Epilogue

Eight Months Later

“Hello, welcome to Caldwell Nutrition, how can I help you today?” I hear my front desk attendant call out from where I’m unpacking office supplies in the back storage room

I officially started my nutrition business four months ago, doing a soft launch online, offering personalized nutrition plans for high school and all-star sports teams in the Dallas metro area.

My first client was Rose Hill High School’s volleyball team. I offered to coach my alma mater’s team on healthy diets and nutrition plans at a significantly reduced rate, provided I could document the process on the social media accounts Carlee helped me set up. The goal was to get my name and business model out there.

At Carlee's advice, I shared the details of my work and included videos of myself preparing high-protein, delicious meals that anyone interested in health and fitness could make on their own. Some videos discussed how to lose weight in a healthy way, but most emphasized the importance of properly feeding your body following high-intensity workouts, including after participating in a sports competition.

I am so incredibly grateful for Carlee’s advice and expertise. With her help, my posts began to go viral within a month of creating my accounts. In the blink of an eye, I jumped from one hundred followers to one thousand, then one thousand to ten thousand.

Now, with my accounts having two hundred thousand followers, I have started acquiring sponsorship deals with companies I never dreamed of. In the interest of being honest to my audience, I only agree to deals with products I actually use or believe could be useful to my clients.

While social media success is fun, its main benefit has been the financial freedom it has provided. I quit my job at the Ranchers and followed through on opening a nutrition clinic focused on helping to end the toxic cycle of diet culture for women.

My goal is to help anyone who walks through the door of my small, two-room office be the happiest and healthiest version of themselves, no matter their body type or the numbers they see on the scale.

“Yes,” a familiar voice echoes in the sparsely decorated foyer. “I’m here to see my daughter.”

I smile and straighten, abandoning my task and making my way out of the small storage room and entering the sunlit foyer.

“Hey, Mom.”

Mom turns away from the desk where Janie sits. The twenty-one-year-old college student is working here part-time while she finishes up her last year of college.

With the way things are going, I’ll be able to pay someone to work full-time soon. If Janie is interested in the job, it’s hers. Otherwise, I’ll need to find someone else to help. The business has grown too big for me to do on my own.

“Hey, honey.” Mom walks over and wraps me up in a quick hug. “Ready for some lunch?”

“Yes, please.” I look at Janie. “Feel free to close down if you need to go out to get your own lunch.”

“That’s okay. I packed my lunch.” She motions to the floral lunch box behind her.

I nod. “Okay. I’ll be back within an hour.”

I grab my purse and lead my mom out of the office. Caldwell Nutrition is wedged between a hair salon and a woman’s only gym in a strip mall located in Midtown Dallas. It’s a prime location for my desired clientele.

Fate really has a way of letting everything fall into place when the moment is right.

To think, this time last year, I was single and just starting my first job as a Registered Dietician. Now, I’m with the love of my life, who encouraged me to reach for the stars and start my dream business. A business that is thriving.

“How have you been?” I ask Mom as we walk side by side down the streets busy with a lunchtime crowd. “How’s Dad?”

“Good. We’re both good. He’s been enjoying going to Dane’s games this season. Thank you again for gifting us season tickets. It’s good for your dad to overcome the pain of his past.”

“Of course, Mom.” I smile softly. “I’m glad Dad likes going to games.”

To be honest, I wasn’t sure he would. But seeing how much fun he had at game seven of the NHL finals all those months ago made me take a risk with my parents’ Christmas gifts this year.

We continue walking down the street, pausing occasionally to admire a pretty dress or fashionable piece of jewelry in the fancy store windows. A pair of pearl and crystal-encrusted heels catches my eye.

“Oh, those are gorgeous. I wonder if Valerie would want them for her wedding.” I take my phone out and snap a picture of the stunning shoes, which I then send to Val.

“Carter is engaged?” Mom gasps. “I had no idea.”

“No. Not yet,” I admit with a laugh. “But Valerie and Carter are always making jokes about running off with the twins and eloping.”

Neither wants the hassle of planning a wedding after witnessing the stress Carlee and Corey experienced on their big day.

If asked, my best friend would say her wedding was perfect, if only because she got to marry the man of her dreams. But the rainy, cold weather, coupled with the fact the band they’d hired for the occasion couldn’t make it because their plane had been canceled due to thunderstorms at DFW, made the day so stressful.

Regardless, Carlee looked stunning on her wedding day, and she had absolutely no qualms about getting mud on the hem of her designer gown when she walked through iconic Rosehill to marry the love of her life.

“Oh my. I could never do that.” Mom shakes her head. “My family would’ve been so disappointed not to see me and your father get married. Especially my mother.”

I press my lips together. “The same mother who criticized you for not being able to fit her wedding gown when her frame was five inches shorter and much more narrow than yours?”

Mom smiles tightly. “Yes, the very one.”

These past few months haven’t just been good for my business and love life but also for my relationship with my mom.

After I finally told her how I felt about the negative comments she consistently made about herself, she took time to reflect and realized that a lot of her negativity wasn’t created by her own mind but rather put there by her own mother.

I never met Grandmom Harpswell. She passed shortly after Mason and Miles were born, but I’ve learned that while she loved her ballet-loving daughter dearly, she did not refrain from putting immense pressure on her.

When I learned the details about the mental abuse my mom suffered from someone she loved and respected, my heart broke for the girl she was and the woman she’s become.

