Epilogue
One Year Later
Bridget
Something was wrong.
Thomas had been sneaking around and coming home late, and I knew something was up. He’d tell me he was going somewhere after work and to tuck Lacey in, but then he’d never slip into bed until well after eleven. I’d get up, go to work, and come home only to find that he’d dropped Lacey off with his parents so he could go spend time with the boys.
But I knew his boys didn’t hang out at coffee shops and malls.
He was cheating on me. I knew it. He was going out and seeing someone else, and he was leaving me at home to take care of Lacey. I was working my ass off while trying to keep my fame from disrupting their lives, and then I was coming home to an ungrateful man who smelled like burnt coffee beans and rainstorms.
He was tromping around with some other bitch, dancing in the rain or some shit, and I was here lying in bed alone at night, pretending to be asleep just so I could figure out what time he actually crawled into bed after being with her.
Fuck him.
Tonight was the night I’d confront him about it. Mrs. Jeffries had called, and I told her to pick up Lacey. I took the time to really do myself up. I fucking slapped on some heels and shimmied into my most flattering dress. I curled my hair and tied part of it up into a bow and slapped the perfect amount of makeup on to make me look innocent.
Just the way he liked it.
I stood in the living room as the door flew open, and before Thomas could even get around the corner, I was on my feet and ready to wow his eyes before I dealt the blow to his stomach.
And when he came around the corner and his eyes drank me in, I knew I had him right where I wanted him.
“I know your secret,” I said.
“You do, do you?” he asked.
“I do, and we need to talk,” I said.
It was then he brought a bouquet of beautiful flowers out from behind his back, no doubt attempting to get ahead of the fight that was about to ensue. But it wasn’t working. I wanted to know who this bitch was, and I wanted to scream in his face before I kicked him out and made him sleep in the guest bedroom.
I was better than this, and I knew it.
“Have dinner with me,” he said.
“We really need to talk about you and your after-work activities,” I said. But all he did was smirk at me before handing me the flowers and taking my hand.
“We can talk over dinner,” he said.
His touch could always soften me, and the moment my nose hit those beautiful orchids and lilies, I let him take me out to his car. He opened the door for me, and I eyed him carefully, sizing him up before I stepped in and sat down.
“What’s for dinner?” I asked.
“You’ll see.”
We rode through the town before we hit the main highway, leaving all the restaurants I knew about behind us. I knew about the types of restaurants L.A. had: there were the vegetarian restaurants and the hipster cafes. There were the high-profile restaurants and the specialty ones. Then, there were the ones men brought their girlfriends to when they knew they’d fucked up. Ones with ambiance that dripped of ‘sorry sex’ and served only aphrodisiacs for meals in order to bring couples closer together.
They made their money by temporarily fixing other people’s problems, but all those restaurants faded into the background while we cruised the coastline of the beach.
“Thomas?” I asked.
“Just hang on,” he said.
He slipped his hand over to me, and I felt his fingertips dance along my knee. I was furious at him for thinking he could whisk me away like this when I knew he’d been with another woman. I was enraged at the fact that his touch still melted me, even though I knew he’d been sinking it into another woman for weeks.
He wasn’t getting out of this that easily.
By the time we pulled to a stop, we were parked just beyond the beach. He got out of his car and opened my door for me, but all I could do was stare in confusion. He offered me his hand, and I took it mindlessly. My stomach slowly dropped to the ground when I saw the line of rose petals cresting the sand dune he expected me to walk up in those heels.
That is, until he swept me off my feet and walked me over the sand dune himself.
“Thomas, what the hell’s going on?” I asked.
“You can’t walk this sand dune in those shoes, though I might ask you to keep them on later,” he said.
“You’re not touching me until we talk,” I said with a growl.
“Fair enough.”
He set me back on my feet when we got to the beach, and my heels sank into the sand. We were surrounded with red rose petals and the crashing of the waves against the shore, and my eyes connected with his for a split second before I remembered why I was here.
