It is. This is what I’m working toward. I want my own firm, so I can help people achieve their dreams. I’ve been keeping notes for years about my vision. Working at Garent is giving me the hands-on knowledge that I need.
Another business card lands in my hand.
I glance up at him. “What is this?”
“Flip it over.” He directs me with a spin of his fingers in the air.
I do.
Calvetti & Adler Consulting
My hand shakes as I read the words over and over. “Barrett.”
“I know you’re tied to Garent until your current contract is done.” He runs a hand over my hair. “I’ll get us off the ground and maybe by then, we’ll be looking at this.”
He pushes another card at me.
I flip it over immediately.
Adler & Adler Consulting
He taps a finger on the card. “You’re the first Adler in that equation. I want to make that clear. You always come first.”
Tossing the cards on the bed, I crawl on top of him. “You’re going to make every one of my dreams come true, aren’t you?”
With a slide of his hips against mine, he kisses me. “I am. Starting right now.”
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Barrett
“This is our second wedding in three months,” I point out to Isabella as I adjust the collar of the white button-down shirt I’m wearing. “First, Max and Dan, and now this vow renewal.”
“Max eloped.” She shrugs a little. “You had a good time in Vegas.”
I had a fucking blast. Isabella and I did the strip right. We ate well, she gambled her way to a thirty thousand dollar windfall at a poker table, and we spent a hell of a lot of time in bed.
We’ve been enjoying as much time as we can together since I left Garent Industries and she moved in with me. She’s working side-by-side with Nellie Garlin. Duke will return to his post next month. My business is flourishing and when Bella’s contract with Garent runs out, she’ll join me full-time. I left that decision in her hands, where it belongs.
Her first meeting with Beatrice was rough. There were a lot of tears and questions. Bizzy is still Team Irving, so it was hard for her to grasp that the things our father said back then weren’t true.
We took Beatrice, Felicity, and her husband to meet Marti and Bella’s parents at Calvetti’s for dinner one night. The food
was good. The conversation was even better.
Beatrice was happy to sit at a table where every person present could engage her in conversation. I kept up with everyone else. Learning sign language cemented my new bond with my sister. Time and healing will help us grow even stronger.
We don’t have to see eye-to-eye on everything, but we love each other. That’s what matters when you put your head on your pillow at night.
Monica’s learning that lesson too. A new gray-haired actor at the community theater she’s been directing at in Chicago has become an important part of her life. I’m happy for my mom. The drama he brings to her life is exactly the type she needed.
“I happen to think it’s very romantic that Misty and Rusten want to renew their vows inside their store.” She skims her palm over the front of the little black dress she’s wearing. “A candlelit ceremony. Old books. What could be better than that?”
This is it.
I tug the small ring box out of the front pocket of my pants and drop to a knee on our bedroom floor.