I hate goodbyes.”

“Me too.”

Penny took a shaky breath and slowly let it out. “Not too much longer though, right? Soon we’re going to be done with this.”

Spencer nodded. “That’s right. All this back and forth will be over before you know it.”

She looked at him and put on a brave face. “I hope so.” Then she hugged him. “I wish I could stay longer.”

He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. “You’d be bored. I’m swamped this week.”

“I could have spent the time getting acquainted with the city and looking for a job.” She looked at their joined hands. “I was thinking more about it, and I’ll probably go back to doing hair. It will be easier to get started as long as I can transfer my license. There were a ton of salons that I saw when we were walking around downtown yesterday. I’m going to work on my resume and portfolio and hopefully I’ll get into one of the more upscale salons – better tips – rather than one of the chain ones. Although, beggars can’t be choosers, right?”

Rather than comment, he pulled back and looked at the line of people heading toward the security checkpoint. “I think you need to join the masses or you’ll never get through in time.”

Looking over her shoulder, she studied the line and sighed. “It’s never like this in Raleigh,” she murmured.

Hiding his smile, he pulled her in close again and kissed her. “It will all be okay. Text me when you land and call me when you get home, okay?”

She hugged him tightly. “What if I just stayed? Then when you have time off we’ll go back to Raleigh together and we can just pack up my stuff. What do you think?”

Spencer laughed softly. “I think you’re trying to find ways to avoid this security line.”

“It’s a really long line.”

“I think you’ll survive,” he teased and cupped her face in his hands. “Go and I will talk to you when you get home.”

She pouted slightly but did take a step away from him. “Fine. But if I miss my flight because this line took forever to get through, you’re going to have to come back and get me.”

“And you know I would.”

Shoulders slumped, she finally gave up. “I’ll text you when I land.”

“And I want you to call me when you get home.”

Nodding, she reached up and kissed him one last time. “When are you coming back to Raleigh?”

He laughed again. “Penny, we’ve been over this. I’ll be there in two weeks. I promise.”

She sighed again. “Okay. I guess I’ll just talk to you later.” Her eyes were already bright with unshed tears and she was killing him.

“Hey,” he said softly before she turned away. Then he stepped in close, caressed her cheek. “This isn’t forever. We can hang on for two weeks, right?”

Silently, she nodded.

Studying her face, feeling the softness of her skin, he rested his forehead against hers. “I love you.”

She nodded again. “I love you too.”

And then she quickly turned and walked away – probably unaware that it was the first time they had ever said that to each other.

* * *

As promised, Penny texted Spencer once the plane was at the gate and then called him when she got home. The call went to voicemail and she shrugged it off and figured that he was on another call – probably work-related. And while she was sad that they didn’t get to talk, there really wasn’t much to talk about. Her flight was only ninety-minutes long and even with the wait in line to get through security and her drive home when she landed, it had only been a few hours since they’d seen each other. The only thing she possibly had to talk about was the latest celebrity gossip she’d read about on the plane.

It was too early for dinner and she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Pulling out her phone she quickly checked the class schedule at the gym and opted to go for a Zumba class since she missed her usual one this morning. Julianne – her regular instructor – wasn’t leading this one, but at least she’d get a workout in.

That was something else she was going to have to do – find a gym that offered Zumba in Atlanta.

By the time she got home later, she was exhausted. She’d stopped at the supermarket and picked up some groceries so she could make herself something to eat, and while she chopped up vegetables for her salad, she called Spencer again.

Voicemail.

“He works too damn hard,” she murmured, adding slices of grilled chicken to her salad. With nothing left to do, Penny opted to eat her salad while watching TV. Hopefully by the time she was done, Spencer would be done working and she’d at least get to talk to him one more time before going to sleep.

