Epilogue
July—One year later
It was hard to believe twelve months flew by so fast. Last year she was just Joy, wishing she had no last name, and today she was the new Mrs. Casanova after a quick civil ceremony in the Scenic View town hall.
Together with their blended family, she and Tristan were the proud parents to two boys, a girl, two pups, and a cat. It was crazy to think of fitting them all under her roof, but if the Cape Cod had fit her parents with three kids, the Casanovas would manage just fine.
As soon as Sophia and Bob took the children for ice cream after the groom kissed the bride, Tristan handed Joy a large manila envelope in the hallway.
It was too quick to be the official marriage certificate. She brushed aside the strands of hair that escaped her chignon. “You’ve given me so much already; I can’t imagine what it could be.” She hugged the big envelope against her white gypsy sundress.
“It’s not from me. It’s from Nick and Lily.”
“What is it? A big card?”
“You’ll see.” Tristan jutted his chin. “Just open it.”
She slid her finger under the flap then pulled out the document. “I don’t understand.”
“What does it say?” Tristan said with a devilish gleam in his eyes.
Flipping through the pages, she deciphered the verbiage. “It’s a deed.”
As if waiting for her to make the connection, he rocked on his heels with his hands in the pants pockets of his dark blue suit. “And?”
“It’s got our names on it.”
“And? Have you figured it out yet?”
“And…Nick and Lily gave us the house?” It was a generous gesture and almost hard to believe, but it said so in black and white.
“Nick’ll be working me hard to keep up my end of the business. But yeah, the house is ours.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Tears filled her eyes.
“I already thanked them when I signed the papers, but you can thank them again tonight at dinner.”
“This is kinda perfect because…” Joy pressed her hand to her belly. “We’re going to need some extra room soon, and I didn’t want to have to move. Now we can just build on what we have.”
“What kind of extra room are you talking about? Like a guest room?”
“Not exactly.” Joy’s face got hot. “More like a permanent resident. Would you mind building a nursery?”
“We’re having a baby!” he whooped in the hallway, drawing attention from everyone in the office building. “And you kept it a secret?” he whispered. “I didn’t know you could be so sneaky.”
“I found out last week and thought it would make a nice surprise wedding gift. Do you know how hard it was not to tell you?”
“Yeah, I can imagine.” Tristan chuckled as he swept her off her feet and carried her away.