“Um, what are you saying?”
She gave me a little laugh. “Sorry. What I’m trying to say is that yes I will date you. But I’m not moving in with you, not yet. I’m finally living on my own away from my parents for the first time in thirty-five years. I need to prove to myself that I can be independent, that I don’t need my mother popping over with leftovers or my dad doing maintenance on my house.”
When I didn’t respond she added, “When we get married – and wewillget married – I want to come to you as the best version of myself. Independent. Capable. Happy in my own skin.”
“How long do you think that will take?” I asked.
She shrugged. “A year?”
“We can still have sleepovers and stuff, right?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, I’ll give you a year before we talk about it again, as long as I can tell everyone that you’re my girlfriend.”
“We can get a billboard if you want, as long as we’re together.”
Epilogue – Nicole
Eleven months later…
“Are you sure she doesn’t suspect anything?”
Theo shook his head. “As far as she knows, she’s going to California to meet with a potential new business partner who’s only available on Saturday. She’s totally clueless.”
Theo and I had been planning this weekend for over a month, with lots of help from Maeve and Ariel. They’d invented this fake business meeting, which coincidentally was happening close by the house in Malibu where we’d gone that first time we made love. Grace asked me to go with her and make a weekend of it, but I’d pretended to be too busy with work.
In truth my work was busy. I was acquiring business so quickly that I’d hired on two other architects a few months ago. I’d worked on a few jobs for my family’s company as well as AGM but most of my business came from industry contacts I’d made over the years I’d worked in real estate development.
When I wasn’t working, I was hanging out with my girlfriend. Now that she only had one full-time job, Grace had much more free time, which meant that we could spend a couple nights a week together, as well as every weekend. We spent a lot of time exploring the city, going to the opera, attending festivals, and hanging out on her friend Ariel’s boat.
The AGM crew had also brought me in to help evaluate nonprofits applying for funding from their foundation, including doing site visits. It felt great to be helping our local community.
Grace’s relationship with her parents was still a little strained, but it seemed like her family was finally understanding that Grace wasn’t coming back to work there. Like me with my family’s company, she served on the board of Sanderson Real Estate Services and that was the extent of her involvement. The two of us had dinner with her parents a few weeks ago, and it had gone better than either of us had expected, so that was progress.
True to her word, Grace hadn’t brought up living together or marriage even once in the last eleven months, which was going to make my surprise even sweeter.
I grabbed a commercial flight for California in the morning and headed to the house in Malibu. Right before six o’clock I heardthe Town Car dropping Grace off in front of the house. A few minutes later, the door opened.
I was ready for her.
“What the hell?”
She walked into the living room, then stopped dead, her head swiveling as she looked around the room.
“Nicole? You’re here? What is all this?”
I’d lit a bunch of candles, placing them around the room, and set the dining room table for a romantic dinner.
“I wanted to surprise you,” I said, suddenly nervous.
She stepped closer. “You did.”
Before I could lose my nerve I dropped to one knee and pulled the ring box from my pocket. Grace’s eyes widened comically.
“Grace Sanderson, love of my life, will you marry me?”
One hand clapped over her mouth and her eyes filled with tears as she stared at me for a long, pregnant moment.