There wasn’t much on that she wanted to watch and she ended up settling on reruns of one of her favorite sitcoms. It was mindless TV and as she ate and half-watched the show, she looked around her living room and began to figure out how she was going to start packing everything up, what she was going to take with her to Atlanta and what she was going to get rid of. Spencer’s place was really…unappealing. Not that she’d say that to him. It was just a little too modern and…bare. Not her style at all. But since she was moving in there, she needed to bring things that would work with what he had.

And that wasn’t much.

Hopefully it wouldn’t be long before she could bring up the topic of moving to a place they both chose.

Maybe.

His job was in downtown Atlanta and so was his condo. The commute was short and she wondered if he would be open to moving outside the city and into a place that wasn’t so…urban. Maybe they could even find a house of their own with a yard. That had her thinking about some of the neighborhoods around Raleigh in which she always envisioned herself living. Her condo was in North Raleigh and it wasn’t nearly as built up as all of the areas she’d seen near Atlanta. They were going to have to talk about that and figure out an eventual compromise.

Add that to the list…

It was a little after nine when her phone rang and she smiled when she saw his picture on the screen.

“Hey, you,” she said. “I was getting worried.”

“How come?”

“My calls kept going to voicemail. Then I felt bad because clearly I kept you from a lot of work this weekend if it meant you were on the phone so much as soon as I left.”

He laughed softly. “It wasn’t so bad. It was a call that I knew I would have to take and I thought I’d be done sooner but…”

“It’s okay,” she said, relaxing on the sofa and enjoying the sound of his voice. “Is it wrong that I miss you already?”

“Not at all. I miss you too. How was your flight?”

They talked for an hour and by that time, Penny was exhausted and ready for bed. She kept her phone with her and put it on speaker as she got undressed and went through her whole routine. It was silly but…it was comforting to listen to Spencer talk to her as she did it. When she slid under the blankets, she took the phone off of speaker and kept it close to her ear as she got ready to wish him a good night.

“What’s your day like tomorrow?” he asked softly, soothingly.

“I’m working until six and then I might go to Zumba again. I’m not sure.”

“Again, huh? That’s a lot of Zumba-ing,” he said and then laughed. “Is that how you would describe it?”

She was laughing with him as she said, “You know, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard it put quite that way, but sure. Why not?”

“It’s still a lot, Penny.”

“I’ve got nothing else to do after work. Coming home here alone is just…weird now. It never bothered me before we started dating but now when I come home and it’s all quiet, it’s a little unnerving. So I figured I’d find something to pass the time.” She yawned. “Although I should start packing. I know this place isn’t very big, but I’ve utilized every square inch. No doubt it will take a lot of time to start sorting through everything.”

He made a non-committal sound.

“I kind of dread going through some of the boxes that I have in storage,” she went on. “Some of those things I put in storage to avoid dealing with them after I moved out of my parents’ house. Eventually they’re going to have to be dealt with.” Another yawn. “Either way, I guess that’s something to do to pass the time.”

“You could go out with a friend or visit your family,” he suggested. “You’re already on your feet for over eight hours a day so you don’t need to add a workout or packing to that.”

It was sweet of him to be concerned, but unnecessary, which is what she told him.

“I just worry about you, that’s all,” he said, his voice getting even softer and it had her relaxing even more and snuggling down under her blankets. “Get some sleep and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Call me when you get home, okay?”

“Mmm-hmm…”

“Love you, beautiful girl.”

“Mmm…love you too.”

* * *

Tuesday was a little more chaotic than usual and Penny ended up splitting her time between the bridal shop and the tuxedo shop. At this rate, she’d be as at ease with groomsmen as she was with the bride and bridal parties. After spending two hours assisting Martin with a large party of groomsmen, she walked back into the bridal shop and went straight to Hailey’s office.

“Okay, I need a minute,” she said with a huff as she walked in.

And immediately came up short when she noticed all four of her bosses – and Mrs. J – sitting there.

“Oh…sorry. I didn’t realize you were having a meeting,” she said nervously as she took a few steps back towards the door.

