The Grump I Despise (When In Waverly 3)

Epilogue

Norah

It’s the very end of summer break, and I’m a little (majorly) sad to see it come to an end. Although, I will not miss the intense heat that will soon be on its way out. Colby and I have spent almost every waking moment together this summer, lazing around his living room, shopping at the farmer’s market, and watching sunsets from my parents’ porch. We even took a quick trip down to the Gulf to see the ocean. After that, we swore we’d go to Florida next summer for a better beach.

I’ll miss him when we go back to work and I have to be away from him all day, every day. That sounds totally pathetic, but I don’t care. I’m a woman in love. If I could glue myself to his hip, I would in a heartbeat. But that would make going to the bathroom and changing clothes complicated.

Jameson and Millie are throwing a party at their house before they send Millie’s sister, Lo, off to college. And I think they wanted their new pool to get some use before the end of the season. They have invited everyone. They even invited my parents. I didn’t know they knew my parents.

Colby will be here to pick me up any minute even though I told him multiple times I’d just ride with my mom and dad. It seems silly for him to drive out of his way to get me when my parents are going to the same place. But he’s insistent, and I’ve learned to just go with it when he gets like this.

I check my makeup and my hair and do a little spin in front of the mirror to get one last look at my outfit. My hot-pink swimsuit fits just right, and the purple flowy dress I’m wearing over it is cool and soft. Layla insisted on me wearing her wedges that tie around the ankle to “complete the ensemble,” as she called it. I wish I was sporting this outfit at a white-sand beach, but a party with friends is a good second option. I’ll have to recreate it next summer when Colby and I go on our big trip.

Colby pulls up in front of the house, and I rush out to meet him in the driveway. I jump up into his arms. He catches me without a second thought and spins me around. When he puts me down on my feet, I get my first good look at his outfit. He seems a little overdressed for a pool party. He’s wearing khakis, for crying out loud. Did I misunderstand something?

“Uhh, should I go change into something nicer?” I ask, pushing my massive sunglasses onto the top of my head.

He tilts his head to the side and asks, “Why would you change?”

“Well, you look like that,” I say, gesturing to his whole body so the polo shirt is included.

“What’s wrong with it?” he asks, now thoroughly confused. He glances down at his chest and legs, looking for food stains or mud splatters.

I grab his arm and pull him over to his truck. “Just come on,” I say. He follows along behind me, laughing.

He climbs into the driver’s seat of his truck and looks at me with a curious expression. “Let’s go for a ride real quick,” he says.

“But the party!”

“It’ll still be there afterward.”

“But Colby…”

“Good grief. Norah, could you please humor me just this once?” he asks, barely containing his laughter. I zip my lips and nod my head, and he puts the truck in drive. He pulls onto the road, refusing to tell me where we’re going. But I figure it out after a few minutes of driving away from town.

He drives me out to the lake we went to for our first date months ago. It hasn’t been that long since then, but it feels like a lifetime ago. I was a different woman then. So insecure without even realizing it. Insecure in my body, my surroundings, and my situation. Colby saw all of that and helped me feel comfortable and safe. I’m not sure he knows how much he has helped me over the past several months by just being Colby. He has become my soft place to land when I need it. He listens to my occasional rants about my family. He lets me barge into his home and make it my own, and he almost always refrains from saying anything about my messes.

I’d like to think that I’ve become the same for him. I want to be someone he feels comfortable expressing all his thoughts and emotions to, the way he is for me. Maybe that’s why he’s brought me here instead of going straight to the party. Maybe there’s something he needs to get off his chest. I wait with bated breath for him to say something as we stand on the pier, side by side, hand in hand. The sun is high in the sky, and the way it shines on the rippling water looks like glitter. Ducks float on the water and dip their heads down into it. The moment is so calm and peaceful. It’s the perfect place to have a quiet heart to heart…if that’s why we’re here.

Colby lowers himself down onto his knee and looks up at me with a huge smile. The world stops, and I swallow a lump in my throat. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Is he doing what I think he’s doing? Is this really happening?

No. No, it’s not. He leans forward and re-ties his shoe that looked perfectly fine to begin with. Maybe he didn’t notice the way I just spazzed out. We’ve only been together for like, what? Six months? I count on my fingers. If you count February—when the rumors started—it has been six months. But we’ve only officially been together for five. Why would I think he’d be ready to commit to me for life in such a short amount of time? Ignore the fact that I would marry him next week if that gave me sufficient time to plan a wedding.

Because I do want a wedding. I want the biggest wedding imaginable. I want the poofy dress, a giant cake, all my friends and family surrounding me…all of it. The past few years have taught me a lot. The most important being that I want to live the rest of my life to the fullest, however long that may be.

But I guess planning my wedding isn’t important at the moment, since he’s not proposing. I think he knows what I was assuming. He keeps giving me the side-eye, and he’s laughing to himself. I’m so embarrassed.

“Come on. Let’s go to the party,” he says.

We walk into the party, and everyone turns to look at us. At first, everyone looks excited about something, but then Colby shakes his head and clears his throat. He’s pulling on the collar of his polo shirt, looking down at his feet.

Every face immediately falls. Some look sad, while others look confused… almost as confused as I feel. Jameson and Seth rush over to us and steal Colby away from my side. They’re whispering amongst themselves by the grill, and then it looks like Colby’s getting scolded. His face turns flaming red, and he goes to the cooler to grab a drink.

I’m standing in the middle of the party by myself for several minutes before Hannah comes over to talk with me. She keeps stealing glances at my hand—my left hand. This is all starting to get weird. “So, what kept you and Colby? We were all starting to wonder if y’all were skipping out on us,” she says.

“Oh, he insisted on going to the lake for a minute. I don’t know why.” I force out a laugh and shrug my shoulders, trying to hide my disappointment with the whole situation. I know it was silly of me to hope, but seeing him go down on his knee made me realize how much I want to marry him. Now, I don’t know if these feelings are going to go away, and waiting just might kill me.

Her eyes narrow speculatively. “Hmmm.” We both turn to watch Colby as he moves around the party with his grumpy face. It has been a while since I’ve seen that face. Lately, he has been all smiles and laughter. Seth and Jameson corner him again, and there’s a lot of angry, whispered words that turn into pats on Colby’s back and deep breaths. There’s something going on today. Something that everyone at this party is aware of…except me.