Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
I let out a sniffly breath of laughter. I could see that. He was radiating with happiness and anticipation. It was starting over though, mostly from scratch. And I understood the bravery it had taken.
“So, that’s one,” he said. “And the only other thing I know for sure is that I love you so much. I want to go on adventures with you, both big and small for the rest of my life. I want to cheer on your business because I’m so damn proud of you and I can’t wait to watch you living your dream too. I want to continue to live in this beautiful town that I love with all my heart. I want to learn how to live with all the emotion you do. I want to laugh, and I want to be ridiculous sometimes too.”
He breathed out a small laugh and I did too, though it was more of a sob than anything. I couldn’t hold myself back anymore and I launched myself into his arms, crying and laughing and gripping him so tightly.
“I love you too,” I said, so overcome with elation I needed him to hold me up. “All those things I said at your party—”
“Rory, I know. I heard about how you were confronted. I’m so sorry about that. And also, you’re a terrible liar. Once I allowed myself to take a step back, I realized everything you said was out of self-preservation. I understand. I do. But please, say it again anyway.”
I knew the part he wanted to hear repeated. “I love you. I love you so much, Gage Buchanan.”
“No one—not a single person—will ever speak to you with disrespect in this town, Rory. Ever.”
I nodded. I believed him. He’d sent his entire family to reassure me of that first and then to deliver me to him because he knew how much family meant to me. It was the very reason I’d arrived here in the first place. To complete my own.
He released a breath and closed his eyes, bringing our foreheads together where we simply existed for a few joy-filled moments where the biggest obstacle of all had been overcome. Everything else would fall into place. His body was so warm, his arms so solid. My heartbeat slowed, breath coming easier.
“Those two things you know for sure,” I told him, “they’re enough. For now, they’re all we need.” Dreams and love.
He leaned back and used his thumbs to wipe the tears streaming down my cheeks and tipped his chin slightly. “It’s a little messy and a lot risky. It’s less than perfect,” he told me.
“Far less,” I agreed with a grin, bringing my lips to his and kissing him before drawing back and looking him in the eye. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
EPILOGUE
Gage
One Year Later
It was Saturday night and a packed house. Just like every Saturday in the last three months since Canary Blue had opened…and Fridays and Sundays, and even most weeknights. Reservations were booked months in advance and several national food critics had already visited and subsequently left glowing reviews that I now had proudly hung on the wall.
While I’d originally prepared the menu and created all the recipes while the remodeling of the old building was being done, I had since hired a full culinary staff and now only worked four chef shifts a week, this being one of them. The rest of my time was spent creating recipe specials, refining the menu, and sourcing products from local vendors.
I poured a splash of bourbon into the skillet and watched as the fire leaped and the liquor sizzled as I constructed Rory’s favorite desert—bread pudding with caramel bourbon sauce.
Rory. The warmth that infused my chest had nothing to do with the fact that I was standing in front of an industrial stove.
She always came by for dessert and to keep me company as I closed for my final shift of the week, but tonight she was also at the restaurant celebrating Bree’s birthday with the rest of the Hale crew. It blew my mind to think of how much had changed since the evening the year before when I’d run into their family celebrating the same occasion.
I’d opened Canary Blue and I’d also assisted Romeo Casteel in coming up with a new menu for Cakes and Ale featuring some of those crab cake recipes Rory and I had made together the first night we met. The night I’d first begun falling head over heels in love with her, even if I hadn’t realized it at the time. I knew what the country club in Claremont Landing served and I also knew that now, Cakes and Ale’s menu far surpassed theirs. The Casteel family business had already begun expanding and Rory and I traveled there often to visit and help fine-tune their kitchen operations.