“No, it’s okay, Penny,” Hailey said with a smile. “We were actually waiting for you.”

That was…odd. “Um…is everything all right? Was I gone too long? Because really, Martin needs someone to teach him about scheduling and staffing because I don’t think he gets that this isn’t a one-man operation. Or that I don’t work for him.”

“We’re working on that,” Angie said. “We’re going to be finding him additional staff and bringing in someone to assist him with a refresher course on small business management. Hopefully this will be the last time you – or any of us – have to run down and help him.”

“Oh…well…that’s good. Great,” she said and felt like everyone was still just staring at her. “So…you wanted to see me?”

“We did,” Hailey said. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

Looking over her shoulder towards the sales floor, she was just about to ask who was watching it when Mrs. J spoke.

“Melanie is out there holding down the fort, so to speak, and we don’t have any appointments from now until closing. If anyone comes in, she knows to come and get one of us.”

Glancing down at her watch, she saw it was only a little after four and they were going to be open until six so…it was clear they were going to keep her back here for a while. When she finally took her seat, she let out a slow breath and tried to calm her nervous heartbeat.

“First of all, breathe,” Hailey said with a sympathetic smile. “You look like you’re about to have a panic attack.”

“I think I am,” she admitted. “I had no idea you were calling a meeting today.”

Mrs. James reached over and patted her knee. “It was a spur of the moment decision.”

That did nothing to calm her anxiety. Were they gathering here to try to talk to her about when she was leaving? About transitioning her out so they could train somebody new? Oh, God…she wasn’t ready for that! She knew she needed to be, but now that it was happening it made her heart hurt. These women were her friends and she’d been with them for almost two years! That was a long time and…and the thought of not seeing them every day was almost like how it felt knowing she wouldn’t be seeing her family every week or…or…

And now she was having a panic attack.

“Oh Lord, do we have a paper bag around she can breathe into?” Angie asked as she stood up.

“No…it’s okay,” Penny said, hand over her heart, as she took a steadying breath and forced herself to calm down. “I’m fine. Sorry.”

It took a minute before it looked like anyone believed her, but Angie sat back down and offered her a cup of tea and motioned to the tray of cookies and muffins.

Becca smiled. “You should try the chocolate chip banana muffins. They’re addictive.”

“I don’t know,” Angie said, studying the tray of goodies. “Those brownies look pretty decadent.”

“Can someone make me a plate of fruit?” Ella asked, snuggling her son close. “And maybe hand me a bottle of water?”

It took a few minutes for everyone to take what they wanted and get comfortable again. It wasn’t until Penny had taken a sip of her tea and a bite of her muffin that Hailey started to speak.

“We were waiting for you because we have some updates on the complex and wanted your input.”

“Um…my input? Why? You know that I’m…you know…” Ugh. She couldn’t even bring herself to say it because she knew she’d get worked up all over again. “I don’t think I should get to voice anything where this is concerned.”

“Oh, shut up,” Angie said. “You’ve been with us for so long and you know almost as much about what we’re trying to do here as the rest of us. We trust your opinion.”

“It’s true,” Becca said. “Even when you were only modeling in the shows, you had a grasp on what needed to be done and were always helping out and offering suggestions that we ended up using.”

“And you’ve put time in with each of the businesses so really…I think you – almost more than any of us – is entitled to an opinion,” Ella added.

Well damn. That just made her heart squeeze even more.

Don’t cry…don’t cry…don’t cry…

“So…what kind of updates are you looking at?” she asked, forcing herself to at least try and sound like she wasn’t ready to fall apart at the thought of not being here to see any of it.

“You know we built this space with the idea that we were going to expand,” Mrs. James began. “Like a mall, there are several more store spaces that need to be filled. Besides what we have here already – the gowns, the tuxes, the coffee shop, florist and photographer – we just met with a lovely young woman who does wedding and event invitations and party favors.”

