Runaway Bride’s Guide to Love (Guide to Love #1)

Epilogue

Stella

A year ago today, I thought I had my life planned out.

I was turning twenty-six. I was engaged to a man I thought was my forever. I had a good job, good friends, a loving family, and nothing seemed to be standing in my way of a happily ever after.

Funny how so much has changed since then, and yet, as I’m celebrating birthday twenty-seven, these same general statements are true.

My friends and family are doing amazing. Andi is still at the law firm, and we still have our regular Thursday night drinks. It’s where she gives me the tea from the office, and I tell her about the antics of small-town Rolling Hills.

I always knew I’d move away from Rolling Hills after college, but I must admit, now working there each day, I love being back. Seeing my parents more, as well as friends from grade school, has been a nice change of pace to the hustle and bustle of Nashville.

And speaking of my job, it’s not just good, it’s great. At first I thought my position with Magnolia Properties was temporary, but turns out, I’m in it for the long haul. And I couldn’t be more excited about it .

In the few months since I’ve come in to run the office and social media, the company is pacing ahead of Simon’s goals for year-over-year progress. All of our rentals are filled, and each month we are adding more properties. I want to pat myself on the back for being responsible for that, and while I am a part of it, most of it is because my brother and boyfriend have a knack for going viral on the social media app, ForYou. Who knew having two handsome faces of a company, combined with their unfiltered ways of giving dating advice, could make people flock to a real estate company? We even have merch. Everything from hoodies to tumblers to baby onesies. Because of course, Lainey had to have her own line.

The best part, though, is seeing how energized Emmett is. Because we’re ahead of our schedule in terms of growth, it’s looking like within the next year, the construction portion of Magnolia Properties is going to begin, with Emmett being the head of the division. I’ve come home some nights and just stood back to watch as he pours over designs and ideas. He’s so determined to make each home truly special. It’s inspiring to be a part of.

Then again, what else would I expect from a man who makes it his mission each day to show me how special we are together?

I remember when he thought he was going to be bad at being a boyfriend. Or being in a relationship. That’s the furthest thing from the truth. The man could write a book on how to be a supportive and loving partner. Take today, my birthday, for example. After he made me breakfast in bed—and I was his breakfast in bed—he handed me gift cards for my favorite stores at my favorite mall. This is even after taking me to Destin last week for a birthday celebration for just the two of us. Apparently, he had more up his sleeve. So he arranged for Maeve to pick me up for a girls’ day—which was going to lead into a dinner tonight at my parents’ house. When he smacked my butt out the door I was told to use all the gift cards and any credit card I wanted. I wasn’t to worry about money or where to put the new shoes and clothes I would inevitably buy.

He’s really the best.

And yes, Emmett and I are officially living together. I don’t even know when it actually happened. We never had a talk about it. Slowly but surely more and more of my things ended up at his place. I never slept at my old apartment. Then one day I called it “home” and he didn’t correct me. Actually, he kissed me so hard my lips bruised.

I know we haven’t been together long. And some might say it’s too quick to move in with him. Those same people probably thought it was too quick for us to even be together, let alone say we love each other.

And to those people, I’d kindly say, “go fuck yourself.”

Emphasis on kindly. I’m a southern lady, after all.

Though that’s all hypothetical. My entire family is one-thousand-percent Team Emmett. My dad loves him. Hell, the two of them, along with Simon, have a standing tee time Sunday morning. My mom has told everyone she knows about us. And when her judgy bingo group made snide comments about me just being engaged, she told them to kick rocks.

Literally. She said that phrase. I now know where I get my mouth from.

And as for my sisters? They welcomed Emmett with open arms. And they didn’t do it just because they’re my blood. Believe me, it took them years to warm up to Duncan, and even then they were never completely sold on him.

That should’ve been my first sign.

I think about Duncan from time to time, mostly because it’s funny that as much as I’d rather erase him from my memory and life, I know I wouldn’t be here without him. I hate to thank him for anything, but strangely, I do.

And Nadia. I thank Nadia regularly at our weekly lunches. At our last one, I told her that Duncan is serving a three-year sentence with the possibly of parole in eighteen months. He lost his law license and will be on house arrest for the remainder of his sentence if he does get paroled early.

Fitting that he’ll have to move back in with his mother, since the feds seized the condo. And his precious fucking whiskey.

That last one always made me smile.

“What are you cheesing about?” Maeve asks as we pull out of our parking spot in the mall after our day of shopping.

“Nothing particular,” I say. “Just how everything has turned out.”

“Yeah, it has been quite a year for you,” she says. “Hey, can you reach in the back and grab my sunglasses out of my purse?”

I do as she asks, doing my best not to fall as she pulls onto the freeway.

“Here you go.” I give her the sunglasses, and that’s when it dawns on me we’re not going to the right direction to Rolling Hills. “I thought we were going to Mom and Dad’s?”

She shakes her head and maneuvers into the middle lane. “I need to run home before we go, so I’m going to take you home. I’ll just meet you and Emmett there.”

