Daisy leaned forward and kissed him. ‘Did you really think I would say no?’
‘I didn’t know if you would want to do the marriage thing again, but I knew I wanted to be with you.’
‘Forever.’
‘Yeah.’ He kissed her again, whispering the words across her lips. ‘You put me back together, Daisy. Brought me back to myself.’ Her hands were in his hair now, his thumbs swiping away the tears on her cheeks.
‘Same,’ she whispered. ‘You reminded me who I was.’ Her lips coasted across his cheeks, his nose, his lips, showering him with her love.
‘I’m really glad you asked me to be your fake boyfriend a year ago.’
‘I couldn’t have picked a better one.’
Elliot grinned and the sun shone in through the stained-glass window, painting them in pink and purple and yellow.
He had not seen this coming, but he was really glad he walked into this pretty little shop all those months ago.
Maybe it was fate, or a long-gone ancestor whispering in his ear. Or maybe he just needed a house plant his mother couldn’t kill too easily. But if he was being honest, he’d fallen in love with Daisy the moment he’d seen her, before he’d ever set foot in her shop.
He was just glad he was brave enough to stop hiding. And that she was brave enough to start over. Whatever it was that brought them together, he knew this one was going to last.
Daisy had pieced his heart back together and now all it wanted was her.
‘Let’s go home.’ She hopped down from the counter and took his hand. ‘Come on, Goldie.’ The dog followed as they walked out into the warm air.
Daisy gave his hand a squeeze.
She was wearing yellow today and she looked perfect.
Like sunshine and flowers and summer days.
She looked like the future.
She looked likehis.
Epilogue
Twenty years later
‘We’re going to be late.’
‘We’re not going to be late.’ Elliot’s calm voice came from behind her as she applied mascara at the mirror above their bathroom sink.
Daisy took a deep breath. ‘I’m feeling emotional.’
‘I know.’
She could feel Elliot’s smile as he lifted her hair and kissed the back of her neck. She was in just her bra and panties, the dress she planned on wearing today was still laid out on their bed. His hand splayed across her bare stomach.
‘Our first baby is graduating high school today,’ she said, already getting weepy. ‘I really don’t know why I’m bothering with mascara. It’s going to be a mess in a matter of minutes.’
‘Who do you think is going to be worse, you because it’s our first baby graduating or Iris because it’s her last?’
They both thought about it for a minute before saying in unison. ‘Archer.’ Iris and Archer had already watched Olive and Owen graduate and Archer had been a mess each time, so Daisy could only imagine how he would be today when their youngest, Ophelia, would leave the nest.
Daisy laughed, shaking her head. Poor guy.
She relaxed into Elliot’s body behind her. ‘We definitely don’t have time for this.’
