26. Epilogue

Epilogue

Eleven Months Later

"Someone told them we're getting married!"

Whit glanced up from his cereal as Nell flounced into the kitchen, her hair still damp from the shower and her phone in her hand. He took that to mean she'd seen Meltdown . "We are getting married."

"But we haven't announced anything!"

"You were wearing your ring in Paige's wedding photos." He leaned back in his chair and looked at her, enjoying the way the early sunlight played along her skin and caught her freckles. Ever since she'd officially made the move to Minneapolis at the beginning of June, mornings with Nell had become his favorite time of day.

Except for evenings with Nell.

And every other hour in between.

She waved a hand in dismissal. "That was over a month ago." Scowling, she stalked toward the coffee pot, poured herself a mug, and turned back toward him. "I bet it was my grandmother. She's desperate for good publicity."

"If there's one person in the universe I can't imagine ever speaking to a tabloid, it's your grandmother. "

"Then she had her minions do it."

"Are you allowed to have minions in prison?"

"You've met her. She's been there for weeks now. She's probably got the makeup mafia running the place." Nell took a sip of her coffee, then set the mug on the counter and folded her arms. Her scowl deepened. "This is her revenge. She still thinks we scheduled the wedding specifically so she'll miss it."

"I hope you told her that was just a delightful bonus."

After her indictment on fraud charges that summer, Nell's grandmother had chosen to accept a plea bargain rather than go through the ordeal of an embarrassing and highly publicized trial. Her four-month prison term would conveniently prevent her from attending the wedding, which had been scheduled for early January to coincide with MLB's off-season. But convincing Josephine Forrester—who was trying to reform her image from conniving CEO to benevolent matriarch—that their chosen date wasn't an intentional slight was an ongoing battle.

One that Nell was determined to win. "If we were having the wedding at the farm, she'd never have come anyway. She wouldn't be caught dead within fifty feet of a barn."

"If we were having it at the farm, your wedding dress would be a snowmobile suit." Whit thought it was sweet that Nell had wanted to get married in Bucky's backyard, but a winter wedding in the frozen north would've meant guests turning into icicles, so they'd decided on an indoor venue off Lake Minnetonka—with a second reception in Fallen Oaks after they returned from their honeymoon. That was at Nell's insistence. So you can see how much the town doesn't hate you, she'd said. And we're inviting Sawyer and James. Since Whit had already made peace with his former friends, he didn't think that was strictly necessary, but it was important to Nell, and that was good enough for him. No harm in doing what he could to please his wife.

His wife . A year ago the very thought of marriage would have been unfathomable. Now he couldn't imagine his life without Nell in it.

It hadn't all been smooth sailing, of course. Those early months of separation had been hell. If he'd had his way, he'd have moved Nell into his house right at the start of the season, but since she'd wanted to finish out the school year in Chicago, they'd had to survive on late night phone calls and weekend rendezvous. Each time they said goodbye, doubts had begun to creep in. Some part of him hadn't been able to let go of the fear that she'd wake up one morning and decide none of the chaos and complications were worth it. But that little voice had grown softer and softer, and it had been silenced forever the day she told him she was ready to move in with him for good.

The addition of four hundred miles between her and her grandmother hadn't made that relationship any less contentious, however. Nell was still stewing. "The farm probably would've ended up backfiring, anyway," she grumbled, "since arctic wastelands are Grandmother's natural habitat."

"You could always stop speaking to her."

Nell's indignant look told him he was an idiot for even suggesting it. Whit held up his hands. If there was one thing he'd learned over the past year, it was that trying to understand the tangled dynamics of the Forrester-McLean women was beyond the capabilities of mortal men. "Quit worrying about some stupid tabloid and come here," he told her. "I want to celebrate our anniversary."

"This is not our anniversary." An argument they'd been having for the past several weeks. Whit thought they should count the day she'd run into him at Gills as their anniversary. Nell thought it should be the day he'd come to find her in Chicago.

"It's our almost-versary."

"That isn't a thing."

He crooked a finger at her. "Come here anyway."

Mischief danced in her eyes. "What'll you give me?"

"My love and devotion aren't enough?"

"Save it for the altar, O'Rourke. What'll you give me right now ?"

That was just asking for the sort of lewd remark guaranteed to turn her cheeks pink—god, he loved that he could still make her blush—but since he did actually have something he wanted to give her, he reached into his pocket to withdraw a small, slightly creased piece of notebook paper, and then set it on the table .

Her brows went up. "Paper?"

"It's a list. Reasons why you should date me."

"As opposed to marrying you?"

"I wrote it last year. I was going to give it to you that day in Chicago, but the timing didn't seem right, so I decided to save it for our"—he broke off at her glower—"for a more appropriate moment."

She crossed to the table, took one glance at the list, and snorted. "Really? You started with sex?"

He grinned, scooting his chair closer to her. "Yeah, I thought you'd appreciate that."

"Reason number two: handy around the house." She sent him an amused look. "I think you're missing an S in there somewhere, pal."

"Hey, I'm not just handsy. I did paint my grandpa's barn."

"According to your dad, you did it wrong."

"That just shows you can never trust his opinion."

"Reason number three—" Another snort. "You didn't seriously think I was pregnant."

"You could've been. I wouldn't have complained, but it's probably better we've had some time to ourselves."

"Reason four, a rich boyfriend. Okay, I have to admit, that one does have its perks. But I'd love you anyway."

"I know."

"Five. Good hygiene?"

"You're always saying you like how I smell. Though the whole showering thing fell off for a bit after you left."

Reason six earned him an eye roll. " I promise to let you win at least half of our arguments," she recited. Her skeptical look said it all.

"I was trying to be realistic," he explained. "I didn't think you'd believe it if I said all of our arguments."

"I wouldn't have believed it anyway. But if we're keeping score—"

"Which we are. Obviously."

She lifted a hand to shush him. " If we're keeping score, we're at O'Rourke 2, McLean 15."

Numbers she had definitely made up on the spot, but since it was their anniversary—whether she believed it or not—Whit decided to let her have that one. "This is going to get a lot more confusing once it's O'Rourke versus O'Rourke."

"You could always stop arguing with me," she suggested.

This time he snorted.

"Reason seven… you look good naked?" A laugh gurgled out of her. "You made two of these about sex?"

"That one is about aesthetic appreciation," Whit replied. "Not my fault your mind went straight to the gutter."

"Uh-huh. Reason eight: we could get a dog." She glanced up again. "How exactly is that a reason for me to date you?"

"Well, it's kinda hard for me to take a dog on the road. But that reminds me—we should get a dog. Or a couple of cats. I'm not picky."

"I'm willing to negotiate," she answered, then shook her head as she turned back to the list. "Reason nine: see reasons one through eight. Now that's just lazy."

"I wanted an even number. Keep reading. You're almost to the best one."

She smiled when she got to the end, her eyes growing misty. I love you . "That was the only one you ever needed."

Whit's eyes turned a little misty, too. Nell might not believe in fate, but Whit knew deep down that some things were simply meant to be. Even if you had to wait a while to find them. "I don't know. I thought that first reason was pretty good," he said, giving her his very best leer.

Nell leered right back. "Oh, yeah? Care to provide a demonstration?"

He laughed and pulled her into his arms.