30. Epilogue

Six Months Later…

"Are you sure you don't want a clown to make you and Chase balloon animals?" I ask, stirring the brownie batter and swiveling my head around to see where I left the damn egg carton. Liam requested normal brownies for his birthday, his favorite of my baked goods, in lieu of a birthday cake.

"My birthday is no big deal, and I don't want you to make it a big deal."

"You don't turn thirty-four every day. You had a rough year," I say, nodding to his side. It's healed, and he and Chase are off desk duty, but he'll have a scar for life. "You're lucky to be alive and should be happy to celebrate surviving another year around the sun instead of acting your grumpy self."

Liam circles the kitchen counter and wraps an arm around me, nuzzling my neck. "I'm not grumpy. I have nothing to be grumpy about now that I have you. I'm also back at work, and Mom's in remission."

Not to mention he's moved in. His boxes still line the perimeter of the living room and kitchen as we slowly put things away. I've accepted more gray in my life, and he's gotten used to pink. He hasn't burned down my greenhouse like he once threatened, and I've become used to watching documentaries every so often. It's been easier than I thought it would be, but he still rolls his eyes when the weed infusion stinks up the kitchen or when he helps me carry pans of THC cookies out to the truck. He"ll pinch the bridge of his nose or sigh heavily when he's annoyed with my business, but he doesn't say a word. He's kept that part of the bargain.

"Hello! Am I interrupting something?" Nola's voice calls from the doorway. "I hope I'm interrupting something."

Liam pulls back. "You hope you are interrupting us? Why would you want to see us that way?"

"Well, I don't want to see it, but I want grandchildren at some point. There are just certain things you have to accept your child does when grandchildren come into the picture, and…" Her voice trails away, and Liam cringes.

"You're early," Liam says, walking to his mother and taking her coat.

"I thought I'd help Lorelei in the kitchen."

"Nope," Liam says. "I just got Lorelei to bake for me without weed in her baked goods, and you'll talk her into putting cannabutter in whatever she makes me. You're a bad influence, and you two are thick as thieves. You'll gang up on me. Sit down, Mom."

Liam steers Nola to a nearby table and pats her shoulder just as Chase and Kailee arrive. What are they doing here early? The party doesn't start for another hour.

Chase and Liam exchange a wide-eyed look, and Kailee points her head to the backyard. Liam nods, and I freeze. "Is something wrong? What's in the backyard?"

"Nothing," Kailee says a little too fast.

"Nothing," Liam and Chase both say at the same time.

Something is definitely going on. Chase, Kailee, and Nola are here early, and Liam is clearly keeping something from me. His hands fidget, and he shoves them into his pocket when he catches me looking at them. Chase clears his throat and looks at the linoleum.

I slam the milk carton on the countertop and untie my apron, placing it on the granite as I open the sliding glass door. Liam is hot on my heels and grabs me by my biceps, spinning me around. "It's not ready yet."

I squint at him. They're not angry or scared I'll find something. If anything, his eyes betray laughter. His lips turn up at the corners. Behind him, Kailee bounces on her feet and silently claps.

I spin around and march into the backyard. Only then, do I see Bogey come around from behind the tree, pausing as he lifts his leg.

"For fuck's sake. I guess it's ready if she's out here," Liam mumbles.

"May as well, bro. We're all here."

Liam whistles for Bogey as I stand stock still, working my brain to figure out what's going on. There are no other guests yet, and the firepit we've set up for roasting marshmallows and drinking spiked cocoa later tonight is where I left it. There aren't any extra people out here. Nothing's out of order.

Bogey comes when Liam whistles for him, and only then do I notice my dog has something on his collar. A box is tied onto his collar with a pink ribbon around it, and Liam gets down on his knees to untie the box, patting Bogey's head in the process.

Liam gets the box untied and spins around on his knees. Why is he still on his knees?

Then, it clicks.

"Oh my fucking God," I say. My hands cover my mouth, and Kailee squeals from somewhere. I know Chase and Kailee are here, as is Nola, but I can't focus on anyone or anything other than the man I love down on his knees in front of me.

"I wanted to wait until the party, Lorelei, but some people insisted on coming to tie the ring around your dog's collar early," he says.

He looks over at Kailee, and she shrugs. "I'm excited. What can I say? It's not every day your best friend gets proposed to."

"B-but, it's your birthday party," I sputter as Liam opens this box. A tasteful diamond sits on a platinum band.

Tears well in my eyes, and one spills over my eyelid, immediately dropping to the deck.

"Ms. Rogers, you infernal woman that I once thought would be the death of me, would you be my wife and argue with me for the rest of my life?"

"You want to fight with me forever?"

"As long as we make up in that way we do, I'll fight with you until the day I die. I love you. I didn't know what love was until I met you."

I sniff just as Bogey nudges my legs like he knows what's happening. He's a smart dog. Maybe Liam sat down and explained the whole thing to him and when to encourage me to say yes by nudging me at just the right moment when I'm frozen in shock. Bogey sleeps at Liam's feet during weekend naps, and Liam's the one that walks him nowadays. Liam even put in one of those special fences for dogs that keep them in the yard so that Bogey can come out and play. A mental picture of Liam explaining the proposal plan on one of their walks strikes me as funny.

I ruffle Bogey's ears. He really doesn't need to worry, and Liam didn't need to train him to pester me about it.

I was always going to say yes.

I knew I'd say yes to him the first time my boob popped out when he was trying to get me out of the truck. Somewhere deep inside me told me this was the guy when he wrote that first fine and pulled out that tape measure.

Not that the tape measure in question hasn't made more fun appearances in the last few months. It's one of my favorite things to troll him with.

Liam patiently waits on his knees, which can't be comfortable in the cool air. I wipe my nose on the back of my sleeve and reach for Liam's face, cupping his cheeks and not breaking eye contact. I hear the clicking of cameras, and I'm thankful someone has captured this for us.

For our future children we want to have.

"Yes, Officer McHottie. I'll marry you. Did you ever doubt that?"

He smiles. "Nah. I knew I'd win you over," he says, standing and pulling me in for a kiss.

Chase, Kailee, and Nola hoot and holler as Liam and I kiss like we don't have an audience. More camera clicks. Clapping. In fact, we kiss so long, everyone goes inside and leaves us out in the winter air. Kailee mumbles something about showing everyone the video of Liam taking me into the station for booking at the wedding as they walk away.

When we finally break apart, Liam pushes the bridge of his nose to mine and exhales deeply. "I still need to get going on those brownies," I say, moving away from him, his hand in mine.

He follows me to the kitchen and wraps his arms around me from behind again, and I shiver with the desire to just be alone with him later. Unfortunately, I have guests to attend to.

He drops a quick kiss onto my neck, scoots my braid aside, and puts his mouth next to my ear. "Just once, wife."

"Just once what?"

"Put your special butter in my birthday brownies. Don't you dare tell a soul."

THE END