Epilogue

Tom

N ew Year’s Eve

“If you would have told me a month ago that I’d be spending Christmas with my girlfriend, I wouldn’t have believed you.” I sit on the couch, my arm around Krysten, keeping her close. Flames are dancing, and blazing wood is crackling in the old fireplace in the living room. The Christmas tree and every piece of decoration are gone, thanks to a family superstition of hers that keeping anything holiday related up into the new year brought bad luck. It wasn’t how I wanted to spend the better part of today, but now that it’s done, it feels good to start the new year with a clean slate. The house is sparkling almost as much as the small secret I keep hidden behind the couch cushion, waiting for the right moment.

“I know. Everything went so fast. I can’t believe how quickly my life turned completely around since that day we ran into each other in the coffee shop. I have a job, and Christmas was so much nicer than I’d ever imagined it would be. I like your family.” She smiles and snuggles closer, taking a sip of her hot cocoa.

“You like my parents. I think Stephanie will take some time.” I love my sister, but she’s doing everything she can to make my life difficult right now.

“I like Stephanie, but she’s not convinced I’m good enough for you. I think the belated Christmas gift I got her helped, though.”

“That was very thoughtful,” I say. Krysten insisted on going shopping for gifts for my family the day after Christmas. The stores were busy and many of the shelves bare, but somehow this woman had managed to pick three meaningful gifts we’d promptly dropped off, much to everyone’s surprise.

“Thank you. Kill ’em with kindness is my personal policy when it comes to your sister. It might take some time, but you wait and see. It’ll work.”

“I have no doubt.” The woman beside me can do anything she puts her mind to. Except cook, and I don’t mind that one bit. “Are you excited about the new job?”

“I am. Yesterday was good. I got a feel for how they work.” Krysten spent a few hours at the production company that hired her to get a feel for her responsibility.

“We won’t see each other as much once you start in earnest.”

“Even less when I find my own place. I’m checking out two of them after work on Monday. You’re welcome to join me,” she says.

“You’re still determined to move out? Sure I can’t convince you otherwise?” I ask, brushing soft kisses on her cheeks, eyebrows and the tip of her pretty little nose.

“You realize this has the opposite effect, right?” she asks.

“How so?” I’m surprised. I’ve done my best to convince her to stay here with me, where she belonged.

“Because you are making it much too tempting to share the same roof with you.” She kisses me on the lips, lingering for a moment before pulling back.

I’m having none of that. I take our cups and set them down on the coffee table in front of us before pulling her closer for a long, deep kiss.

“It’s almost midnight,” Krysten says, glancing at the grandfather clock in the corner.

“It is.” My heart is beating louder. It’s drowning out the ticking of the clock. I’m surprised she can’t hear it. I reach behind me, ensuring myself the small velvet-covered box is still there.

At the stroke of midnight, my hand wraps around it, and I get down on one knee in front of her.

“What?” The surprise in her eyes makes the moment all the sweeter.

“Krysten Swanson, I didn’t know I needed you until you walked into my life and into this house. It made this place a true home, and I can’t imagine a life without you by my side. Will you marry me?”

She’s quiet, her eyes scanning my face. I wait, opening the box and holding it out for her.

“Are you sure?” she finally asks.

“I haven’t been more sure of anything in my life,” I say. “But if you need more time, I understand.”

Flipping the box closed, I rise to my feet, swallowing my disappointment.

Krysten gets up from the couch, and we stand face to face. I don’t know what to do. They didn’t cover this in the proposal manual.

“Yes,” she says. “I’ll marry you. Under one condition.”

I raise an eyebrow. I didn’t realize this was a negotiation. "What’s that?"

“We have a long engagement, and I actually get a place of my own for a while.” Her eyes never leave me.

“I can live with that.” It’s not how I pictured this moment, but the important part is that she said yes.

“Good. Does that mean I can have the ring?” She smiles, her tone less sassy than her words.

I laugh. “Yes, yes, it does.” I flip the box open and slip the ring on her finger.

We open the bottle of champagne in the fridge to toast the New Year and our engagement.

Sitting on the barstools in the kitchen, my curiosity gets the better of me. “Why the long engagement?”

“Couple of reasons. We don’t really know each other that well. It’s only been a few weeks.” She shrugs, and I buy it. We’ve learned more about each other living together than most couples do in months of dating.

“And the second reason?” I ask when she doesn’t continue, hoping to get to the real reason.

“I promised I would.” She sips on her sparkling wine.

“Promised who?”

“Your sister. We talked on Christmas day. She’s worried I’ll hurt you and asked me to prove that I love you and I’m not in this for an easy meal ticket.” Krysten shrugs, but I can tell this is bothering her.

I reach over and cup her face. “I know how I feel about you, and I have a pretty good idea of how you feel about me. I get that my sister worries, but we should not let her dictate how we live our lives. You don’t need to prove anything to her, least of all your love for me.”

Krysten swallows and nods. “I know. The other thing is ...”

“What’s the other reason?” I prod gently when she stays silent.

“It’s been a tiny bit too tempting to live under one roof with you,” she says with an embarrassed smile. “Especially when you kiss me every chance you get. We could use a little space, I think.”

The look on her face makes me laugh. “Or we could head to the courthouse on Monday and get married. They open at nine.”