"Wandering Bundt is great—" Teddy started.
"But it's not you anymore, is it? You're not a nomad anymore."
"Okay..." I drawled and my heart started racing again.
I dreaded to think of what they'd done—on opening day no less.
"We found a more fitting name," Teddy said and gave the signal to Wesley who pulled on a rope and the sheet on the sign above us fell to the ground.
I gasped. I didn't know what to say. Or do. All I could do was stare at the name—the artistry of it— and marvel at the beauty of it.
I had to admit. It was fitting.
It was a gold, calligraphic text against the same emerald green of the feature walls that read "Butterfly Cafe" and next to it a golden butterfly in a circle.
By the time I had processed the change and looked down at everyone they had taken down the pieces of paper covering the glass, where the logo and the name had been stenciled on.
My eyes welled up but I blinked away the tears and smiled.
"It's beautiful, guys. I can't believe it."
"So you approve?" Teddy asked.
I covered my mouth to hide the whimper that threatened to come out and looked at all of them, nodding.
"I love it," I said. "Truly."
And with that, I let the tears run down while I gazed into the logo and everyone embraced me.
I was free now and I was loved. The events of the last few months—hell, of the last year and a half since I'd moved to Mayberry Holm—had made me the person I was always meant to be.
And who I was, was beautiful like a butterfly.
But unlike butterflies, I was also home.
I looked into Dare's gorgeous blue eyes and thought of our home, our pets, our life together. I thought of how much happiness that pair of blue eyes had brought me and would continue to bring me for the rest of my life and sighed.
Home, indeed.
EPILOGUE
2 Years Later
"Eve, stop eating all the blueberries!" I shooed the pesky pygmy goat away, but she wasn't deterred.
I sighed and rolled my eyes as I turned to the other two goats who were eating what they were supposed to, the weeds, and praised them for being good boys.
Naturally, as soon as she saw me petting her brothers, Eve butted in and begged for attention and since I wasn't a cruel goat dad I stroked her head too and got back to the task at hand.
I reached for the closest branch, gently pinched a blueberry and rubbed my fingers together. The fruit rolled off its vine as if it had never been attached to it in the first place and I smiled. It was wild how content such a simple thing could make me. Especially considering my life and the kinds of places I'd been. The kind of things I'd done.
Some days I worried I'd wake up and realize I'd made a mistake or that I'd lose interest in the farm and it would fall into the same neglect as when I'd bought it, but then I'd pinch myself and remind the little voice in my head that I'd been doing this for seven years and I still loved every single moment.
Of course, it helped that I was content in my personal life too. It might have taken a while for me to move on and allow myself to be happy again, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.
I put more blueberries in the bucket on the ground and thought of my beautiful man.
It seemed silly now, how much I'd resisted him, how long I'd stayed away from him for fear of having my heart broken again when in truth I'd never known love until I met him. To love and be loved freely and openly was an indescribable joy. Something that couldn't be put into words. Having someone in your corner, ready to fight your battles for you as you would for them, being cherished every day, was something I'd never experienced. Not with this intensity. That was for sure.
