Chapter Forty-Three

Evie

Evie looked at the crowd that had gathered. There were so many people, they were spilling out onto the street. Phones were recording, the air hummed with anticipation, there was even a giant countdown clock someone had strapped to the top of their car.

One forty-one it read and Evie felt sick. What if he didn’t come? What if her public apology and plea had only made things worse? And why had she put the stupid timer on it?

She gripped the rose in her hand so tightly that a thorn pressed into her thumb, breaking the skin. But the pain was nothing compared to what she was going to feel if he didn’t show.

“He’ll be here, Mom,” Camila said. “I know he will.”

“He will, Mrs. G,” Ryan assured her, but she didn’t feel reassured. She felt terrified. Terrified that she’d found and lost love all in the same week.

“What if he didn’t see it?” Even worse, what if he had and decided she wasn’t worth the fight.

“He saw it,” Moira said. “Karlson promised me he’d take care of it.”

Evie choked on air. “Since when do you and Mr. Karlson team up?”

“Since we’re going out on a date tonight. Seems I’m finally ready for a man.”

“I’m really happy for you, Mom.”

“Can we put a minute on the clock?” Tasha’s voice interrupted, and that’s when Evie realized that the next sixty seconds were going to define the rest of her life.

“You got this,” Julie said, giving Evie’s hair a fluff, and then stepped off camera.

“We’re coming to you live from Grinder, to see if this coffee shop is really visited by Cupid. And with me is You’ve Got Male, for part two of our exclusive story on if love over social media works,” Tasha said into the camera on her phone. “You all remember Evie, the one who hired a beard to trick America into thinking she was off the market?”

“I didn’t hire him, I—”

“Well, she’s back on the market and looking for love. Only, she’s looking for a specific man’s love. Turns out, she needed a little beard in her world because that lie turned into love and she’s waiting to see if Cupid is on her side. So who here is team Cupid?”

“Cupid! Cupid!” the crowd chanted.

“And how many of you believe someone deserves a second chance at love?”

Nearly every hand in the audience went up, and Evie felt some of her nerves evaporate. Surely if all these people believed in second chances, then she stood a chance. Right?

“Well, let’s see if Evie is one no closer to her yes, or if she’s finally found it,” Tasha said. “And it looks like we’re about to find out.”

Evie went up on her toes to look over the crowd as Mr. Karlson’s car pulled up. Her heart started hammering and she felt like she was going to float into the sky and pass out all at the same time.

“Ten, nine, eight,” the crowd counted down as it parted, making room for the car to pull up to the curb and Evie’s lips curled up into a smile on their own accord. Love, that’s what she was feeling. Raw, honest, till-the-end-of-times love.

“Seven, six, five.” The words echoed through her ribs like the ball bearing in a pinball machine.

She ran her fingers through her hair, then smoothed down her dress. This was it. This was the first day of the next chapter of her life.

“Three, two…”

Instead of “One” a thick hush rolled over the crowd like fog and Evie’s heart plummeted to her gut. Every heartbeat felt like a punch. Every breath felt like swallowing glass.

He wasn’t there. Karlson’s passenger seat was empty.

Jonah hadn’t come.

Hundreds of eyes went soft with pity, like how one would look at the woman at the bar who nursed her drink for two hours after being stood up. Only, she hadn’t been stood up. She’d been left. Alone. With her breaking heart for everyone to witness.

The crowd went blurry from the tears gathering, and her hand that was clutching the rose fell to her side. This was the first day of the next chapter of her life, and she was the responsible party.

She dropped her head to stare at her shoes, which was easier than facing the onlookers, and watched the first tear drop onto the concrete. It hit the ground and shattered into a million particles of water, like a rain cloud opening up.

Before another could fall, excitement rose from the street. The sound of cheering tore through the air and she slowly lifted her head.

The crowd was once again parting and pushing his way through the middle, like Moses and the Red Sea, was Jonah.

Hope bubbled up in her chest, tickling her throat and the backs of her eyes.

He didn’t stop running until he was standing in front of her.

“You came,” she whispered.

“I’d never leave you here alone,” he said, and the starting of hope fizzled like a flat soda. Had he come there just to save her from the humiliation? Or had he come for love?

“I’m so sorry,” she began and he shook his head.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” he began. “I ran here today, do you know why?” he said, his voice coming in bursts from his run. He’d run there. In a suit. That had to mean something.

“Because of my video?”

“Because you were right when you said you were making the best choice for us both.”

“I was?” she croaked out, barely able to breathe past the pain.

“You were, sunshine,” he said. “I don’t want you to be with me because of some arrangement made out of desperation.”

“No, of course you don’t.” Evie could no longer look at him so she studied his shirt.

His finger cupped her chin and tilted her head until she was looking at him again. “I want you to be with me because of all the right reasons.”

“And what would those be?” she whispered.

“Because you want to be. Because you love me. Because you can’t imagine spending another day without me in your life. Because that’s how I feel. I love you, Evelyn, the kind of love that doesn’t go away over a little speed bump. Hell, I’d be willing to scale a problem as big as the Rockies if it means earning your heart.” He gripped her hips and gently tugged her toward him. “Let me earn your love. Prove to you that we can make this work.”

“You don’t have to prove anything to me.” She pressed her palms flat against his chest. “You already have my heart.”

“Thank God for that, because I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you since you offered to toast my balls.”

She choked on a laugh. “I’m pretty sure I fell that night over the summer on the back porch when we talked beneath the stars and shared a glass of wine.”

“I might not have been ready then, but I am one hundred percent ready now. The question is: Are you ready, sunshine?”

“Yes,” she said, and before she could get another word out, his mouth came down on hers. And it wasn’t just a kiss. It was the kind of fireworks, sweep-you-off-your-feet, famous-World-War-II-in-Times-Square-kiss kind of kiss that went soul deep.

And the kiss went on and on until they slowly became aware of the people around them. Some were chanting, “Cupid! Cupid!” Others were talking feverishly about tossing their pennies into the Lucky in Love tip jar. But it was her heart that Evie was listening to, and it was telling her she’d found her Charming.

Jonah pulled back and there was so much emotion in his eyes she started crying again—the good kind this time. Then he did the unexpected: he took both of her hands in his and got down on one knee.

A bit of panic set in and he must have seen it on her face because he gave her a reassuring squeeze of the hands.

“Evelyn Granger,” he began. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my real girlfriend?”

“Does that mean you’ll accept my final rose?”

He stood and pulled her into his arms. “Sunshine, I’ll accept all your roses.”