“Thomas—”
“Just let me go first,” he said.
I heard footsteps behind us and turned around to see Lacey and his parents, and I wondered what he had trapped me into. Maybe he knew what was coming, and he thought if his family was here, I wouldn’t accuse him. Maybe this was some sort of ploy to manipulate me and keep me around for my fame and fortune, or maybe he was about to spring the media on me and spill my secret to the world for a lifetime’s worth of money.
But everything fell to the wayside when Thomas dropped down onto one knee and pulled a box from his pocket.
“I’ve seen your suspicious looks for the past few weeks, and I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering if I was seeing someone else. If I had somehow given up on us but didn’t want to let you go because of your money.”
“Thomas,” I said breathlessly.
“And it’s all right you thought that. I promise. But it’s not what you think.”
He cracked the box open to reveal the most beautiful diamond ring I had ever seen. The three-carat ring had one light pink stone in the middle with beautiful yellow ones cascading down the sides. It glistened in the moonlight as tears rose to my eyes, and my hands flew to my face while Lacey squealed with delight in the background.
“You are, without a doubt, the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Moving into that home with you and creating this life with you has been one of the best blessings my life has ever received. I see you with Lacey, and it warms my heart. I watch you laugh with my parents, and it brings a joy to my soul I’ve never experienced. I hold you close to my body at night, and I bury my face into your hair, and the moment I wake up, my heart is filled with every single emotion a man in love could feel.”
“Thomas,” I whispered.
“There are no words to describe what you’ve brought to my life, but I do have the words to tell you that I don’t want to let you go. I don’t want another day to go by where you question where my loyalty lies or where my body lies. I don’t want another moment to go by where you question what might happen in the future or what will happen if this falls apart. I love you, Bridget Meyers, with every single part of my being. Will you marry me so I can spend the rest of my life protecting you and giving you exactly what you deserve?”
“And what is it I deserve?” I asked.
Thomas stood up and plucked the ring from the little velvet case, taking my left hand within his before he poised the ring at the tip of my finger. I could feel his hands shaking around mine, with all of his energy flowing directly into this very moment while he hung onto every word that flew from between my lips.
“The world,” he said.
“Yes,” I said, nodding relentlessly. “Yes, yes, yes! I’ll marry you!”
He slipped that beautiful ring onto my finger, and I threw my arms around his neck. I heard his parents clapping as he picked me up and swung me around, but when my feet hit the sand, I felt a small hand tug at my dress.
“Bridget?” Lacey asked.
“Yes, baby?”
“Will you be my mommy?” she asked.
Tears streamed down my face as I picked her up and swung her around. I planted kisses all over her face while she giggled and kicked in my grasp, and then I set her down and cupped her beautiful face with my hands.
“I would love to be your mommy,” I said.
I wrapped her up in my arms once again before Thomas wrapped both of us up in his. I didn’t know how I could’ve been so stupid as to think this beautiful man would wander off on me like that, but as his grip tightened, I realized I would never feel anything but this for the rest of my life. I felt beautiful, loved, and protected in the arms of this man, and I’d spend every waking moment of my life making sure Lacey was happy and making sure Thomas knew how happy he made me.
Every single day and every single night.
“Come on, you guys!” Mr. Jeffries called out. “I’m hungry!”
“Not gonna lie, but I kinda am, too,” Mrs. Jeffries said.
“How about it?” I asked. “You hungry, Lacey?”
“Always!” she exclaimed.
“What would you like to eat?” Thomas asked her.
“Could we have macaroni and cheese and popsicles?” she asked.
“We can do a popsicle when we get home,” I said.
“But macaroni and cheese for dinner, right?” Lacey asked.
“Whatever you want,” I said.
“Exactly,” Thomas said as my eyes fluttered up to him. “Whatever you want.”
And as his eyes stared directly into mine, I rose up on my toes and captured his lips in a kiss underneath the light of the ocean moon.
***The End***
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