He releases one of my hands and reaches into his pocket, pulling out the notecard from the flowers I’d sent. My heart trips over itself in my chest. “Did you mean it?”
I nod, fighting the tears back. “Of course I did. I meant all of it, Zach. But…”
Zach steps forward, cupping my cheeks in his palms. He swipes a stray tear off my cheek before it can ruin my carefully applied make up.
“Then let me prove to you that I mean it, too. I know the level of groveling I need to do is… it’s unparalleled. I fucked up, and I hurt you.” Pressing his forehead to mine, he rolls it back and forth, eyes shut tight. “I can’t tell you how much I hated myself for being the biggest coward, Louise. For knowing exactly what my silence was going to do to you, and doing it anyway because I was terrified. And I don’t blame you for one second if you doubt me, or if I have to spend everyday of the rest of forever proving to you that I’m here to stay. I will be the last guy you date, Louise,” he breathes, opening his eyes to stare into mine. He shakes his head then, continuing, “No, fuck that. I will be the one and only guy you marry and spend the rest of your life with. I said locked in, Princess, and I mean it. No more disappearing acts, no more being stood up on dates, no more ghosting. I’m never disappearing again, and I’ll take the next hundred years to prove that to you, if you’ll let me. If you’ll give me one more chance that I know like hell that I don’t deserve.”
“You’re going to ruin my make up,” I chastise, more tears sliding down my cheeks.
“As long as the only reason I ruin your make up from here out is for happy tears,” he teases, then presses his mouth to mine. “Or because of other things…”
I laugh again, shaking my head. “Zach…”
“I’m so sorry for hurting you, Louise. I love you,” he whispers against my mouth, and my soul leaves my body. Holy shit. Raising his head, he stares at me. “I—” kiss, “—love—” kiss, “—you.”
“I love you, more,” I whisper back, nodding.
He smiles against my mouth. “We can argue that later, after you’ve moved in with us, at our new place. We needed extra space for an extra kiddo.”
“I guess you did.” Taking a deep breath, I say, “Please don’t ever push me away like that again. Please.”
“Never,” he assures me. “Locked in. For real.”
“For the next hundred years?” I ask, and he nods, laughing.
“For however long you’ll have me, Princess. For however long you’ll have all of us.”
“Forever.”
“Forever,” he agrees.
This time, I believe him. My grumpy beast.
Because once upon a time, I dreamed of a love just like this.
Epilogue
Louise
TWO and a HALF YEARS LATER
The sun is shining in the garden, golden rays filtering through the towering maple trees along the edges of the property.
The peonies and hydrangeas are in full bloom, the pinks and purples and blues the perfect backdrop.
Because today, I get to marry my grumpy beast of a prince. Right here in the garden, surrounded by our families and close friends, just like the four of us talked about so many years ago.
Darci steps toward us, her chiffon gown in berry floating around her as she walks. The dark pink is stunning against her dark hair, left down in waves against her collarbones.
Sienna, camera in hand, flits around us, snapping photos. Her rose pink, velvet dress hugs her tall frame like a second skin, her light chestnut brown hair tied in a loose updo at the back of her neck. Her wedding band glitters on her finger as the sunlight catches it.
Grandma Jude, walking with Declan, stops to let him bend over to smell a bush of peonies. In his little three-year-old excitement, I can just hear his little voice exclaim, “Gamma, smell!”
“Here, take a drink of water,” Mom insists, handing me a bottle of water as she stops next to me, which I take gratefully. “Are you ready?”
Nodding, I inhale deeply, then exhale slowly.
“Zach is anxiously waiting for you,” Lydia says as she walks up, taking my hand in hers and squeezing it. “I’ve had to tell Chloe she can’t tell him what your dress looks like about a hundred times today already."
