Give & Take (Redbeard Cove #2)

Epilogue

Raphael

EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER

L ana paces back and forth behind the red velvet curtain, reading from hot pink index cards. On the other side, murmurs of excited conversation and laughter from the growing crowd mingle with soft music.

“Lana,” I say from the velvet chaise where I’m trying to repose behind her. I’m not very good at it—my legs fully hang off the end and this suit’s hardly comfy loungewear. But I’m sufficiently distracted by how amazing Lana looks in her silky pantsuit.

Specifically the way the fabric curves over her rear end.

I guess some things don’t change.

I do my best pose as Lana finally registers I called her name. One hand on hip. The other in tousled hair, elbow on the curly top of the chaise.

“What are you doing?” she asks, laughing .

I open my arms. “Being supportive. Literally supportive. Come here and I’ll support you on this couch.”

“Raph, I’m going up to the podium in fifteen minutes!”

“I’m not asking for a snuggle. Or anything else—there’s a huge crowd on the other side of that curtain!” I lift an eyebrow. “Unless that would turn you on?”

Lana’s eyes go narrow. But she comes over to me, crawling onto the couch and into my arms.

There’s this very specific feeling when I’m holding Lana like this—it’s a buzzy feeling, like a warm electric current’s taken over my body. Like the neon sign hovering on the wall behind me has somehow started very gently electrocuting me.

Lana sighs happily, her tense muscles relaxing against me. This is one of my favorite things to do with Lana. When either of us feel stressed or confused or upset, we lie down together. A long, full-body hug where every part of us melts into each other. It’s not sexual, this touch. It’s comfort. It’s home.

It’s life.

“You don’t have to do this part, you know,” I say into her hair.

“I know.”

“We ranked the options for this opening. Soft, medium, all the way?—”

“I know ,” she groans. “Why didn’t I choose soft?”

“Soft was no opening at all. Just flipping the sign open and quietly pretending Pink Cheeks has always been here. ”

She sighs, looking up at the sign behind me. “You still don’t think the name’s too…”

“Cheeky?”

Lana nods. “Yeah, that.”

“You came home giddy when you came up with it.”

“I was a little drunk. It was Shelby’s first night out after having Jess.”

“You said you got drunk because you were toasted to landing on the perfect romance bookstore name. Several times.”

“Quit being logical.” She looks back at me, her eyes big and searching. “So why didn’t I choose medium again?”

“Because medium was just soft, but with balloons.”

“Right.”

“Remind me what all the way is?”

She knows this, inside and out. But I tell her again, because it smooths that path in her worrying brain. Because I don’t mind in the least reminding her of what she already knows.

“You’re going to go up to that podium.” I point to the wooden stand on wheels. “You’re going to talk about how this place came to be, and how happy you are to have them all here, celebrating you.”

“No.”

“Fine. Celebrating your achievement.”

“You helped. A lot.”

“It’s still yours.”

She brushes a lash from my cheek. “Go on.”

“We’ll do a champagne toast, and then we’ll talk about some of the guests we’ve got lined up for signings, and some of the workshops, too.

“Did you get that woman from Swan River who wrote the guidebook on the best cheese shops on the west coast?”

I have to bite back a laugh. “She was fully booked, sadly.”

Lana laughs, and I know she’s going to be okay. Joking Lana is happy Lana.

“After that,” I continue, kissing her cheek, “we’re getting a good night’s sleep, because we leave on our Big Family Adventure tomorrow morning.”

Lana grins. “In Camp Campula.”

“Best Camper name ever.” Nova came up with the name for our camper this summer. So far we’ve driven all the way down to San Diego in it. Tomorrow we leave to spend the long weekend on Vancouver Island. It’s my favorite way to travel.

“Thank you, Raph. For all of this.”

Lana’s phone buzzes in her purse, which is on the floor next to us. She sits up, glancing at the notification. “Oh God. That’s Chris.”

I hold my breath. Chris was texting her earlier, freaking out that some dirtbike racing guy she thought was gone was back in town.

But Lana says, “She’s here, with the girls. That means we can start.”

“You can do this, Sunshine. You know half the town out there.”

“They’re all going to know I like sex.”

“Isn’t that the point of opening this store? ”

“Yes, but still. Our future mayor’s going to be there. Mac’s like my brother, Raph.” Mac announced he was running for mayor last month. He’ll probably run without an opponent just because everyone knows he’s a slam dunk.

I stand up, helping Lana to her feet. I run a thumb over her cheek, wanting to somehow keep her here and set her aloft out there, too. “You got this, Sunshine.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. And if you don’t, I’m right here.”

I send a quick text to Cal, who’s watching the door. Somehow the poor guy has ended up as the greeter at all the big local events.

He confirms everyone’s here. I look over at Lana, who stands at the podium, gripping its wooden edges. “Ready?”

She nods. She’s nervous, but I know she can do this. I tug at the cord and the curtains slide open, revealing a shop lined with pink bookshelves and painted tables, old step-back romance covers framed on the walls, and cozy nooks with over-stuffed armchairs and loveseats for reading.

And a crowd that makes my jaw practically tumble to the floor. I knew there were a ton of people coming. But even I’m shocked at the numbers. This isn’t half the town. This is what looks like the whole town of Redbeard Cove, and they all simultaneously erupt in applause and cheering as the last of the curtain vanishes.

The whole staff of the Rusty Dinghy is here, right down to Chip the dishwasher, who’s got a regency romance book clutched against his chest. Fred, the police chief, and Ida the realtor, both of whom are clapping around their respective stack of motorcycle romances.

Mac, Shelby, Annie, even Nate.

