Page 29

SIX MONTHS LATER: HEATHER

“ T hat’s a wrap!” the director announced, and the whole cast and crew applauded.

There were tears and hugs all around. Overall, the experience of filming Revenge is a Dish had been amazing.

Now that Heather and Cole were not only getting along, but madly in love with each other, everyone had been delighted to work with them every day they were on set.

Heather had more people to say goodbye to than Cole did. She was more extroverted in general, and made friends more easily than he did. He was waiting for her in the courtyard by the time she finished chatting and hugging and saying farewells.

“Are you glad it’s over?” she asked, but she was only kidding. She knew what the answer would be. He didn’t want this project to end any more than she did. They’d had so much fun working together. When he didn’t answer, she assumed his answer. “Me neither,” she said.

“No more mini quiches,” he muttered.

“Such a shame,” she said.

“I’ve been waiting to give you a goodbye present.

” He turned to her, and she had a little moment of panic, even though she knew it was ridiculous.

Cole had always been open about the fact that he wasn’t a guy who went looking for relationships, and though he’d made it clear that she was an exception, she couldn’t stop a little part of her from worrying that it might not be one hundred percent true.

She didn’t want to hear the word goodbye from him, not even in jest.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small envelope. Then he handed it to Heather. “This is for you,” he said. “Well, it’s for me, too, but it’s mostly for you.” He grinned at her.

She opened the envelope and pulled out what looked like two plane tickets. “What’s this?” she asked, a huge smile already growing on her face.

“It’s a well-deserved vacation, sweetheart. I hope you like Hawaii — I had to pick a destination so it could stay a surprise.”

“I’ve never been!” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, thank you!”

He hugged her back. “I already talked to your mom, so we have her blessing to go together.”

Heather laughed. “Oh, I don’t think you need her blessing for that sort of thing.”

“It’s nice to have either way, don’t you think?” he said.

“Can’t argue with that.” It was the best last-day gift Heather could have asked for.

It meant the opposite of goodbye. It meant he wanted to spend even more time together.

And this time they’d be able to focus on each other rather than working or escaping from kidnappers or anything like that.

And Hawaii? She couldn’t have been happier.

“As soon as you get home, be sure to get packed,” Cole said when Heather finally pulled away from him. “We’re leaving tomorrow.”

Heather squealed in excitement. She could hardly believe it.

As soon as she got home, Heather called her mom to come over. Stephanie had been expecting her call. Clearly, Cole was in communication with her, too.

“I wish I could go with you,” she said after giving Heather a huge hug.

“But he told me it was going to be a romantic vacation, so I decided to give you two some space.” She grinned like she knew something Heather didn’t.

“Just promise to call me and fill me in any time anything interesting happens.”

“You know I will, Mom.”

They spent the evening choosing outfits, packing for Heather’s vacation, ordering delivery for dinner, and watching movies together.

Heather’s mom really was the best friend she could have asked for.

She always knew having her mom for a best friend was unusual, but she never could bring herself to care.

With her mom as a best friend, Heather never had to feel alone.

Her time with the kidnappers had been the loneliest she’d ever felt in her entire life, and she had hated it.

Now, with Cole in her life, Heather felt like she had hit the jackpot.

She had the best mom in the world and the best boyfriend in the world to boot. How could she ever be unhappy again?

For the first time in her life, Heather realized that, if someone had told her they could go back in time and undo the injury that had stolen her career in gymnastics, she would have begged them not to.

If she’d never been injured, she wouldn’t have gotten into stunt work.

And if she hadn’t gotten into stunt work, she never would have met Cole.

She confessed as much to her mom, who put an arm around her while the two of them sat together on Heather’s couch.

“That’s what happens when you fall in love, honey,” her mom said.

“You start to feel grateful for every moment, no matter how unpleasant, that led you to meet the person you love. That’s how you know he’s the one. ”

“Do you really think he is?” Heather asked.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” her mom answered.

“But I will say this — I have never seen you as happy as you’ve been over the last six months.

Anyone who can make my baby that happy has my approval and then some.

” She ruffled Heather’s hair and smiled at her.

“He’s a good man, Heather. For what it’s worth, coming from someone who never did meet Mr. Right, I think he’s the one. ”

The second she stepped out of the airport and that warm, humid air hit her face, Heather knew she was going to love Hawaii. Their hotel room was also the nicest one they had ever stayed in — only one bed, of course, in keeping with tradition. It was luxurious to say the least.

The bed looked so fluffy and inviting that Heather had to resist the urge to get into it right away, but Cole had other plans.

He pulled out her yellow sundress and the shoes she had gotten to go with it.

“I had it dry-cleaned,” he said. “So I can finally take you out to that fancy dinner we never got to have before.”

Heather enjoyed getting dressed up and going to dinner with Cole. He finally wore an expensive-looking suit that wasn’t part of his costume. “You look amazing,” she told him.

He looked her up and down. “You know I can’t hold a candle to you, sweetheart.”

She grinned and took his arm as they headed down to dinner.

The following day, Cole took her snorkeling.

She had never seen so many colorful fish outside of the tropical fish section in a pet store.

The experience was nothing short of magical.

After snorkeling, they had lunch on the beach, and then Cole brought her to a surprise surfing lesson.

Heather scoffed at the idea that she could actually surf, but Cole talked her into trying it.

“You’re going to do great,” he said with a wink. “And if you don’t, I’ll get some great footage of you wiping out that I can blackmail you with later.”

“Only if I get to gather footage of you wiping out, too,” she said.

He smirked at her. “You’re welcome to try.

” Heather never would have guessed how comfortable she would eventually become with his arrogant attitude.

