Inside is a spacious, restored flat with original Georgian windows, flooding the room with light.
And there, in the middle of the room, is my sofa. And Nirvana.
“What in the world?”
“You needed a new place to live. We needed a new place to live. Together.”
I don’t know what else to do, except cry.
“Did I do well?”
I don’t say anything at first. I have to take it all in. In the corner is a fully modern kitchen and breakfast bar. Down a short hallway are three bedrooms and a bathroom with a deep soak tub.
“One of those rooms can be your office, and one can be a guest room. We could turn those into a nursery one day, or I could wall off another room in here…”
He goes quiet when he sees my face.
I reach up and touch his face. “You smashed open the lock on my heart, and you left it better than you found it. Why? How? Why me?”
Finn laughs. “Why? Because I love you, Strawberry.”
My eyelids flutter, and I feel woozy. I have to lean into him.
So much work. So much labor, materials, time, and money. So much goddamn money. More money than I’ve ever spent in my life.
“You’re an absolute lunatic, Finn. I never thought flirting would lead to all this.”
“You failed at flirting, and instead, you got yourself a husband. That’s not a proposal. But you ought to know by now that’s the plan.”
I have to laugh, and I have to cry, but mostly I have to wipe my face on his shirt. I fist the material over his soft tummy. My favorite part of him. Well, my second favorite.
“You always have a plan,” I say.
Finn cups my cheek and dabs away a tear.
“I wanted you to have some place where you felt like home.”
He remembered everything. I didn’t say the words, but he picked up on how I felt. How I’ve never felt like I was home.
And now, I do. I roll up on the balls of my feet, and we share a kiss.
Finn made it happen for me. I could never pay him back in a million years. And the best part is, I’ll never have to.
Epilogue
Two yearslater
Finn
I thought all that Skylar wanted to do was sell books and records in a small town.
And I thought my job was to stay behind the scenes. Keep an old building updated and safe, while my wife and her staff did their thing.
Raven’s Books, Music & Sundries has turned into so much more than that.
As such, it’s been a challenge to pull my wife away for a mini getaway today, the first anniversary of our marriage.
The witchy group that currently occupies the comfy sofas and chairs in the corner by the windows has pulled Skylar into a conversation about stocking ethically sourced sage smudge sticks at the store.
