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“Sadie, darling. I want you to take me out. Because I’m yours. I surrender.”
She ducked her head, finally getting it. “Denver.”
“Come on, Sadie.”
She picked up a ball and stalked toward me, and still, I didn’t move. “You’re going to let me win, just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“With all those people watching?”
“What?” I turned my head and got a ball to the neck. And yeah, nobody was watching. Not a single soul.
Sadie made a run for it before I even started chasing her down.
“Oh, yeah, missy? You’re going to take my beautiful gesture and turn it into a war?”
She grinned as I caught her around the middle. “Of course. That’s what makes life fun.” She turned in my arms, suddenly looking serious. “I love you, Denver. I’ve never been so happy in my whole life.”
“Isn’t it terrifying?” I whispered.
“Yeah. Absolutely. But so worth it. So, so worth it.”
Epilogue – Sadie (One Year Later)
Denver’s arms tensed and his muscles flexed as he pulled the last of our old kitchen cabinets off the wall. I could watch Denver rip stuff out all day. Which was a good thing because I pretty much had. I was the cleanup half of our construction crew, and we were almost done with the demolition portion of our kitchen renovation.
He turned and caught me watching him and winked at me from inside his protective goggles. “Like what you see, Mrs. Talcott?”
“I sure do.”
He stretched with a groan and then strutted over to see me, lifting the goggles up.
“Don’t you dare try and kiss me. You’re all covered in kitchen debris.” I rounded the black trash can in the middle of the floor so I was just out of reach, and Denver followed, knocking it over and spilling chunks of drywall everywhere.
This was why we absolutely should have hired professionals. It wasn’t that we couldn’t do it ourselves. It was that we couldn’t be professional around each other. At all.
We had to keep it together at work, and that was about all we could take. When we were home, all bets were off.
Undeterred, Denver leapt over the downed trash can and picked me up in a bear hug, sharing his drywall dust with me. He was generous like that. “Hey, I love you. Just thought you should know.”
“Yes, I’m feeling very loved.” I brushed off the front of my T-shirt after he set me down. “Very, very loved.”
When he turned to get back to work, I gave him a little love tap on his backside. “Love you, too.”
“I knew it.” He picked up a section of cabinets, lifted them up like The Incredible Hulk, and carried them outside. I followed with another section of cabinets out to the delightful dumpster we’d rented for the weekend. Our poor yard would be a project for another day. Or year. Okay, probably a few years.
The only thing done on our home renovation project so far was our bedroom, and we hadn’t even been involved in that. Gina and my mother-in-law attacked it while Denver and I were on our honeymoon.
To this day, I couldn’t walk in without giggling a little bit. There were gauzy curtains around a four-poster bed, twinkle lights, a dimmer for the overhead chandelier, and a cushioned window seat with throw pillows that said things likeLife is better with your best friend. That’s why I married mine.
It screamed “give me grandchildren immediately.” It was also the loveliest gesture, and I secretly adored everything about it.
“Hey, whatcha thinking about?” Denver took my section of cabinets and tossed it in the dumpster.
“Our love nest.” I put my finger up. “Don’t get any ideas. We have a lot of work to do before we can retire for the day, mister.”
Denver put his arm around me. “Yeah, yeah. I can’t wait to rip all the linoleum up. It’s the stuff of my dreams.”
