Page 81 of Professional Consult

“Bringing her to you was easy. It was the bringing her back part that was hard.”

“How’d you manage to do that?”

“Alicia Davies took my place,” Lexi says.

The name sounds familiar, but I admittedly pay little attention to Hollywood.

And then it clicks. “Didn’t you two hate each other? When you were teenagers?”

Lexi frowns. “My people said some pretty terrible things about her, and I let that happen. I reached out, we discussed the past, and she agreed to take on the role as long as I helped her on a project detailing our childhoods and rivalry.”

“And you’re okay with this?”

“Better than okay. I really like her and I’ll get to write, which I’m still trying to get the hang of.”

“That’s good. Will it hurt you to be all the way out here? Away from Hollywood?”

“Not as much as it would if I were to stay there. I like it here, with you, and besides, I need to oversee two big projects: my house and the library.”

“What’s your house going to look like?”

“I don’t know yet. I was hoping we’d plan it together.”

She beams at me with such love and devotion that I feel inadequate.

“Lexi, I can’t give you—”

She places a finger vertically over my lips to hush me. “Before you say another damn word, just know that you give me what I really need in life.”

As we start to kiss again, we’re interrupted by a series of gasps.

I look over, my face skewed in a snarl. “What?”

My friends and the townsfolk are looking at me with joy, and I realize it’s for me. They want this for me just as badly as I want it for myself.

I get up, and because I’ve just been taken on an emotional rollercoaster, I tear up.

“I just wanna thank you guys for always being there for me,” I say, my voice cracking as I struggle to get my words out. “I know I can be grumpy, and sometimes, a little rougher around the edges than I intend to be, but there’s no place I’d rather be than here, with the good people of Pond Spring.” I extend my hand out to Lexi, who accepts it and rises from her seat. “And I hope you’ll all be there for my new girlfriend as well, because Lexi is looking to become a permanent part of our cozy town.”

Tiffany dashes to embrace Lexi, who gladly accepts her.

“You did the impossible,” Barb says, sliding next to me.

“And what’s that?”

“Found someone I actually approve of.”

“Your opinion certainly means a lot to me.”

“To think I tried to warn her off.”

“You didn’t?”

“Lay off, Luke!” Lexi says in a screechy voice.

“Yeah, she didnotheed that advice.”

For the rest of the day, Josh mans the radio as we celebrate the newest addition to Pond Spring. My girlfriend and eventual wife.