Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 115763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
But I’m serious when I say, “You’re not broken. You don’t need to be fixed. You’re perfect just like you are, and I wouldn’t change a thing about you or our story. It happened the way it did because that’s the way it had to happen to get us here.” It’s circular thinking, but the loop-de-loop of it makes perfect sense to me. I think it does to Griffin too.
“I fell in love with you the moment I saw you, and I would go through the hell of the last five years a thousand times over if it meant that we would end up here, together every time. I love you, Penny.”
“I love you, too, Honey Bunches of Oats.” He frowns. “Get it? Like the cereal.” He frowns harder. “No? I’ll keep trying. I’ll find the perfect name. Just you wait . . . Sugar Smacks.”
His left eyebrow shoots up like he’s Mr. Spock. Maybe that’s the one?
Epilogue
Griffin
Six Months Later
“Are you taking me shopping? Like, you’re going to wander the aisles with me and hold my stuff like the sweetest boyfriend ever?” Penny asks, excitement sparkling in her eyes.
I understand why. We’re downtown, near Yesteryear Antiques, so, of course, her brain is on jewelry. This time, mine is, too, but we’re not going to see Carolynn.
I turn the corner, heading the opposite way of the antique store, and Penny pulls on my arm where she’s hooked her gloved hand into the crook of my elbow. “That way,” she informs me, jerking her head in the opposite direction.
As if I’ve forgotten where Yesteryear is. I pull her along, leading her toward our true destination. “This way.”
A few more steps, and she figures it out. “Ice cream in the dead of winter should be eaten in the comfort of one’s home, while wearing your rattiest of sweatpants and holiest of socks, cuddled under a blanket, with the fireplace going.”
I’m well aware of Penny’s ice cream preferences. And her cookie preferences, her favorite shops, and her coffee order—both seasonal and regular. I can read her expressions, her mind, and predict with near certainty when she gets tangled up in drama. It’s like there’s a shift in the universe’s energy that only I can sense. Or so she thinks.
“Trust me. I have a surprise for you.” I know that word is going to send her flying high, and I can’t wait to see it and hear it.
“A surprise!” she shouts, drawing the attention of the few other people shuffling down the street despite the chill in the winter air. Surprises are rarer now that the season’s kicked off again, and we’re both back into the swing of professional hockey life. So that makes this one even more special to her. “Let’s go!”
She nearly drags me the rest of the way to Kitty’s Creamery, but she stops at the door, peering inside as she sees that things aren’t quite normal. Her eyes are wide, her mouth open, and her feet are tippy-tappy dancing. “Oh my God! Griffin!”
I reach for the door handle that’s shaped like a kitten’s paw with pink-painted claw nails and pull it open. Felicity is already coming around the counter, a huge pink bowl of Chocolate Orgasm ice cream in her hands. “Hi, guys!” The greeting is quick, and after she sets the ice cream on a table, she basically peels out, disappearing through the swinging door to the back.
“What did you do?” Penny asks, looking around.
Kitty’s Creamery is always a cat-themed pink-and-turquoise monstrosity. Today it has a few new touches that Talia and Dominic helped with, like the table covered in a white tablecloth, with a centerpiece of wildflowers I custom-ordered for Penny and a heavy sprinkling of multicolored confetti, and the Hawks jersey embroidered with “Mrs. Mahoney” laying over one of the chairs.
Taking her hand, I guide her to the table. Tears are already starting to fall down her cheeks, but she’s smiling happily. She knows what’s coming, but it doesn’t matter. It’s not about the surprise, but the process.
Once she’s seated, I pull a box from my pocket but leave it closed as I drop to one knee. “Penelope Nicole Lee, meeting you was and is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I fell in love with you in that moment, before speaking to you, before touching you, before I really even knew you. I was drawn to the light inside you that glows so brightly that it can’t be denied. I am the moth to your flame, the yin to your yang, the hard to your soft.”
She giggles nervously. “You said hard.”
She’s not usually one for twelve-year-old-boy humor despite the overabundance of time she spends with hockey players, but she’s excited, and it’s making her wiggle nonstop and say silly things. I love that about her, but I’ve got a whole speech memorized here, and I’ve lost my place. “Penny—”