Unable to help herself, Penny smiled and thought about how much fun that shop would be to work in. Why couldn’t that place have been here already? It sounded like the kind of place she wouldn’t have minded helping out in. “That sounds wonderful! And she’d be able to do probably so much more, right? Calligraphy, bridal party swag, seating charts and cards, wedding programs…wow. That’s going to be a great addition!”

The five women around her all smiled.

“She came to us with her ideas and we thought it would be a perfect fit,” Hailey said. “But that’s not all…”

O-kay…

“I’ve gotten a lot of inquiries from brides looking for caterers for their showers and parties,” Becca began. “And while I can certainly provide them with some names and even do some small stuff if they only want desserts, but we thought it might be nice to expand my shop to include a café that served sandwiches, salads and that kind of fare and then be able to offer more to people looking for casual catering.”

“Oh, wow! Now that is exciting!” Penny cried. “You’ll have to move your location though, right? I know you have that double space further toward the back – which would mess with your prime spot where you are now – but if people came in and were lured by the yummy smells coming from the café, they’d be more apt to walk through the mall and see everything that we have to offer so…really…it’s a win-win situation.”

More smiles.

“That’s the plan,” Hailey said, “and we’ve met with someone who will handle more of the food and catering part of the business who will partner with Becca – almost like they’re renting the space from her even though they’re sharing it.”

“I’m not a caterer,” Becca added. “I can bake just fine and do the small stuff, but cooking for the masses is too overwhelming.”

“It’s good to know your strengths,” Ella said as she cradled baby Devin in her arms.

“We’ve had a few other inquiries as well,” Mrs. James chimed in. “Not all of them were the right fit – a DJ, a limousine company, tent rentals…” She smiled even as she shook her head. “Those are all under the umbrella of things you would need for a wedding, but there’s no need for them to have a storefront here. We already have them at our bridal fairs where they have tables for people to get information, but they’re not a good fit for what we’re trying to build here.”

Penny nodded.

“As we’ve grown, there’s been a lot of interest from local businesses who want to get in and rent space from us,” Hailey explained, “but we’re trying to be smart about our choices and make sure that everyone here fits with our business plan and ideals.”

“We probably should have done a better job with Martin,” Angie murmured and there was a collective “Amen to that.”

“What are you going to do with the spot Becca’s vacating?” Penny asked. “It would be a shame to leave that space vacant so close to the front entrance. You don’t want people seeing that when they first walk in…” She stopped and gasped – her hand instantly flying up to cover her mouth. “Sorry. That was rude of me. I’m sure you already have a plan.”

Luckily, no one was offended. If anything, they all laughed.

“We thought of that too,” Hailey explained. “Of course, while we are dismantling the café and moving the equipment over, there isn’t a whole lot we can do to hide the construction. We’ll do as much as we can overnight to keep the dust and noise to a minimum.”

“Of course,” Penny agreed.

“There will be barriers in place so clients and potential clients won’t have to look at the construction mess,” Mrs. James said. “Sort of like when you go to an amusement park and they have ten-foot walls blocking off an area so you can’t see what they’re building. We’ll have those up with the Enchanted logo and a promise of more wedding magic coming soon or something to that effect.”

Taking another bite of her muffin, Penny looked at Hailey.

“We have a couple of options for the space, but there’s one that we’re leaning toward,” Hailey went on as she reached behind her desk. “We have the plans all drawn up, but we wanted your input.”

With a shrug, Penny placed her plate and cup down on the coffee table and reached for the poster board Hailey was holding out to her. Once she set it right, she scanned it. It was a mechanical drawing of the space without a lot of obvious ways of telling what the spot was going to be used for.

All of the plumbing was staying in place…there looked like there were going to be some stations for sitting as well as a waiting area…

She looked up at the girls in confusion. “I don’t get it. This doesn’t say what you’re making and some of these details are written in such a small font that I can’t read it.”

