Epilogue

Valentine’s Day

I WAKE TO FIND A VASE of pink roses and a card on my bedside table. I smile and turn to Blake, who is still sleeping. It’s still very early, but I’m a morning person. Jekyll and Hyde are sleeping in their kitty bed, tucked cozily around each other. The first week, when I first moved in to Blake’s house, they were afraid of each other. You’d never catch them both in the same room, but slowly, over the past two months, they took a shining to each other, and now they’re inseparable.

I grab my journal and flip the pages to my last entry. I slip my new sparkly pink pen out of the spiral binding and get busy writing. Most people grab their phones first thing in the morning. I always grab my journal. Most often, I just read my old entries, but occasionally, I add a new one.

Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. – Mark Twain

Dear Journal,

Sorry, I’ve been ignoring you lately. I know it’s been a long while since my last entry. I’ve just been so busy.

Life has been absolutely crazy. Crazy, but beautiful. It’s Valentine’s day today, and my gorgeous man is sleeping soundly next to me. He got me pretty pink roses, my favorite. I love Valentine’s Day – all the love, hearts, candy and chocolate. What’s not to love? But this time of year has always been a little hard for me. In three days, it will be the anniversary of our dads’ accident. Blake and I have decided to go visit their graves and have a little chat with them. We’re thinking of making it an annual tradition. I’m so glad we can share this now. We couldn’t when we were younger, but we’ve both grown so much over the years.

It’s been great being close to Momma and my family. Momma and I chat every day, and she swings by the store to help me out. I’m still so crazy busy but enjoying every single minute of it. My inventory consists of fashions for women of every age; older fashions for Mrs. Davies’ clientele, more contemporary stuff for younger women, and even children’s clothing. The store is the talk of the town, and it’s been going really well.

Yes, I wanted to have little ones, but that’s going to have to wait a while now. For now I’m happy with my two babies, Jekyll and Hyde.

I miss my friends, but I’ve made new ones here. The girls and I still text all the time, and chat often on Facetime. We still share journal entries and chat about books we love. Corrie still pesters me for dirt about my sex life – she’s so shameless. And Gabbie shows me her growing belly pictures. I can’t wait to see the new baby. And they’re only two hours away. Once in a while, I drive over for a sleepover at Kayla’s place; movies, popcorn, martinis, and laughter.

And turns out, we’re all going to Paris! Kayla’s mom is getting married in the city of love, and we all thought we’d tag along, because what’s better than a week in Paris? Nothing!

I was flipping through the other day, and smiled at the sight of the list I wrote not long ago.

Blake tosses and turns. He’s so beautiful first thing in the morning. I love when the morning light streams through the windows and dances on the planes and curves of his face and shoulders. I could watch him sleep forever. He slowly opens his eyes, a little groggy. “Writing?” he says, his voice ragged. He smiles softly. “You always have your nose buried in that thing.”

I grin at him. “I’m just about done,” I tell him. “Just another minute.” I stop for a second to give him a peck on the cheek. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Happy Valentine’s day,” he echoes. “Did you see your flowers?”

“Yes, they’re pretty. Thank you so much.” I quickly turn back to my journal entry.

And then there’s love. I never knew true love before now. Not a single second, have I second guessed my decision to come back home and be with Blake. He’s almost everything I’ve ever dreamed of. I say ‘almost’ because he has the most annoying habit of leaving his dirty socks around, not taking out the garbage on time, being a bit messy, leaving the empty carton of milk in the fridge, never replacing a roll of toilet paper, and almost tickling me to death occasionally. Yet, I want to spend the rest of my life with him. If he’ll have me.

Later, Journal.

M

I finally slap the journal closed, tuck in my pen, and throw it on my bedside table. I cuddle up close to him. “I love you so hard.”

He smiles. “I love you harder.”

“I got you a card too,” I tell him. “It’s right there.” I woke up in the middle of the night to go pee, like I always do, and I took the opportunity to leave a card and a box of Turtles (his favorite chocolates) at the foot of the bed.

“Turtles,” he exclaims as he reaches for the box and card. He eagerly tears the card open. It’s a Snoopy card with sparkles and hearts. He reads it slowly and then turns to me. “Thank you,” he says. “This is sweet.”

When I reach for my card and grab it, I see a small black velvet box hidden behind it. My heart skips a beat. I don’t even open the card. I go straight for the velvet box. I flip the lid open and see the most stunning ring I’ve ever seen. It’s simple, not too big (nothing like the monstrosity Peter had given me), and perfect. A solitary diamond on a white band, sandwiched between two garnets, my birthstone.

“It’s beautiful,” I tell him, tearing up already.

“You’re such a cry baby,” he teases.

I laugh. “How many times have you called me that?”

“Probably a million times.”

I stare at the ring, still in awe.

He grabs the box from my hands. “Here, let me put it on you”

I nod furiously, excited as a kid. “Yes!”

He takes my hand in his large ones and carefully slips the ring on my finger.

“It’s perfect,” I tell him. “Just perfect.”

“I’m glad.” He shoots me a shy smile. “So it’s a yes?”

“Of course!”

“And Maeve, I want you to know that you won’t need to ever worry about my commitment to you. I’m not Peter. Those seven years you shared with him are in the past. It’s just us two now, and I love you. I always have. And I promise to always be there for you,” he tells me, full of emotion. “You won’t get jilted at the altar again, I promise,” he adds with a wink.

I throw my arms around him and hug him for the longest time, but reluctantly pull away to admire the ring again. I turn to look at the flowers, and reach for my card.

He grabs the card, and with a playful grin, he throws it in the air. “You can read it later. I can think of much better things we could be doing right now.”

I inch closer against his warm naked chest, a flirty smile on my face. “Like what?”

He draws my mouth to his. “Like me rocking your world, Freckles.”

I reach down and grab him. “You have about five minutes. I need to get to the store.”

He grabs my leg and pulls it over his hips. “Oh, I’ll need longer than that. But I’m sure the bosses won’t mind at all.”

The End.