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I whack him in the arm. “We’re not having a shot-gun wedding, Gage. I want something nice. And I don’t want to be visibly pregnant.”
Maria laughs. “I’ll let you two work it out. But I will happily attend whenever you pick a date. Just don’t elope. Your friends have earned this wedding almost as much as you have.” And then she makes her exit, the door swinging shut behind her.
I look around the empty room. “I can’t believe you bought this for me. It’s perfect.”
“Mmm-hmm. And you haven’t even seen the upstairs.” He steps back, takes my hand, and pulls me toward the stairs.
He’s got a mischievous look in his eyes that makes my blood heat.
“What’s upstairs?” I ask.
“A floor. And a fireplace. I know that combination gets you horny.”
I laugh, too happy for words.
He stops walking just long enough to grin down at me. “See. It won’t be so bad being married to me.”
“I disagree,” I say. “It’s going be goddamn wonderful. Because it’s us.”
“Because it’s us,” he agrees.
And then we go upstairs and start our Happily Ever After.
EPILOGUE
VIOLET
On the one-year anniversary of the day Gage tossed me that set of keys, I officially open my community art center. It’s everything I’ve wanted, and more. I was able to hire some of my favorite colleagues from the last arts center I worked at. And thanks to the generous funding of Gage and his various rich friends, I can offer classes at practically no cost. We’ve already got a waiting list going for people who are interested in classes.
I glance around the front lobby. It’s full of excited students milling around and chatting about the class they’ve just finished. They’re joined by a collection of people who have spent the last year cheering me toward the finish line. Maria’s over by the champagne, flirting with Pete, the Coyotes' new head coach. The team has really turned around under the joint powers of his and Gage’s leadership. Gage flew him out this weekend so they could start strategizing about the changes they want to make for next season. But based on the way Pete is looking at Maria, I wonder if he might develop an entirely different reason to start visiting New York.
Lorelei is on the other side of the room, chatting with a group of older women who just finished their first art class. I think they’re trying to convince her to join them next time. Lorelei wasn’t exactly thrilled to find out Gage and I had lied to her. But when she saw it had led to us falling in love, and a thoroughly adorable grandchild, she forgave us. Especially since Gage actually has a life outside of work now.
Tom and Jaylen are here too. Jaylen got a promotion at work that’s keeping him busy in the best possible way, and Tom’s hovering over his newly pregnant wife. They’ve only told a few people, but Tom’s so bad at being subtle about it, that I’m pretty sure the whole room knows by now.
“Oh my God! This place is amazing!” Peggy exclaims as she steps into the door. She ended up taking over for me as Gage’s assistant. She’s twice as good as me, and she charges him twice as high a salary as I did. She also makes sure he actually leaves work on time. And if he ever gets too grumpy with his employees, she reins him in by threatening to tell me about it.
All in all, a perfect assistant.
I grin as I take in the space with her. “Yeah. It’s pretty amazing.”
“Who would have thought you’d end up here?” she says.
I have to agree.
Of course, the biggest change of all is the three-month-old baby in my arms. It’s almost bedtime, but he’s lifting his head and looking around at the chaos wide-eyed. We named him Jack, after Gage’s dad.
He is, in my unbiased opinion, the best baby in the whole wide world.
And his father agrees with me.
Peggy makes silly faces at Jack until he starts giggling. Then she checks her watch. “I hope Gage left the office on time. Normally I kick him out at six, but I had that dentist appointment.”
“He’ll be here,” I say confidently.
He knows how important this is to me. Neither of us is perfect, but ever since we’ve started being honest with each other about what’s important to us—and what isn’t—we’ve gotten a lot better at showing up for each other. Both literally and figuratively. We haven’t gotten around to getting married yet, but that’s only because I didn’t want to plan a wedding and launch a business at the same time. Gage spent a few months reminding me that wedding planners existed for a reason, but he finally accepted the idea of taking our time.
Why rush when you have forever?
