Official Website of USA Today bestselling author Tawdra Kandle
The Always One Bonus Epilogue
Smith
“Okay, I’m tired of waiting. I need answers, Smith. And I need them right now.”
Laughing softly, I tugged Maureen’s hand, pulling her along the brick-lined path that led across an expansive lawn. “Patience, my love. Good things come to those who wait.”
“But I’ve waited a long time,” she protested. “I’ve been patient over the last three weeks, from the time you told me to book a fill-in vet because you’d planned a surprise for me this weekend. I’ve been patient all the way from Burton to Athens–a three-hour drive, I might note. I’m done being patient.”
“Aww, sweetie.” I drew her close to me. “Isn’t a weekend away, just the two of us, enough of a surprise for you? I thought it would be kind of fun to wander down memory lane together.” I turned her so that her back pressed against my front, my hands linked around her middle. “Look at this. Can you believe this is where we met? Where we became friends?”
“It’s been a while,” Reenie agreed, sighing. “I haven’t been back on campus since I left at the end of our third year to take that internship. I was so sad to go.”
“I was pretty sad myself when I got back from my year in England and found out that you’d moved away,” I admitted. “I’d been so excited to see you again, to tell you all about my adventures in the UK, and you were just . . . gone.”
“Hmmm.” She rested her hands on top of mine. “What do you think would have happened if I hadn’t taken that internship? If I had still been here for our last year?”
“I wish I could say that I probably would’ve been bold enough to finally tell you how I felt, but I can’t be sure. After all, I’d suffered in silence for two long years before that.”
“True. Both of us had been stupidly silent.” Maureen snuggled closer to me. “But maybe that’s because things were meant to happen the way they did. Maybe being apart all those years makes us appreciate each other more.”
“Plus, we might not have Jack if we’d gotten together back then,” I pointed out. “Maybe we wouldn’t even be practicing in Burton. Who can say?”
“Speaking of Jack, maybe I should check in with Sam and Meghan to see how our four-legged baby is doing.” She reached into her bag for her phone.
I began to protest and then thought better of it. Maybe if she was a little distracted, my plan could proceed without a hitch.
So while she called our friends to make sure our dog was behaving, I led her slowly along the path until we reached the spot I’d been heading toward all along.
“He’s fine,” Maureen reported, tucking her phone away again. “Meghan says he’s eating well, and he’s loving the space at the farm. It sounds like Sam might be spoiling him just a little bit.”
“Not at all surprised.” I took a deep breath. “Do you know where we are?”
“Ummm . . .” She looked around us, frowning a little. “Oh. Is this our freshman dorm?”
“It is.” I grinned, craning my neck to look up at the brick building. “It was right here, all those years ago, when you nearly killed me on the steps.”
“Oh, my God, I know. If it wasn’t for Mom grabbing your arm just in time, I might have been sobbing over your poor broken body instead of lusting after it.” She waggled her eyebrows at me. “Which I was, you know. From that day right on through until–well, it never ended.”
“And may it never end,” I added fervently. “Which is kind of why I wanted us to come here today. Because this is where we met–where we began. So I wanted it to be the place where the next part of our life begins, too.”
Without giving Maureen any time to think about what I was saying, I dropped to one knee, taking her hand in one of mine, while with the other, I held out a small velvet box.
“Maureen Ann Evans, I loved you from the start, and I’m planning on loving you forever. Will you be my wife and love me for the rest of our lives?”
“Oh.” She lifted her fingers to her mouth. “Oh, Smith. I can’t believe you–I mean, is this even–“
“Just say yes, Reenie. It’s that simple.” I smiled up at her.
“Oh, yes! Absolutely, a million times yes!” She pulled me to my feet and wrapped her arms around me. “Of course, I’ll marry you, Smith. I love you.”
I paused only long enough to slip the diamond ring that had belonged to my grandmother onto Maureen’s slender hand, and then I held her close.
“I love you, Maureen. For always.”
Her answering smile was brilliant. “For always.”
And then I lowered my mouth to hers, and we sealed our promise in the best way.