“Oh…I must have given you the wrong one,” Hailey said with a small chuckle. “There’s so many things going on, it’s a wonder I can keep track of them all. I feel like such a scatterbrain.”

Which was odd of her to say because Hailey was one of the most meticulously organized people Penny had ever met.

Glancing back at the drawing, she began to see it for what it was…a salon. Someone else was going to come in here and take her spot. Her dream.

Tears instantly began to blur her vision and she did her best to keep her gaze averted as she wiped at her eyes.

Dammit.

Dammit, dammit, dammit!

Without looking up, she took the new poster board from Hailey’s hand. Clearing her throat, she looked at it and it was exactly as she had envisioned her salon being – everything from the placement of the stations to the light fixtures, the color scheme, the…

She looked up at Hailey. “So you’re going with a salon?” she forced herself to say.

All Hailey did was nod.

“Who’s the occupant going to be? Obviously you’ve met with them if you have the plans here.” That looked suspiciously a lot like the ones she had shared with them. “I mean, you must have someone selected if you already have the plans drawn up.”

And dammit, she hated the tremor in her voice.

Maybe these women weren’t her friends after all because this was just…it was mean. It was one thing to ask her opinion on the other additions to the business, but to make her sit here and talk about someone else having her spot, her business, her dream…that was too much. How could she have misjudged them so badly? And how was she supposed to sit here and calmly have this conversation when all she wanted to do was storm out?

This definitely made leaving a whole lot easier…

“You know we wanted you to have the salon for your glam squad,” Hailey said, seemingly oblivious to Penny’s despair. “And we would have gladly funded it for you.”

She held up a hand to stop her. “I know you did and I appreciate that. This was something I felt very strongly about. I needed it to be mine – something that I owned on my own.”

“We know,” Mrs. James said, “and we respect that.”

“However,” Hailey went on, “you really brought to our attention how much having an on-site salon would improve what we’ve already created here. Besides having someone on staff – so to speak – to help with the fashion shows, it would also be a perk for brides to be able to come in and try on gowns and have someone available to discuss hair and makeup with them so there are no last-minute surprises.”

“Remember Donna Kyle? The bride who ordered the massively – overly – beaded gown and then chose to wear her long hair down?” Angie asked. “Remember how she came in and complained because no one told her how her hair was going to constantly snag on all of the beading?”

“That should have been obvious,” Penny murmured. “But yes, I remember that.”

“She was a nightmare and for a while there, the way she kept calling and complaining bordered on harassment,” Becca commented. “I thought we were going to have to get some sort of order of protection to keep her away.”

“I don’t think it was quite that dramatic. However, if we had a style consultant on staff, we could avoid things like that and offer brides appointments with the salon to discuss all of these things,” Hailey expanded. “And if it were someone who had a working knowledge of the gowns, then all the better.”

Wait a minute…was she saying that this person – this…this…dream-stealer already worked here at Enchanted? She looked over her shoulder toward the showroom and glared at Melanie. Not once had the girl ever mentioned having a cosmetology license and now she was going to have her own glam squad? How was that fair? All of this was exactly the kind of stuff she had wanted to do! And it sucked that someone else – Melanie - was now going to get to do it!

“Anyway,” Hailey went on, “the new owner of the shop is here and I know this is asking a lot, but we’d really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes and talk with them.”

Penny’s eyes went wide with disbelief.

Meet with them? Was Hailey serious? Why not just bring Melanie back here when this whole damn meeting started? Why make such a dramatic production out of it?

“We realize that – all things considered – you might not be comfortable doing it,” Mrs. James said sympathetically, “but your vision for it was just so spot on and as much as I think this new person gets it, it would be helpful if maybe you could just…talk about how you saw things going.”

Getting up and storming out wasn’t an option.

No matter how appealing it was.

