Elle had always thought that villains had more fun in fairy tales, that happy endings were for childhood fantasies. Unrealistic. Boring.
But looking at Lane, feeling his heart beat against hers, seeing the future stretch out before them, she no longer wanted to be the Ice Queen in her tale.
She wanted to be the wide-eyed child who believed in the possibility.
Who believed that happily ever after wasn’t so unrealistic after all.
That, in fact, it was hers for the taking.
She just had to close her eyes, take Lane’s hand, and leap.
Epilogue
Nine months later
Elle was starved after the drive back from New Orleans. She’d wanted to stop and grab a burger or something along the way, but Lane had asked her to hold out for dinner at a restaurant since he hadn’t seen her in five days.
She’d been bummed he hadn’t been able to come with her to visit her mother and sister, but he’d been in the home stretch of finishing a big research paper and needed some quiet time to dictate his latest pages. She also suspected that he was trying to give her bonding time with her family. Things had gotten much better with her sister, since they’d been together so often during their mom’s recovery, but there was still work to be done, trust to be built. However, things with her mom had grown in a direction Elle had never dared hope for. They were getting along and actually enjoying each other’s company.
Elle had taken time off and spent a few weeks with her mom after her surgery, rotating duties with her sister. And though it’d been tough to see her mother in pain, it’d been a gift to spend some one-on-one time with her mom. She got to see sides of her that she’d never been privy to as a child. They were also more alike than she realized—in good ways and bad—and that had opened up doors to conversations Elle had needed to have with her, healed wounds that had been left open.
She now spoke with her every few days because they enjoyed each other. That urge to simply chat with her mom was something she still marveled over.
Elle let out a sigh of relief when she saw the sign for Parrain’s PoBoys gleaming neon against the worn wood of the building. Nothing sounded better right now than a sloppy roast beef po-boy, a pile of fries, and a sexy man to share them with.
She parked next to Lane’s car and headed toward the building, surprised to see the parking lot full at this late of an hour on a weeknight. Usually, this was a weekend hotspot and more of a takeout place for the middle of the week.
The crushed oyster shell gravel crunched beneath her shoes as she passed a man leaving with an armful of sandwiches wrapped in white butcher paper, the grease already peeking through. The tempting smell of fried shrimp wafted after him and her stomach growled.
She picked up the pace and jogged up the stairs of the wide front porch. The empty rocking chairs creaked in the breeze, greeting her. But when she pulled the door open, the lights blinked off and she was hit with darkness. Only the neon Abita Beer sign behind the bar glowed. “What the hell?”
But before she could process why the neon would be on and not the overheads, a loud chorus of “Surprise!” nearly knocked her back out the door.
The lights flicked on and she yelped, putting her hand to her chest. A crowd of faces smiled back at her. The faces coming into sharp focus as her eyes adjusted. Oriana. Donovan. Marin.
Ray. Members of her staff. Other colleagues. And then right at the center, Lane, smiling his wicked grin and holding out his arms in a ta-da motion.
She blinked, trying to take it all in, well and truly shocked. “What in the world is going on?”
Oriana held up a glittery sign. “Happy Birthday!”
The group clapped and whooped.
“Birthday?” Elle shook her head. “Mine’s not until next month.”
Lane grinned. “Hence the surprise.”
She laughed and held her hands out to her sides. “Wow, well, I’m officially surprised!”
“Yes!” Oriana pumped a fist in the air. “Nailed it.”
“Thanks, everyone. I’ve never had a surprise party.” Or any birthday party as an adult at all.
She glanced around at all the colorful balloons mixing in with holiday decorations. Everything was festive and lovely, but her gaze caught on a table where a small pile of presents was stacked. Her breath caught. It was the table where she’d sat and first watched Lane cross the room toward her. She could almost see her former self still sitting there, separated from the group, back straight, expression annoyed. Last year, she’d been in that very spot on her birthday, more alone than she’d ever been in her life. Tears pricked her eyes.
Music from the jukebox started up and Lane stepped forward to gather her into his arms. He tilted his face close to hers, his voice low. “You okay? Because if this isn’t your thing, I’ll steal you away right now. I know you’re not much of a party person, but your friends really wanted to do something.”
Friends.