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EPILOGUE - MEGYN
Six months later…
“Cut the ribbon! Cut the ribbon!” the crowd chanted.
I held a comically giant pair of scissors in both hands. I looked down at the scissors, then over at Carter, standing on the opposite side of the doorway. “Do you think I should cut the ribbon?” I asked.
The crowd laughed and the chant continued, my very first customers clamoring impatiently to get inside my store. Maggie and Brian were in the crowd; I was fairly certain the two of them had been the ones to start the chanting. Suzie, too, was out there, though definitely pretending she didn’t know me. June, Darren, Yancy, and others from the coffee shop were in the crowd as well, along with Antonio and many of Carter’s associates, plus a bunch of now-familiar faces from Mount Sinai Hospital. However, there were also so many people out there I didn’t known, drawn in by the media.
And the media was there as well, impossible to ignore with their flashy vans and giant camera set-ups, though I did do my best to ignore all that, since their presence wasn’t the important part.
Today, I was the important one.
“I feel like I’m supposed to give a speech or something,” I said. “But I’m way too excited to wait any longer. Thank you, everyone, who came out to witness the opening of Cinderella’s Sewing. Let’s shop!”
Without any further ado, while everyone cheered, I used my gigantic scissors to cut the red ribbon.
Customers immediately flooded through the door, filling the store in an instant. I stepped in with them and watched them all flowing around, exploring the wonderland I had envisioned and brought to life. My shelves were overflowing with fabrics and merchandise, toys and clothes. Adults and children alike squealed over the selection.
Carter came over to me and wrapped his arm around me, and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “I’m so proud of you.”
I turned to him and smiled as my ring caught the light, shining down from the new fixtures overhead. I kissed him and hugged him tight. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”
Someone cleared their throat. “Can I get a hug, too?”
I turned and smiled up at Dad, and held out my arms to him. We practically hadn’t stopped hugging ever since he left Crystal and came back to me and Carter, and I still wasn’t used to how frail and old he felt. Luckily, Antonio’s cooking was fattening him up and he wasn’t so thin. And he was smiling, really, truly smiling.
“I’m also proud of you,” Dad said into my ear. “More than I can say. I know your mother is, too.”
I nodded and rubbed his back. “Thank you. Me, too.”
I did it, Mom. I know you had to have had a hand in this, somehow.
Dad pulled away and cleared his throat. “Should I go get the sign-up sheet for the courses?”
“Yes, please.”
Dad went off, weaving his way through the crowd with a new spring in his step. He was going to be helping me at the store, to earn moneyandmake up time we had lost. For now, he was staying in a cabin on the beach Carter was renting. I had no doubt Dad would soon be back on his feet. He’d just gone astray, that was all.
I could relate.
Feeling like a queen at the head of her kingdom, I took up my spot behind the cash register.
It was a very busy, successful first day, and it flew by before I even knew it. I felt as if I hadn’t had a chance to stop and breathe all day.
Carter came back from guiding the last customer out the door and leaned his elbows on the register counter. “How does it feel?” he asked.
I got up and went around the counter, and hugged him so tight he grunted and pretended he couldn’t breathe. “It feels like you are the best thing to ever happen to me.”
Carter took my hands in his and touched his lips to mine. “I damn sure feel the same way.”
I kissed him, letting him feel all the love I had for him.
Carter held my waist and kissed me back, until we both ran out of breath and just stood there with our foreheads laying together. He spoke softly. “Princess, your carriage awaits you outside. Shall we?”
I looked back over my shoulder at the store—my store—and smiled. “Yes, Prince.”
From a pumpkin to a carriage, from nothing toeverything.
Carter had changed my life. And there was still so much more to be done.
I couldn’t wait for our future together.
We got into his car and drove towards the sunset, towards our home.
The End