Tears filled my eyes. “God, Jilly. I’m so fucking tired of crying.”
“It’s the hormones,” she said, coming around to hug me. “It will get better.”
“When?” I sobbed into her stomach.
“I don’t know. Eighteen years?”
I choked out a laugh. “Jesus. Eighteen years.”
“You won’t be alone, honey. You’ll have Mom and Dad, me, Sky and Sebastian. And you’ll have Miles, too, Nat. I feel it. I see it in the way he looks at you. How he’s always looked at you. He loves you—you just have to let him do it his way.”
• • •
I lay awake most of the night wondering if Jillian and Skylar and even Madam Psuka were right. Was everything I wanted right there in front of me and I just didn’t recognize it? Was I too stuck on the idea of what I thought the fairy tale would look like? After twenty years of being just friends, had a few days of crazy bound Miles and me for life?
Was this our story?
How did it end?
I sort of felt like the prince had come to rescue me, and I’d turned him away from the castle. But you know what? I didn’t want to be rescued by the right thing.
I wanted to be swept away.
I went to work the next morning, tired and emotional and still uncertain what would happen next.
We got busy fast, and again I looked up every time the door opened, hoping to see Miles walk in. Around ten, I was surprised to see Skylar come in, a big grin on her face.
“Hey,” I said, pouring coffee for someone from behind the counter. “What are you doing here? Not working today?”
“I’m going in late. Can you take a break? I have to show you something.” Her eyes twinkled, and I wondered what she was up to.
“OK. Sure, come in the back.”
She came around the counter and followed me through the kitchen into my little office. “Have your phone?”
“It’s right here.” I reached into my purse, which was sitting on the desk. “What’s going on?”
“Did you see Miles’s post today?”
At the mention of his name, my heart quickened. “No. Why?”
“Look at it.”
“Why?” I asked again, but I was already searching for it.
“Just look.”
I searched his name with trembling fingers and fidgeted impatiently while the results loaded. Scanning the top hits, I clicked on the right one and gasped when I saw the title.
It Happened. I’m in Love.
I know what you’re thinking.
It’s impossible. The only thing that guy loves more than his dick is…well, nothing.
And a couple months ago, you’d have been right.
But there’s this girl, see? Remember Cinnamon Buns? It’s her.
Her name is Natalie. I don’t remember not knowing her. We’ve been friends forever. But I’ve always wanted to be more.
I’m glad I had to wait, though. I needed to wait.
I don’t think I would have appreciated her enough five years ago, or one year ago, or even six months ago.
But now…
Now I can’t breathe when I see her.
Now I can’t sleep without her next to me.
Now I can’t be happy without her in my life.
Now I can’t believe I ever thought she wasn’t the one.
I once told her I wasn’t capable of loving someone completely and forever, but I was wrong.
I was so wrong.
Now I want to spend the rest of my life proving it to her.
I just hope she’ll let me.
My phone was shaking in my hand. “Oh my God.” I looked at Skylar. “Oh my God. He published this?”
She nodded.
“Hey, Natalie?” Hailey called from the kitchen. “Can you come out here? I need you.”
“Oh, shit.” I put a hand to my cheek. “Is my face flushed?”
“Yes.” She giggled and fanned it. “But you better get out there.”
I moved past her and went through the kitchen into the shop, my pulse skittering out of control.
Then I gasped. The entire place was silent, all eyes on me. On the wall opposite the counter, where the pictures of Skylar usually hung, were four huge new photos.
Of Miles.
He wore the same jeans and t-shirt in each one, as if they’d all been taken the same day, and in every photo he held up a different hand-painted sign.
I moved closer, my hands covering my mouth, as I read each sign.
The one on the left said WILL.
The next said YOU.
The third said MARRY.
The last one ME?
Heart pounding, I looked around the room. Was he here somewhere?
“Pssst.” Seated at a table near the door, a little old lady pointed outside. “I think that’s what you want.”
I turned, and sure enough, out on the sidewalk and framed in the window, was Miles. Down on one knee. Holding a ring box.
“Oh my God.” On wobbly legs, I walked to the door and pushed it open. “What are you doing?”
He smiled and took my hand. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m upending your life.”
I laughed as a few tears splashed down my cheeks.
“Did Skylar show you the post?”
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Did you mean it? What you said?”
“Of course I did. I love you, Natalie. Let me show you how much.”
“But—”
“Just listen. I know I’m not what you planned on,” he said, his expression turning serious. “And believe me, I never thought I’d be down here on one knee, begging to love someone forever. But this is not a mistake.” He squeezed my hand, his eyes filling. “I feel it in my bones, Natalie. You’ve always been in my heart. You’ve always been the one I couldn’t forget. And all last night I kept thinking that this—you and me and this baby—it wasn’t an accident. It was exactly what was supposed to happen all along.”
“Miles,” I said, a sob breaking lose.
“You told me you were lost that first night we spent together,” he went on, rising to his feet. “And do you remember what I said?”
I nodded. “You said, ‘You’re not lost. You’re right here with me.’”
He opened the box, spoke low and soft. “You always have been. Stay with me?”
The sunlight winked off the big round diamond at the center of the ring’s setting, and I gasped.
“Is that a yes?”
I burst out laughing. “Yes!” Holding out my hand, I watched through tears as he slid the beautiful ring on my finger. It was a little big.
He looked at me sheepishly. “Sorry. I guessed at the size. It almost fits.”
I smiled. “Almost.”
He kissed me deeply, stealing my breath, our arms twining around each other. From inside the coffee shop and on the street, cheers and applause erupted. Miles lifted me right off my feet and swung me around, and I squealed in dizzy delight.
“This is crazy,” I said in his ear. “Are we really engaged?”
He set me down. “Well, I’m not too familiar with the concept, but I believe when you give a girl a ring and ask the question ‘Will you marry me?’ and then she says ‘Yes,’ that means you’re engaged.”
I lay my head on his shoulder. “I can’t believe it.”
“Told you your buns were worth matrimony.”
I picked up my head. “This was all a ploy for my buns, wasn’t it?”
“It was, and you said yes, so now I get to glaze those buns as much as I like. And also butter your muffin and polish your fine china.”
Skylar opened the door poked her head out. “We’re dying in here! You guys coming in or what?”
I turned to her, arms flailing. “Sorry! Yes, we’re coming.”
“Hard and often,” murmured Miles from behind me as he steered me through the door.
Giggling, I looked at him over my shoulder. “Promise me you’ll always make dirty jokes in my ear.”
He spanked me lightly. “With pleasure. Easiest promise I’ve ever made.”
• • •
The entire day, I floated around on a cloud, happier than I’d ever been, giddy every time I looked down at my hand. The feeling actually reminded me of being a kid and seeing a car in the Haas’s driveway for the first time each June. I’d know that my summer fun was about to start, and I’d go running across the orchard to play. We weren’t playing anymore, and we had a lot of important decisions to make, but for once it didn’t drive me nuts not knowing exactly what the next step was. Or the next ten steps. I had Miles. He had me.