She’d kick and scream and cry later when she got home. She’d call Spencer and tell him and then do everything she could to start the moving process as soon as possible. With her stomach clenching and her heart racing, Penny forced herself to look at each of the women as she said, “Sure. If you think that will help, then that will be fine.”

Immediately, she stood up, smoothed down her skirt and waited. Everyone else rose and Becca and Ella were the first to walk out. Followed by Angie.

“I’m just going to go grab us some fresh tea,” Mrs. James said. “Hailey? You’ll show our guest in, right?”

Guest? Couldn’t they just say Melanie? And just like that, Penny was alone in the office with her head spinning. She had dropped both poster boards to the floor earlier and she bent down to pick them up so she didn’t seem disrespectful.

Even though right now what she wanted to do was tear them both up.

And maybe light them on fire.

Then spit on them.

“I was hoping you’d have on the red heels today,” a male voice said from behind her.

Spinning around, she was shocked to find Spencer standing there.

And Hailey smiling as she closed the office door.

“Spencer,” she said breathlessly. “What are you doing here?”

He gave her a sheepish grin as he stepped further into the room. With his hands in his pockets, he let out a breath. “Well, something’s happened.”

Her stomach dropped. She reached out and placed a hand on his arm, thinking the news had to be bad for him to be here like this with no warning. “Oh my God? What’s happened?”

“I lost my job,” he said, his voice and expression somber.

“Wait? What?” she cried. “I mean…how? You’ve been working so hard and…and…is it because of me? Is it because of all the time you’ve been spending in Raleigh?”

He nodded. “It was.”

And then she felt terrible. Could this day get any worse?

“Oh, Spencer, I am so sorry!” She stepped in close and hugged him. “I don’t even know what to say. What are you going to do now?”

He sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. “Well, I had some time to think about it and…I think it’s all going to be okay. I’ve invested in a business. You know, something to hold me over until I find a job.”

She pulled back. “You invested…? Wait…um…what? I’m totally confused.”

Spencer released her and walked over to where she had dropped the plans on the floor. Again. He picked them up and placed one back on Hailey’s desk and then studied the other. He leaned on the desk and asked her to join him.

“I’m trying my hand at something new,” he began. “I realized that there is a lot more to the architectural and design field than what I’ve been doing.” He studied the plans again and smiled. “I had forgotten how much fun things like this were.”

“Wait a minute,” she said. “Are you telling me that you designed this?”

He nodded, and it took Penny a minute for all the pieces to come together.

A slow smile played at her lips. “And is this particular salon the business that you’ve invested in?”

He nodded again.

She took the designs from his hand and sighed dramatically. “It’s an interesting design. The colors are good and I think it’s a great use of space.”

“Thanks,” he said, sounding very pleased.

Then she sighed dramatically. “I sure hope you can find someone to run this place, because I’m moving to Atlanta so…”

The plans were quickly taken away from her and she found herself in Spencer’s arms and his lips claimed hers before she could even blink. Nothing had ever felt sweeter. She melted against him as the enormity of what he’d just told her started to sink in.

Then she broke the kiss.

“Holy crap! Are you telling me that you bought the space and that it’s for me?”

He laughed, a deep, rich sound that had her tingling all over. “Actually, I thought I was kissing you and pretty much telling you that I love you, but…before that…yes. That’s exactly what I was saying.”

“Oh my God!” she cried excitedly as she moved away. “Oh my God! I was sitting here with the girls and thinking that they were the meanest people ever for making me talk to the person who was going to own my dream! You have no idea how upset I was!”

He chuckled and reached for her hand. “We thought you might feel that way, but I knew once you realized what was happening, you’d be okay.” Then he studied her. “Are you? Are you mad that I did this? I remember how you turned the girls down, but I was hoping if it were me and it was something for us – for our future – then you wouldn’t mind too much.”

