Chapter Forty-Two – Stephanie

 

“Come on, Stephanie,” I whispered to myself, my ink pen hovering over the final signature line, “you know this is what you want. Just sign the damn thing!”

This was it. The moment I scrawled out my signature and passed the documents over to Jeff, I was a free woman. No more bar hanging around my neck like an anchor. No more worries about having to be here every night. Just freedom, and a handsome man ready to hold me in his arms every night as I drifted off to sleep.

Jeff and Christina, both standing behind the bar of Stan & Sons, exchanged looks, eyebrows raised. The two of them were very much whole, and unfaded-looking, with whatever spell Esther had put into place having died along with her.

“Think she’s gonna do it?” Jeff asked, plenty loudly enough for me to hear.

“I don’t know,” Christina replied, her voice disbelieving.

“Will you two shut up?” I mumbled.

“I need to remind you this was your idea, champ?” Jeff asked.

I slapped the pen down, still not having signed, and looked at him. “Really, Jeff?”

“Hey, I was just asking,” he replied with a grin. “You’re the one who’s hesitating, even though you’re doing what you want.”

“I mean,” Christina said after a long moment, “you are doing what you want, right?”

I leaned back a little, letting out a sigh as I let the pen slip from my hand, my signature still not marked. “Look, it’s not giving up the bar that’s got me all messed up. And it’s not the traveling, or the moving, or Ryder, or any of that.”

Both of them looked at me with little frowns, their concern obvious on their faces. These two people loved me, thought of me as family. And I thought the same of them.

“What is it, then?” Jeff asked.

“It’s you two,” I said.

Christina broke into a sad-tinged grin as she came around the bar. She put her arm around my shoulder, pulling me against her as she squeezed. “Well, Steph, we’re gonna miss you, too. You know you’re like the sister I never had!”

“And you’re like my daughter, champ,” Jeff said with a little smile.

I put my hand on hers. “I know that,” I said, squeezing right back, “but I’m just not going to get to see you guys ever.”

“Well, that’s a crock of shit,” Jeff said, shaking his head. “There’s planes and all sorts of stuff for getting you here.”

“And you’re keeping your mom’s house, right?” Christina added.

I sighed. “At least for a little while, yeah.”

“Well, there you go. You’ll always have a place to stay, even if Andy and I don’t have room. Which, come on, we’ll have room.”

“Besides,” Jeff said, “you’ll barely have a chance to miss us. You’ll be too busy traveling and doing all the things you never thought you’d get to do, champ.”

“Yeah,” Christina agreed from beside me, her arm still around me, pulling me close. “And we’re still going to be here. Why wouldn’t we be? All my family’s from here, and same with Andy. We ain’t got handsome men trying to sweep us off our feet and take us outta here.”

“I know,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It’s just, this place is home, you know?”

“Come on, Stephanie,” Jeff said. “You saved the town, champ. I think that means you get to live your life a little.”

“Camelot’s still going to be here,” Christina said, hugging me more tightly, “no matter what happens. You made sure of that.”

I did, didn’t I? Together, Ryder and I had ensured the town would survive just a little bit longer. So that Christina and Andy, maybe, could finally have those kids they’d been talking about, and have a chance to raise them in a nice, quiet, out-of-the-way place. Even if I wasn’t really from here, not like these two were, at least, it was still my home.

I leaned forward, picked up the pen, and signed my “Stephanie Kaufman” on the last signature blank, then dated it off to the side.

“There,” I said, slapping the pen down on the page as the front door opened behind us. “Congratulations, you two. Now, which one of you is Stan, and which one of you is the Sons?”

“I’m guessing Christina is Stan,” Ryder said from behind me as he came walking up, “and Jeff’s the son.”

“Something like that,” Christina replied with a laugh as she took her arm from my shoulder.

Ryder came up and took her place, his arm slipping right around my shoulder. “Ready for breakfast, babe?” he asked.

“Sure am,” I said, jumping down off the bar stool. “Talk to you guys in a couple hours? Still need to go over a few things with you before I finish packing up the house.”

“Yep,” Jeff said with a nod, “we’ll be here.”

Ryder and I headed out onto Main and turned down to the little diner down the way that was only open for breakfast and lunch. Outside, the day was bright and beautiful, with the sun shining out from behind the clouds. You could hardly tell that just a couple weeks ago a pack of humans had been turned into cats, or that the whole town had literally been in danger of just fading away.

“So,” Ryder said as we walked down the sidewalk, hand in hand, “I’ve been thinking.”

“Thinking, huh?”

“How would you like to see Paris sometime? Or would you prefer Rome?”

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look up at him, my heart jumping for joy. “Really? Are you serious?”

He gripped my hand more tightly as he nodded, a big smile on his face. “As soon as we get you moved in, I’m free to go when you are. Promise.”

“Oh, Ryder!”