had to get it cleaned up and put away before I was free to leave for home, too, and I was eager to get that done. I was tired from the long flight, and I was ready to grab a beer and settle back in at home. I pulled out my phone and texted Kenton, asking him if he wanted to come over to my place for a beer in an hour.
After all, the last time I had seen him, I was single with a broken heart. A lot had changed since then, and I was eager to fill him in on all the details of my new life.
And, more than that, I wanted to give him a hard time about his cell phone.
It had been a while since I’d last done that, and I had to make sure he knew I still thought it was funny he finally caved in and bought one after all the time he spent saying that he didn’t need one, or that they were a massive waste of time.
Sure, there was a part of me that was sad that we were back home and things had to go back to normal, but there was another part of me that was glad that we were finally back home, too. I could get back to my real life, and I could build a new real life with Laurel now in it.
I was excited for what the future held. As long as I knew she would be by my side, I felt we were ready for anything. In fact, everything felt like an adventure moving forward, and I was eager to see what life had in store for us.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t care at all about getting older.
I found the one person I wanted to grow old with, and she really had made all the difference.
Now, my life was complete.
EPILOGUE – ONE YEAR LATER
Laurel
“Honey, I’m home!” I called out as I walked through the front door of our condo.
It had started as a joke for me to yell that out when I came home, no matter how long I had been gone. But, after a long day at work, it did feel good to be able to make the announcement once I walked through the door.
It was like I was telling the world that I was now home, and I would be turning off the professional side of me for the next few hours, and I would be doing the casual side of me. It had taken me some time to get used to being able to turn off the career when I was off the clock, but with practice, I had been able to strike a balance.
Greyson had been a massive help with that. He would often remind me to set alarms when I had to be somewhere, and he was the first one up in the morning, making sure I was always up on time for work. Though, I had to admit, after that trip across the country, I didn’t have an issue getting up and making it to work on time.
I felt I had rocked the boat enough with what I did while I was gone, and though things had worked out for me with Greyson, I didn’t want to wind up jobless because of it. I still wanted to be an interior designer, and I didn’t want to move to another company and start over at the bottom rung of the ladder.
But, I had been willing to take whatever came from the trip.
If that had been a promotion, I would be elated.
If it was a bonus, I would be thrilled.
If it was nothing at all but the pay that I made when I was there, I was okay with that. After all, I had gotten Greyson out of the deal, and that made me the richest woman on the planet, I was sure of that.
