Epilogue: Chance
“Okay, seriously, Chance, out!”
I couldn’t stop laughing. Her face was flushed, her hair tied back in a high ponytail, and her shirt caked with soil. She had just spent the last three hours moving plants around in the greenhouse, readying to transport a bulk to the shop, and I was obviously getting her way.
I had made my visits to Ludwig a ritual. Every weekend I would make the drive here, always in the Chevy, and every two months I’d free up my schedule so that I could spend at least a week with Ashlyn. For the past three months, that had worked perfectly fine until just a few days ago, when I couldn’t stand being in a different city anymore, and had come in hopes of swaying her to move back with me.
Ashlyn wasn’t easy to sway, though. Ever since I had bought her that shop, she had taken to the work like a pro. What she had once done all alone, she now had two full-time employees to help her with. She had even given the whole delivery idea a go, and business had boomed within weeks. She was taking orders from almost every surrounding town, and sometimes even on the outskirts of Houston itself.
I had set her up with some of the best tracking and operation software my company had created, and fortunately, it had helped. The only problem was, Ashlyn was so high on her recent success, I knew that the request she drop everything and move to Austin was going to be met with quite some resistance. Besides, the business part of me couldn’t even fathom why I would want to do this to her.
It didn’t stop me from constantly shadowing her for the past two days, and with a major order from Houston just days away, she was slowly losing her patience with me.
“This isn’t funny,” she said, glaring at me. “I have work to do. Some of us don’t own a multi-billion-dollar business with troops to run it when we’re not around.”
“Ouch,” I said, placing my hand over my heart in mock hurt. “That really hit home, Ashlyn.”
“Get out, Chance,” she said, holding a small spade up and pointing it at me. “Or so help me God.”
“Fine, fine,” I laughed. “I’ll wait in your house.”
“Hey, hang on,” she said. She came to me with her arms out and wrapped them around my neck. She kissed me softly on the lips and pressed her forehead to mine. “I love you, Chance Ridder. And thank you for everything.”
“You’re quite welcome,” I stared, staring into her eyes. “Anything else?”
“No, you can go,” she said, whispering in my ear “Just wait for me inside.”
* * *
I waited in the living room, opening and closing the little box I had brought with me from Austin. I toyed with the little blue box I had brought with me from Austin, opening and closing the lid as I waited. The ring inside had taken me forever to choose, mainly because I had had the dumb idea that Alice would actually be helpful with this kind of thing. The only problem was, when it came to Alice, her attention to detail knew no boundaries, and she had scouring the internet and every diamond shop in Austin for just the right one.
If Ashlyn says no, I’ll shoot myself.
I heard the front door open and close, and I quickly pocketed the box, flashing her a wide smile as she stopped at the living room threshold and glared at me.
“Welcome home,” I said cheerfully.
“Okay, Chance, let me try and say this as nicely as I possibly can,” she said, walking in and standing with her arms crossed over her chest, gazing down at me. “I love you. Very much. And the fact that you make the time to come all the way here and be with me is something I appreciate more than you can ever know. But –”
“There’s a ‘but’?”
She raised a hand to shut me up and sighed. “I have a lot of work to do this weekend. The order from Houston is driving us crazy, and we’re barely keeping up. I need to get stuff done, and I can’t do it if you’re going to keep getting in my way just because you’re bored.”
“I really am bored.”
“Chance, seriously.”
I slid off the couch and got down on one knee.
“What are you doing?” she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose, letting me know she was getting frustrated at my antics.
I pulled the box out of my pocket and opened it, looking up at her patiently. When she finally concentrated on what was on my hand, I smiled at the way her eyes slowly grew wide and her mouth dropped open.
“Chance?”
“Listen, I’m not known to be the kind of guy who settles down,” I said. “And quite honestly, I have no idea how to do what I’m doing right now.”
She smiled a little and I could see her eyes begin to water. “Timing is definitely not your strong point.”
I laughed. “No, it isn’t,” I said. “But what I am good at is knowing what I want, and what I want, Ashlyn Boone, is to spend the rest of my life with you.” I waited for a beat before I added, “And your flowers.”
She laughed, covering her mouth with her hands quickly as a tear rolled down one cheek. She shook her head slowly, as if in disbelief, and looked from me to the ring and back at me again.
“You’re insane,” she finally said.
“Is that a yes?”
She didn’t hesitate and fell to her knees in front of me, kissing me deeply. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, you idiot. A billion times yes!”