“Oh,” I say. “Shit. I think he left already.”

“He didn’t,” Maeve said. “I texted him while you were checking out at the last store.”

“Oh,” I say, wondering why she didn’t tell me. “That’s fine. As long as he knows.”

We sit in silence for a few minutes as I check my phone, thanking the friends who I never talk to for an entire year except when they post on my Facebook feed to have a happy birthday. I scroll for a minute when I see an article pop up that draws my attention.

“Hey! Did you see the news about Logan Matthews?”

“Who’s that again?” Maeve asks.

“Who’s that?” I swear my sister lives under a rock. “The video game billionaire? The one who invented the game every kid in the world plays? Your son included?”

“Oh yeah, that guy,” she says. “What did he do now? ”

“More like who did he do,” I say, skimming the article. “He was photographed with Sabrina Rome last month. And now last night it’s some model.”

“Why do we care?” Maeve asks.

“Because this is the fifth woman in three months he’s been spotted with.”

“Good for him? Sounds like another stereotypical billionaire playboy.”

“But see, that’s what I think they want us to think.”

“Who’s they?”

“They! The PR Machine!”

“Is that a new band?”

I roll my eyes. I swear my sister is thirty-six going on seventy.

“You know what I mean. A relationship just to be in the headlines. Think about it. The man is a video game nerd who hit big. A hot nerd, but still, a gaming geek for all intents and purposes. And the women he’s been seen with probably can’t spell console. Except Sabrina. She can do no wrong.”

“Your point?”

“My point is, all the models he’s been with are up-and-comers. Even Sabrina, when they were photographed, she was just getting out of a horrible relationship. All the women have needed him to get their name out there. And maybe he’s trying to seem like he’s not a video game nerd. Which fine if he is. He’s a hottie with his glasses. But at the end of the day, I think this is all for publicity.”

“I think you spend too much time on the internet reading about celebrity gossip.”

Leave it to Mama Maeve to be a tea party pooper.

“Fine, let’s talk about something else,” I say. “What about your mystery client? Whatever happened with that?”

Maeve lets out a groan as she exits the highway. “Canceled again. I swear, I don’t care how big the commission is, if they cancel one more time…”

“Oh man. How many times is this now? ”

“Four,” Maeve says as she turns toward my house. My house. I don’t think that will ever get old.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “Can you get out of it?”

“Yes. No contracts have been signed. No deposits paid. But I’m tired of holding times for them just for some rich asshole to keep canceling on me.”

“I don’t blame you. And you still don’t know who it is?”

She shakes her head as she pulls into the driveway. “Not a clue.”

Maeve turns off the car, which surprises me. “What are you doing?”

“I need to use the bathroom.”

“Oh, okay then.” I grab my bags out of her backseat as I start walking toward the garage. Maeve though walks toward our front door.

“Where are you going?” I ask. “Come in this way.”

She shakes her head. “Can you let me in over here? Closer to the bathroom.”

Damn, I didn’t realize her bladder was that small. “Fine.”

I walk across the driveway and up the sidewalk to a waiting Maeve on the front porch. I go to put in my key, knowing we usually keep it locked, when the door easily pushes open.

“What the heck?”

I turn to Maeve who has a coy smile on her face. “Happy Birthday, Stella.”

I carefully step into my house, which is scarily quiet. Where’s Winnie? I’m used to her jumping on me the second I’m home. My heart starts racing as I walk down the hallway and turn toward the living room, where I find every person I love in one place.

“Surprise!”

Noise makers echo off the walls as confetti and balloons start raining around me. I look up and yes, somehow there was a net on the ceiling. How in the world…

“Oh my…” I trail off as I’m completely surprised and ov erwhelmed. I look around and my heart is bursting. Andi and her boyfriend Max. My parents. Ainsley, who I think might be crying. Maeve, who walks over to a waiting Jayce. Even Quinn is here, waving from the back as she blows into a noisemaker. Simon, Charlie, and Lainey. Mom and Dad. Maddie and Jack.

And of course, Emmett, who is smiling ear to ear right now.

I start walking over to say hello to everyone, when I feel someone run into my leg.

“Happy Birthday, Tella!”

“Thank you, Jack!” I say as I bend down to give him a hug.

“Can I have balloon?”

“Of course,” I say. I grab one off the ground for him, and just as I’m about to stand up, I feel a hand on my shoulder.

“You have a habit of stealing my girl,” Emmett says.

Jack takes the balloon, looks Emmett dead in the eyes, and presses a kiss to my cheek.

Oh, this boy is something else…

“Did he just?—?”

I laugh at Emmett and give him his own kiss. “He did.”

My family starts gathering around me, wishing me happy birthdays and asking if I had any idea.

Which I did not.

“Everyone? Can you please grab a drink?” Emmett announces as everyone gathers around. Ainsley hands me a glass of champagne with a wink. “Thank you to everyone for coming. And a special thanks to Ainsley and Maeve who I couldn’t have pulled this off without.”

“Hey!” Simon interrupts. “I helped too.”