Chris and the girls, who jump up and down and wave. “Mommy!” I somehow hear from Aurora in the crowd. Lori’s on their other side, along with her new boyfriend, a silver-haired man called Tim who drives the local water taxi. He’s got tears in his eyes like he’s Lana’s long-lost dad—he’s not. He’s much better.

And to my utter surprise, Mike, who’s at the back with his girlfriend, a surprisingly curvy woman a couple years older than him he brought up to meet us in the summer. She smiles and waves.

I look over to Lana, who’s looking at me. “Your turn, Sunshine.”

But Lana shakes her head. “No,” she says.

The din dies down as the crowd readies themself to listen to her. They didn’t hear that word.

My stomach flips. Is she really going to bail? She’s so ready for this. I know she can do it.

But she’s smiling. It’s that gorgeous Lana smile I know is only for me, the one that makes those stunning eyes sparkle. Then she beckons me over.

I frown, and it’s funny how this makes me think about how we’re in a complete role reversal. She’s suddenly so confident. I’m suddenly nervous. She’s smiling, I’m not.

When I get to the podium, thoroughly confused, Lana holds my hand. “I’d like to welcome all of you to my romance bookshop—Pink Cheeks.”

The crowd hoots and hollers .

Then dies down again.

“As you all know, we’re here to celebrate the opening of this store. But before we do, I’d like to celebrate the man beside me.”

“Lana!” I whisper as the crowd goes wild again.

“Yeah Raph!” Chris shouts. The girls shriek too.

“Raphael once told me that sometimes, there’s freedom in quitting.”

The crowd goes quiet again.

“Quit doing the things that aren’t going to serve you. Quit doing things that are actively hurting you or people you love.” She looks up at me. “Quit believing you’ll never do what you really want to do. Quit living life like nothing miraculous will ever happen.”

She keeps gripping my hand. “Quit telling yourself love is for other people.”

The crowd applauds heartily. Several people shout their agreement.

“This bookshop came about because I quit doing what I didn’t want to do. But it also came about because this man didn’t quit. He never once quit believing in me. He didn’t quit coming after me when I tried to push him away. And honey,” she says to me, reaching under the podium and picking something up, “I hope you know I could never quit you.”

She slides something into my pocket. I reach my hand in, feeling the box I gave her eighteen months ago. The one with the necklace in it that glimmers, currently on her collar.

The one with the other piece of jewelry hidden inside. The one I promised I’d never pressure her into taking or wearing. But that she could hand to me when she was ready, and I’d find the perfect moment to ask her to be mine.

My heart thunders nearly double speed in my chest. “Lana,” I say, suddenly not caring we’re not at all alone. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” she whispers. “I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

Then to the crowd, she says, “Everyone, Pink Cheeks wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Raphael LaForest. He’s the one doing everything behind the scenes—everything from doing the inventory to picking the girls up from school.”

The crowd cheers my name, and I can’t help grin a dopey grin as I look out at them.

“Raph, is there anything you want to say?” she asks me. “No pressure.”

She knows I can say anything off the cuff. She didn’t need to warn me about this.

And I’m not going to squander this moment.

I pull the box out of my pocket.

Lana’s eyes go round. “Raph!” she whispers. “I meant if you wanted to say something about the bookstore and the…”

She closes her eyes, smiling almost ruefully. She knows she left the door wide open. Her cheeks, ironically, turn delightfully pink as I lean into the microphone.

“Thanks everyone.” I clear my throat. “So I know Lana wants me to talk about the bookstore and all the cool amazing things we have planned. But honestly, that’s for her to do. As for me, well, I have this box. ”

I hold the jewelry box up, and a few gasps sound from around the room. Shelby and Chris start to tear up.

Lori has her hand over her mouth, actively on the brink of sobbing.

“So I’m going to take this opportunity, while you’re all here, to ask Lana to marry me.”

I’m nothing if not straight to the point. And the crowd clearly appreciates it. I wait until they calm down, trying not to be too cocky about how much they’re eating this up. I still need to get it right.

I pull out the ring—a simple diamond, ringed with tiny green stones the exact shade of Lana’s eyes, set in a thin gold band.

“Lana,” I say, “I would have married you the same summer we met. Hell, I would have married you that day, I was so smitten. I knew you were the one for me, I just wasn’t sure I could win you over. Once I did, I had to buy this ring. Even if you never wanted to wear it, to me, it meant everything. That you were the woman for me.”

The crowd ahs.

“Lana,” I say, gearing up.

“Yes,” Lana says.

The crowd cheers.

“I’m not done!”

“Sorry.”

“Lana, I would be honored if you’d be my wife. Will you marry me?” My voice cracked on wife. I barely made it through the actual question.

Lana bites her lip, and for a moment, it’s like time stops.

Then she nods. “Yes, Raphael. It’s always been yes. ”

I swoop her into a hug as the crowd cheers. “I can’t believe you,” she whispers. “Also, I thought that would be longer.”

“Are you disappointed?”

“Not at all, it’s exactly what I wanted.”

“Good because we need to get back to the books.”

She laughs, tears running down her cheeks. “How? Now that we’re engaged. All I want to do is kiss you.”

“Oh shit,” I say. “We forgot to kiss!”

I know this, because she said it. But also because the crowd is cheering Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!

I bend down, and when our lips meet, I nearly fucking burst into flame. She’s perfect, each kiss better than the last. Each one sweeter than I’ve ever known.

When I back away, I feel like I’ll need a hand making it to the wings. But I give my head a bracing shake.

The crowd loves this, too.

“Give me another kiss.” Lana whispers in my ear. “For luck.”

I oblige, this one on her cheek. When I back away, I give her a final wink before leaving her to do her thing.

“Take it away, Sunshine,” I whisper.

And she does.

Thank you for reading Give & Take!