Page 64 of Toni and Addie Go Viral

Epilogue

Toni

SIX MONTHS LATER

The last six months had been amazing. Once Toni stopped trying to pretend that she wasn’t in love, everything was easier.

The worst part was how often they’d had to live apart.

Trips were great, but the more time they were together, the more time Toni wanted to be together.

Between events for the book and for the show, they had filming and teaching.

Toni wasn’t ready to give up teaching, but she had decided to take the entire summer off.

She’d still fly back to visit Lil twice a month, but that was okay.

She wrote well on the long flights, and finding a nonstop flight from LA to DC was easy when it wasn’t last minute.

They’d found an apartment in LA for the summer, but it wasn’t going to be available until June first. When Toni got a call that she could move in mid-May if she wanted, she realized that she was more than ready to go.

Come fall term, Addie would move to DC any time she wasn’t filming.

For everything that had seemed impossible, there were easy-to-find answers now that they were on the same page.

Classes had ended May tenth, so once the grades were in, Oscar Wilde and Toni flew to LAX.

She was excited to take possession of the apartment a little early.

Her Jeep was being delivered the next week, but for this week, she had a rental car.

And really, since it seemed appropriate for Los Angeles, Toni had rented a little convertible.

If it happened to be Addie’s dream car, that was just a coincidence.

She’d hired a company to deliver the essential things—litter box, linens, groceries, and fresh flowers. The special items were there already, too: a collection of loose rose petals, a premixed pitcher of lemon drops, and a discreet box from a local shop.

“This is it, Oscar Wilde. Your castle for the night.” Toni locked him in the second bedroom, which would be her office for the summer, before she scattered the flowers in a trail from the front door to the bed.

Roses weren’t toxic to cats, but she couldn’t trust him to not eat them.

And cleaning up cat sick wasn’t exactly the mood she was aiming for tonight.

She put the glasses and the lemon drops in the fridge to chill.

Then she put her boxes in the bedroom—one from her carry-on under the bed and one from the delivery in the nightstand.

When the doorbell rang again, Toni checked herself in the mirror and went to answer it. She opened the door but held a hand up. Addie paused, and Toni lifted her into a bridal carry and carried her into the apartment.

Addie laughed. “Almost a year late, if I recall the date of our marriage.”

“Ten months,” Toni corrected her.

“So you decided to come out to LA two weeks early? Any reason?” Addie teased.

“Oscar Wilde missed you,” Toni tried and failed to say with a straight face.

Addie laughed. “I do love him. So are you leaving him with me so you can go back—”

Toni cut off her teasing by pulling her close and kissing her until Addie was pliant in her arms. That was something therapy had taught her: it was okay to be a little impulsive without it being a sign of being like her father.

When Toni released her, Addie saw the pink and red rose petals on the ground. “Oh my goodness, someone murdered roses in here!”

“They were sacrificed for a good cause.” Toni chuckled.

“They were last week’s roses. Dropping their petals, so this is their final mission.

It was this or the trash. I thought the florist was going to lecture me all day for my request. They’re the same color as the ones you wore when we were fake-married. ”

“Thank you.” Addie leaned up and kissed the side of her throat. “Shall I see where they lead?”

Toni held out a package. “Would you indulge me first? Put this on.”

Addie looked inside the box, where there was a Victorian nightdress.

Pristine white cotton with a ruffle at the ankles, it was as close a replica as Toni had found.

Without a word, Addie did as Toni asked.

She stepped out of the bathroom in it a few moments later, hair braided back. No bra. No panties, either.

Toni took off her blazer and offered it. “You shivered.”

“Because of how you’re looking at me,” Addie countered. “I don’t need to be covered up, though.”

Toni held out a hand as if to shake. “I’m Toni Darbyshire. I’m a history professor. I was here in Scotland to give a talk.”

Smiling, Addie took her hand. “Lady Adelaine Stewart. I was here to watch you, actually.”

Toni poured them each a lemon drop. “Do you suppose I could kiss you, Miss Stewart?”

Addie took a sip and then looked around. “I have a thing for gardens… any chance these roses lead to one?”

“After you.” Toni motioned her forward. Then she set her drink on a shelf outside the room.

At the doorway, Addie stopped. The bed and the floor were littered with roses. The room itself was fairly nondescript, but the petals were everywhere. “Toni!”

“I want you always with me, Adelaine. I want to wake up next to you. I want to go to sleep holding you. I want to come home to find you talking to Oscar Wilde.”

“I want that, too.” Addie looked at her, seeming a little uncertain. “I’ll be here all summer.”

Toni dropped to one knee and held up the little box she’d tucked under the edge of the bed. She opened it to reveal a marquise-cut emerald in a Victorian-style setting with four diamonds—one at each compass point—on a rose-gold band.

“I was thinking a little more permanent than that,” Toni said. “Marry me? For real, this time.”

“Yes. Every time.” Addie extended a shaking hand for Toni to slip the ring on. “We could have the same minister. Do it at Cape Dove Manor.”

“I don’t care, love. As long as you’re legally mine at the end, it’s perfect,” Toni said.

Addie looked at the ring, and then she looked down at Toni. “You know, I thought with the nightdress and the lemon drops…”

“Go on.”

“I was expecting to be ravished in this makeshift garden.” Addie backed up until she was flush against the wall.

“I’m going to spend forever worshipping you,” Toni declared. “My heart and my body are yours.”

“Toni…”

“Hush, fiancée of mine. Words, then ravishing.” Toni swept Addie into her arms and carried her to the bed.

“I love you, Toni.”

Toni pulled Addie on top of her. “Good, because I’m going to marry you, you know.”

“I do,” Addie said, very seriously. After a pause, she asked, “Do you really want to? For you, not just for me but—”

“I do.” Toni leaned up and kissed her gently. “I do. For real and forever.”