“Are you kidding me? I…I’m so incredibly blown away by this, Spencer,” she began. “But seriously, what about your job? If we do this, then I’m staying here. And if you’re in Atlanta then…”

He squeezed her hand. “I really did lose my job.” When she gasped, he continued. “It was by choice,” he explained. “I talked to my bosses about what was going on and they were sympathetic to a point, but ultimately we thought it best if I came here and…worked on other projects.”

She looked at him curiously. “Other projects? What does that mean?”

Tugging her in close, he kissed her again before answering. “It means that there is a division of my company that works right out of this area and on top of that, my father is selling his firm and they’re hiring as well.”

“Wait…wouldn’t that be counterproductive to what you both wanted? You’d still be working there, so why not own it?”

His arms tightened around her. “Because I don’t want to own it. I don’t want to work sixty-hours a week or more the way he has. I want to have a life and I want to be able to do the kind of work that I love and by working for someone else, I can. Actually, I’m kind of a big deal right now. Big demand,” he teased.

“Yes you are,” she purred and rested her head right over his heart. “Can we go and look at the space now? I’ve been totally patient about it, right?”

“In a minute,” he said and held her close for a little longer. “Actually, there’s something rather important that we need to talk about.”

Raising her head, she said, “We do?”

Nodding he replied, “We do.”

Penny looked at him expectantly.

“Do you remember the day I dropped you off at the Atlanta airport?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you remember what we said?”

She looked at him oddly. “Um…about how much I didn’t want to leave, how I didn’t want to wait on that long security line…I asked to stay…”

He chuckled softly and tucked a finger under her chin. “That day we said I love you for the first time.”

Gasping, she said, “We did?”

“We sure did.” Smiling down at her, he caressed her cheek. “And we’ve been pretty much saying it regularly and we never made a big deal about it. And we should have.”

“Oh,” she said with a breathy sigh.

“Penny Blake, I love you so much. We’ve spent a lot of time getting to this place – and not just here at Enchanted, but here together,” he said softly. “I feel like after all the stopping and starting, we always came back to this. To us. I don’t want to stop again. I want this to keep going. You have always been it for me, always the girl for me. I wish I had said it to you sooner and not waited until we were in the middle of a crowded airport.”

Tears streamed down her face at his words. “I think I waited my whole life to hear you tell me you loved me,” she admitted, “and I can’t believe that it came so naturally and at such an odd time that I didn’t even realize it. Maybe because it’s how I always felt that it came out like that.” Pausing as he wiped away her tears, she smiled at him. “And I agree, no more stopping. You and I were always meant to be and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world right now. I love you.”

She didn’t get to say another word because he was kissing her and if they weren’t in the middle of Hailey’s office, she would have let it go a lot further. When Spencer lifted his head, he grinned at her. “They may not have cameras in here, but if we stay in here much longer, I’m pretty sure they’re going to know what we’re doing.”

Laughing, she swatted at him playfully. “Spoilsport.”

“You’ll thank me later when no one is giving you knowing looks,” he teased. “Now come on, I thought you wanted to see your new business space. Geez…how long am I supposed to wait?”

With another laugh, he led her from the office and they were met by Hailey, Angie, Becca, Ella and Mrs. James who were all smiling from ear to ear. After a round of hugs and congratulations, Hailey stopped them before they could leave.

“There’s one more thing we need to do before you go down and inspect your spot,” Hailey said and grinned when Angie handed her a large flat box, which she, in turn, handed to Penny.

“What’s this?”

“This is just a little gift that we got for you to welcome you and Glam to the Enchanted Bridal family.”

Curious, Penny opened the box and found a large mounted poster with the logo she had designed for her business. Looking up at the five of them – and Spencer – she was overcome with emotion. “I…I don’t even know what to say. This is one of the most thoughtful gifts I ever could have asked for.”

“Come on,” Spencer said. “Let’s go see where we can hang that.”

Then they all walked together to Becca’s coffee shop which would soon be the home of Penny’s glam squad studio.

She was home.