Now that she knew it for what it was, it was actually charming.

She wouldn’t change him, given the chance.

She wouldn’t change a single thing about him.

As it turned out, Heather was actually better at surfing than Cole, which made her abnormally happy.

Her competitive streak with him had not cooled just because they were now seeing each other romantically.

She got several great shots of him wiping out from the shore, and she couldn’t stop laughing as she replayed them for him.

He was a great sport about it all, though, and he just told her, “I’ll get you next time, my pretty,” in a witchy voice.

By the time they were done surfing, Heather’s legs were more wobbly than custard.

She had used some muscles she hadn’t used in a long time, apparently.

But she’d had more fun than she’d had in a long time, too.

“Let’s do that again tomorrow,” she said, “if my legs can handle it. I think surfing is my new favorite sport.”

“Good thing we live on the coast, then,” Cole said.

They had a beachside dinner together and took the evening slowly.

All the while, Cole seemed to be getting more and more distracted.

Heather couldn’t help wondering why. To her, they’d been having a wonderful time, and she couldn’t see a reason why he should be concerned.

On her second drink, she finally asked him. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, trying to laugh but failing to hide his concern. “Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. “You just look like you’re not feeling one hundred percent right now. You look stressed for some reason.”

“I’m sure I’m just exhausted from surfing,” he said. “You know how it is. Well, maybe you don’t since you’re apparently a natural.”

She scrutinized him for several more minutes before taking her last bite of dessert. She had seen him exhausted many times, and this didn’t look remotely the same. “I don’t believe you,” she concluded.

“I’m hurt,” he said with a fake pout.

“I still don’t believe you.”

Cole just laughed in response. But she also noticed he hadn’t completely finished his dinner, and that was so unlike him that she actually did start to get concerned. Was he sick and just not telling her?

“If you’re not feeling well, we can just go back to the room,” she said. “You know that, right? My vacation won’t be ruined or anything. You know how I love lounging around in hotel rooms.” She winked at him.

“I have other plans for tonight,” he admitted, “if that’s okay with you.”

“Whatever you want.” She gave him a reassuring smile, but she wasn’t sure he actually saw it.

She’d never seen him look so distracted before.

She really was starting to worry now. So far, he’d been enjoying the vacation.

He’d had everything planned out, and everything was going smoothly.

She couldn’t see what he had to stress out about at all, but she didn’t want to press him too much about it.

Maybe there was something in his life he just didn’t want to share with her.

The best thing she could do was just be there for him, she told herself, and if he wanted to talk, he would talk.

That evening, he had stargazing planned.

Really, it was a good excuse to sit on the beach on a picnic blanket and watch the sky.

The sunset had been miraculous, and the rest of the evening was warm and comfortable.

There was something so soothing about the sound of the waves crashing on the beach.

Heather sat comfortably between Cole’s legs, using his strong chest as a backrest. She liked the way his voice vibrated against her back when he spoke.

“So,” he said after an hour or more of silent stargazing, “you asked what was wrong earlier. I think I’m ready to tell you now.”

“What is it?” She started to sit up, but he held her back against him.

“It’s the reason for this whole trip,” he said, a little tremor in his voice. “I’ve told you that I had problems getting close to people, problems trusting people. It’s a real struggle for me to maintain close relationships, even with the people I love.”

“You did tell me that, yes.” Her stomach was suddenly in knots, but why? Surely he hadn’t planned this whole vacation just to break up with her.

“I also told you that you’re the exception, right?”

“Yes,” Heather admitted. Her heart was starting to pound in her chest. She couldn’t tell whether she was excited or terrified, but there was a big chance it was a little of both.

“Well, I’d like you to keep the job,” he said.

She felt him digging in his pocket for something.

Then both his arms circled around her, and there, in the light of the stars and moon, she saw a little box that glittered when he opened it.

“What do you say?” he asked. “Will you be the exception for the rest of my life?”

Heather couldn’t stand to not see him anymore. She whirled around in his arms, spinning on her knees until she faced him. “Do you mean it?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“This isn’t a prank?”

He laughed a little, but his nervousness was still apparent. “Sweetheart, would I have gone to all this trouble for a prank? This entire vacation, this whole trip has been building toward tonight. I’ve been doing pretty good at hiding my anxiety, but apparently, I failed these last few hours.”

“Well, stop stressing out!” She slapped his shoulder. “Of course I’ll be the exception.”

He smiled so broadly. “In the interest of avoiding ambiguity,” he said, “I am asking you to marry me.” He took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger. “Will you marry me?”

“Absolutely!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I’m not going to let you get out of this one, sweetheart.” She called him by the endearment he was so fond of using for her. “I’m going to be kicking your ass for the rest of your life.”

“That’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say.” He kissed her back and held her for a long time under the stars.

For the rest of that week, Heather couldn’t stop staring at her ring.

She kept watching it glitter out of the corner of her eye, and it kept reminding her that her future was so bright, so warm that she never wanted to obsess over the past again.

She would spend the rest of her life looking to the future, trusting, to some degree, that fate knew better than she did.

A life-altering accident and horrifying kidnapping had brought her to her future, and what a gorgeous future it was.

Cole would be there for the rest of her life, and she knew from experience that he would not hesitate to do whatever it took to protect her.

He would run toward danger, jump into any fray, and take on the most terrifying gang for her.

And she was determined to promise him the same.

For the rest of her life, she would do whatever it took to make him happy, to make him feel safe, even though he had made his heart vulnerable to her.

She would make sure that he never, ever regretted making her the exception.

The End

I hope you’ve enjoyed Heather and Cole’s story!