Chasing Romeo Bonus Epilogue
Nick
I’m blindfolded. In the woods.
Trust me, if you’d told me a year ago that I’d let Chloe blindfold me and lead me through the woods I’d have called you crazy. Now, I’d let Chloe take me anywhere. Blindfolded or not.
Her hand clasps mine and she’s tugging me behind her. Leaves and dry sticks crunch beneath our feet, the air smells earthy like moss and bark, and I can hear forest sounds.
I don’t know exactly where we are or what we’re doing, just that we’re in the woods and I’m in store for a surprise.
I could peak if I wanted, but that’d ruin the fun.
“Are we there yet?” I ask.
Chloe laughs and elbows me in the gut. “Be patient. Jeez, who would’ve thought, the great Nick O’Shea, as impatient as a three year old.”
My fingers itch to grab her, swing her around, and pull her in for a kiss. But I restrain myself. I’ll do that later.
See, I’m patient.
“This better be worth the fuss,” I say, trying to hide my smile. “I had our Saturday all planned. We were going to make love. Then have breakfast in bed. Then make love again. Then have lunch in bed. Then make love again-”
“Watch your step,” Chloe says, right as I trip over a stump.
I hear her smother a laugh as I right myself.
“I’m trusting you not to lead me astray,” I say.
“As you should,” she says pertly.
Finally, I let myself grin, then go along happily as she leads me over a log, through a patch of ferns, and finally to a little area where the sun shines over us. I can smell pine and hear a little stream rushing over stones.
“We’re here,” she says.
Chloe woke me up this morning all giddy and as worked up as a live wire. I smile at the memory. I’ve learned that when she’s excited and glowing like a lit up Christmas tree it means really nice things are coming.
She told me she had a surprise for me and that we were going on a little field trip. Hence the blindfold. And the woods.
“Can I take this off?” I ask. I touch the blindfold.
“I don’t know. I kinda like it on.”
I hear the laughter in her voice, so I grab her and pull her close. Then, as a reward for my patience, I run my hands across her cheeks, lean down and take her mouth. Her lips are soft, and they taste like the fresh orange juice and pancakes I made this morning. I run my tongue over her mouth, drinking in her taste. It doesn’t shock me one bit that my heart thunders in my ears, and this feels like our first kiss. It feels that way every time.
“I kinda like it too,” I say after I pull away.
Her fingers reach up and gently brush at my hair and then tug loose the blindfold. I blink at the bright light and let my eyes adjust. The first thing I see is Chloe. Her cheeks are pink and her lips are lush. I think about kissing her again.
Then I notice where we are.
The excitement in Chloe’s expression grows and she starts bouncing on her heels. “What do you think?” she asks. I can tell she’s trying not to start clapping and jumping.
I turn in a slow circle and drink it all in.
The orange, red and green of the woods is vibrant, like one of Chloe’s watercolor paintings. Just like I thought, there’s a little stream running over slate gray rocks, and ferns growing next to mossy stumps. The blue sky peeks through the trees, almost like it’s winking at me.
I slow as I turn back to Chloe.
Her smile falters and she stops bouncing. “You don’t like it?”
I’d like to smile at her, but it’s hard to make any expression at all. It’s too much. She’s given me too much.
Chloe frowns and puts her hands on her hips. “How can you not like it? This is your Eden! This is what you dreamed of, what you wanted. Erma said you didn’t want any payment, not even the land, but I told her she could give it as a belated wedding gift and…”
She trails off and drops her hands from her hips. “Nick?”
I shake my head and pull her against me. After a minute, she drops her head to my chest.
“You’ve given too much,” I finally admit. “All those years I was dreaming of Eden. It wasn’t this place. It wasn’t any place. It was you. And now, we have this beautiful place and each other. It’s too much.”
She tilts her face up and that happy spark is back in her eyes. “Tell the truth now, how many romcoms have you actually watched. Because you’re really good at this.”
I scoff and lift an eyebrow, a skill she’s always envied. “Do I look like I watch romcoms?”
