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Now, I just couldn’t wait to make her my wife.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Emily
Six months later
I sat in my living room and stared outside as the snowflakes floated to the fluffy white carpet below. Marigold Island never really prepared for snow days, so we all knew to stay inside. Thankfully, I’d stocked up yesterday at the grocery store.
The smell of bacon drifted through the air, and I let out a happy sigh.
“Scrambled eggs or a cheese omelet?” Lucas asked from the kitchen.
I stretched toward the ceiling and pushed the blanket off, feeling more relaxed than I ever had before.
“A cheese omelet,” I called back.
So much had changed over the last six months. I no longer felt that anxious energy when I thought about my future. Mymind didn’t race with opportunities and worries. I didn’t spin into needless thoughts about losing my best friend or missing out on my forever.
I had the best of both worlds. Lucas was my everything and more.
There were times when I looked back and realized how lucky I was that he persevered and truly showed me that we could have both. We could be the best of friends and the happiest of couples.
I remembered back to my Grandma Cecilia and thought about the fear she’d had over sharing her poetry and the friendship she lost because of it. The parallels were uncanny, and I could have lost both my best friend and the opportunity to have my happily ever after.
A yowl echoed down the hall, and I froze. What had Oscar gotten into this time?
“Wouldn’t you know Brad just happens to be out of town when a storm rolls in?” I hollered to Lucas as I dashed out to follow the shrieking sound. “Dang cat.”
The noise led me to the linen closet where Oscar had perched himself on the top shelf that wasn’t really even a shelf. There was only four or five inches between the shelf and the ceiling, and somehow, there was fur feathering between the two, along with a tail and one paw. I don’t even know how he got up there.
I wiped my hands over my mouth and took a deep breath, knowing my odds of having a hand come out of this unscathed were slim to none.
“Hold on, Oscar,” I mumbled to the feline and wandered back down the hall to another closet where I’d kept gardening gloves.
Lucas looked gorgeous wearing jeans that hung just right, a fitted tee, and my Valentine’s Day apron. He smirked in my direction with a quirked brow. “Everything going okay?”
I held up the gloves and chuckled. “Wish me luck. He’s stuck in the linen closet.”
Lucas’ expression immediately changed. “No. Let me do it.”
I scowled at him and glanced at the omelet. “Absolutely not. I won’t risk my omelet for Oscar.”
“But you’d give up a hand?”
I chuckled and made my way back down the hall, where Oscar’s tail had drooped to a discouraging twitch. I grabbed a little step stool and said some encouraging words more for me than him.
“Come on, Oscar,” I whispered. “You’ll be fine.”
A heavy hiss emerged as my hand reached up and around to find his scruff and not his teeth. His hiss turned to a purr, and I panicked.
What was he planning? This cat never purred unless he was ready to attack.
Without thinking, I clenched my eyes shut and pulled him out of the narrow crevice.
My eyes blinked open to see Oscar staring right at me eye to eye.
Lucas came down the hall and smiled. “Omelet is on the table. I’ll take it from here.”