Mom’s past doesn’t excuse the way her body image issues indirectly affected me or the way her comments could have burrowed under my skin and damaged my own self-worth, but it does offer insight into why she is the way she is.

I change the subject by asking Mom about Matthew, curious if she knows anything about the mysterious woman he’s dating.

The only reason we know he’s dating someone is because he missed Christmas with the family this year to spend time with “a friend.”. We aren’t dumb. There’s no way Matthew would miss our family get-together for anyone who was less than a girlfriend, though he insisted that wasn’t the case.

Try as we might, neither I, Miles, nor Mason have been able to get any information out of him about this so-called friend. Our eldest brother is expertly evasive. Which only makes us even more curious. It turns out Mom and Dad didn’t have any luck, either.

“Maybe she’s a celebrity,” I muse aloud, turning my body to avoid being run over by a teenager riding an electric scooter on the sidewalk.

Mom shrugs. “Anything is possible.”

We finally reach the French-inspired bistro. The smell of freshly baked bread fills my nostrils and I immediately envision ordering a caprese sandwich on a fresh loaf.

Mom grabs the door handle. I give her a curious look when she holds the door closed.

“Mom? Everything okay?”

She swallows the lump in her throat, and I’m shocked to see her eyes glistening with tears. “I just wanted to say that I love you. And that I am so incredibly proud of everything you have accomplished this year.”

“Oh. Thanks?” I tilt my head to the side and take in her watery gaze. “Are you okay?”

She sniffs and straightens. “I’m fine. Let’s get something to eat.”

She opens the door and walks inside before I can say anything else. I have no idea what’s made her so emotional. Is it because she thought of her mother?

I step inside.

“SURPRISE!”

I jump back and clutch my chest.

A gasp escapes my lips as I take in the sea of family and friends gathered in the modest-sized French bistro and the congratulations banner and streamers hanging from the ceiling.

“What is this?”

Dane detaches himself from the crowd and holds out a hand. “It’s a party.”

I place my palm in his hand. “I can see that. But what for?”

“For your business.” He guides me towards my loved ones. My feet are stuck on the floor. I nearly stumble.

“My business?”

Joshua chuckles. “Yeah, you know? The thing you opened but never took the time to celebrate? Consider this your grand opening party.”

Carlee pushes the first baseman aside. Her diamond engagement ring and coordinating wedding band shine in the sunlight beaming through the windows as she throws her arms around me. “Congratulations, Morgan. You’re killing it.”

I squeeze her back with my free arm. “I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

My best friend leans back and shakes her head. “That’s not true. Sure, social media helped get your name out there, but it’s your content and your business that is keeping the momentum going. You’re incredible, and I can’t wait to see what comes next!”

My eyes burn. I blink back the tears. “Thanks, Carlee. That means a lot.”

Corey comes up behind his wife and rests an affectionate hand on her waist, drawing her back into his chest. “Congratulations, Morgan.”

“Thanks, Corey.”

My parents are next. Dane finally releases my hand so I can hug my dad and then my mom, jokingly chastising her for tricking me into believing we were going to lunch.

She laughs. “Blame Dane. It was his idea.”

I look back at the blond man and raise a brow. “Is that true?”

“What? You don’t think I can arrange a thoughtful surprise.”

“No,” I murmur with a soft smile. “I know you can.”

Dane is the kind of man who when he proposes, it’s going to involve the sweetest and most thoughtful gestures.

And yes, I said when. Not if.

Little does Dane know, I found the small velvet ring box tucked in the back of his sock drawer.

I hadn’t intended to find anything. I’d just needed to borrow a pair of Dane’s thick, warm socks since mine weren’t doing the trick when I spent the night last week. So many emotions had rolled through me when my fingers brushed the soft fabric covering the small box.

How I managed to contain my curiosity and not open the box is still a mystery, but I’m glad I didn’t look.

It’s possible I was mistaken, and there wasn’t an engagement ring in the box—that it was just a box holding something special. But I doubt it. Not just because the most likely explanation is almost always the simplest, but because when I went back into the drawer the next day, the box wasn’t there.

Dane had moved it. I imagine the look of absolute terror he must’ve had when I told him I’d borrowed a pair of socks. We both deserve Academy Awards for the acting performances we’ve pulled off in the days since.

Joshua, Cam, and Eli approach and wrap me in bear hugs. They’re followed by Lacy, Valerie, and Carter.

My cheeks hurt from how hard I'm smiling, and my stomach chooses that moment to rumble. I’m starving.

Carlee hears and laughs. Then, she claps her hands to draw the room’s attention. “All right, everyone. Food is served. Please grab a plate. Morgan will make the rounds shortly to say hi to everyone!”

I shoot her an appreciative smile.

She winks at me and then moves on to follow her own instructions and fills a plate.

“So, were you surprised?” Dane leans down and whispers in my ear.

I look up at him, grinning wide. “Very.”

“Good.” He kisses my forehead. “You have a lot of people in your life who love you, Morgan. They couldn’t wait to celebrate you.”

My chest warms. “Thank you for helping to organize this. It means so much.”

“It was nothing. I’d do anything for you.” He wraps his muscled arm around my shoulder and tucks me into his side. I tip my head back and welcome his sweet kiss.

He pulls back. His cheek twitches. “Speaking of, how about you and I have dinner tonight? Just the two of us. There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

My stomach flutters, and I have a hard time suppressing my thrilled smile. “That sounds great, Dane. I can’t wait.”

The End