She grins. “You watched one last night.”
That I did.
We pull apart and I take another look at the woods around us. The woods have a quiet, expectant feel. Almost like they’re waiting for me to say something. “I don’t think there’s a better place in the whole world to make our home.”
Chloe gives me a happy smile and that excited, lit up light reenters her expression. “Good. Because I have another surprise for you.”
“What’s that?”
She drops her hand to her abdomen and at that small gesture my entire world stops. The woods fall away, the sound of the stream fades.
“You…we…” I sway a bit and shake my head.
“Are you going to pass out?” she asks.
“Maybe…”
She starts to laugh as sparks flick across my vision.
“You keep your cool when you’re shot by a maniac, but the second I start to tell you that you’re going to be a dad you start to-”
The sparks clear and the world comes into sharp focus.
I’m going to be a dad.
I grab Chloe and lift her off the ground. I swing her around. “We’re having a baby.”
A baby.
Chloe wraps her legs around my hips and her arms around my shoulders. When I stop spinning she rests her head against mine. “We’re having a baby,” she agrees.
“I was thinking…” I say.
She nods, the world is in her eyes and in it I see a wonderful future.
“This would be a wonderful place to raise a family,” I finish.
“Are you happy?” she asks.
In this moment, I feel like we’re flying, like we’re weightless and we’re flying so high. “I’ve never been happier. Not in my whole life.”
“You said that this morning,” she says.
“And I meant it.”
“And yesterday.”
“I meant it then too.”
“And the day before. And on our wedding day.”
“And I’ll keep saying it, every day for the rest of our lives,” I say.
Chloe purses her lips together and I have the feeling were about to begin volleying. I grin in anticipation.
“What if the pregnancy makes me an emotional wreck?”
“Then I’ll bring you chocolate and flowers. Every day.”
“What if I grow as big as a boat?”
“I’ll think you’re beautiful.”
She narrows her eyes. “What if the baby has colic?”
“What if she’s sweet?” I counter.
“What if she never sleeps through the night?”
“What if she’s a sleep champion?”
“What if she’s a hellion and stubborn as all heck?”
“What if she’s so stubborn,” I say, “that she’ll do whatever it takes to make the world a better place? What if she’s happy? What if she knows we love her no matter what? What if everything’s wonderful?”
Chloe sighs. “That’s a good what if.”
“I thought so.”
I smile at her and Chloe smiles back.
“I have one request,” she says.
“What’s that?”
“That after the baby comes, you and I have a date night every week, where it’s just you, me, Shelly and the road.”
I grin. “I think we can manage that.”
Then, when she smiles at me, I decide that I’ve been patient enough on other things too. I kneel down and drop her to the ground. “I was thinking, we could build the house right here.”
Chloe leans back and looks up at me, “Would this be the bedroom?”
“That’s right.”
“We should christen it.”
“Exactly.”
I pick up the blindfold from the grass and I make good use of it. Chloe always said she believed in happily ever afters, but to me, happily ever after always seemed elusive and far off. But now I see what she meant, happily ever after is this exact moment. Right here. So, I believe in the happilys that are right here and right now. And this is the kind of happily that will extend into forever.
Playlist for Chasing Romeo
I love listening to music while writing, usually I have a few songs on repeat that lend the mood to the book and get the creative juices flowing!
Here are the songs that set the mood for Chasing Romeo:
Can’t Stop the Feeling – Justin Timberlake (CHLOE’S THEME SONG)
West Coast – Imagine Dragons (NICK’S THEME SONG/LEAVING VEGAS SONG)
Wanted – OneRepublic
Happy – Pharrell Williams
Birds – Imagine Dragons
Rescue Me – OneRepublic
While outlining and plotting, I had fun getting into Chloe’s career as a greeting card illustrator. In fact, I did a few sketches of the cards mentioned in Chasing Romeo. Check out one of my favorites…the Monster Truck Valentine’s Card! If you’re artistic, I’d love to see your versions of Chloe’s cards. Send them my way!