“Of course,” Emmett says. “You did a great job rigging the balloon net.”

“Damn right I did.”

Everyone laughs before Emmett continues. “I wanted to gather everyone here to celebrate Stella, because in light of things that have happened over the last few months, I thought her birthday was the perfect day to truly applaud her for everything she’s been through.”

Oh hell, I’m going to cry…

“I know most by now have heard how we first met, but I’ve never told anyone my vantage point. I was just sitting at a bar. Having a drink and people watching. Obviously the woman sitting in a wedding dress caught my eye.”

“God that thing was ugly,” Mom says, which makes everyone in the room crack up laughing.

“It wasn’t the best,” Emmett couches, which makes everyone laugh even more. “But Stella was still the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen.”

A chorus of “awws” go around the room as Emmett turns to look at me. “Some guy came over and started hitting on her. My instincts immediately went onto high alert. I walked around the bar, ready to pummel him, but I stopped and we locked eyes. Somehow, in that moment, I knew she had it handled. That if I needed to step in, and she wanted me to, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But in that moment is when I knew how strong Stella Banks was.”

Emmett takes my hand. “Since then, I’ve been in constant awe of her strength. Of her resilience. Of how she’s kept clawing back and facing every obstacle thrown at her. And because of some happenstance, or because of Simon Banks, I get to stand here next to her and celebrate her.”

Dad claps Simon on the back as he holds his drink to Emmett. Smart of him just to include Simon in the speech.

“So yes, this party today is to celebrate another year for Stella. But I wanted to also celebrate her and everything she’s overcome these past few months. So if everyone could raise their glasses, and let’s make a toast to Stella Banks. To strength and beauty.”

“To Stella!”

I push away the tears as I take a sip of my champagne. I quickly put it down so I can quickly bring Emmett’s lips to mine .

“That was beautiful,” I say. “Thank you for all of this. I had no idea.”

He smiles and places another kiss on my forehead. “I have another surprise for you. Do you want to see it now or later?”

“Gee, let me think about it. Now!”

Emmett laughs and excuses us as he takes my hand and walks me toward our bedroom. Except instead of turning left toward the master, he turns me to the guest bedroom—with a shut door and a pink bow on the front.

“What’s going on? And is this why you had it locked all week?”

Emmett’s infectious smile is warming me all over. “When I built this house, I thought it was complete. There was not one more thing I thought I needed. Then you moved in, and I realized there was something very big that was missing.”

Before I can ask any more questions, Emmett turns the door handle and ushers me in. I gasp because the room is completely transformed.

The walls that used to be gray are a pale pink. White book cases line the walls, filled with books and trinkets that I’d had in boxes from the day I moved out of Duncan’s. Against another wall is the vanity of my dreams. I can see makeup brushes and my hair products all stacked accordingly, along with a jewelry box that I used to have when I was a girl.

“Emmett…” I’m in awe as I look around at everything.

“Check out the closet.”

I turn to him first, shocked and nervous about the order. When he gives me a slight head tilt to walk over, I do so timidly. I’m glad I did, because the beauty that I see before me is enough to send me into a coma.

A walk-in closet bigger than I’ve ever seen.

And it’s filled with my shoes.

“You built me a shoe closet?”

I start slowly walking in, Emmett’s hand on the small of my back. I’m completely mesmerized by the sight .

“I must say, I really didn’t know how many shoes you had until we started this project,” Emmett says as he places his hands on my shoulders. “Ainsley said it took her and Maeve two full days to get everything organized.”

“How? When?”

“Last week when we were in Destin,” he says. “I designed the space. I had a crew I trust come in while we were gone. Ainsley and Maeve put together the room.”

I’m in full tears as I turn to a portion that is beautifully displaying my array of Louboutins. “I don’t know what to say.”

For a man who is all about small gestures, he really knows how to deliver a big one.

Which makes this that much more special.

Emmett turns me to him, and I immediately jump into his arms, wrapping my arms and legs around him. I kiss him with all I have in me. I’ll say the words I want to in a second, but right now I need to show him.

This man…how did I get so lucky? How did I stumble into a bar and into the arms of a stranger, who wasn’t a stranger, who turned out to be everything I ever wanted?

I know he’s not going to, but if he would get down on one knee right now, I’d say yes. I wouldn’t hesitate. I want to spend the rest of my life with this man. I want to surprise him just like he surprises me. I want to show him the love that I feel from him every day.

I thought twenty-six was going to be the first year of the rest of my life.

In a way it was, but twenty-seven is going to be so much greater.

“I love you, Cap,” I say. “I love you so much.”

“There aren’t enough ways to show you,” he says. “I love you. Happy Birthday, Tiger.”

He lowers me to the ground, but our lips meet again before we can step apart. Emmett brings me in closer as my body heats from his kiss .

“We should stop,” I say begrudgingly. “What about the party?”

Emmett takes two steps away, but only so he can shut the closet door. “They can wait.”

Sounds good to me.

Thank you for reading

Runaway Bride’s Guide to Love!