“You realize what this means, don't you? If it's true, you're blood-related to their family.”
“Well, not to Sarah.” He winked. “And that's what matters to me.”
“If I have to split half of our land, it will ruin everything.”
“No more Galleria, I imagine.”
“You're okay with that?” He threw up his hands. “Forty-percent stake, remember? How can you just be willing to throw it away?”
“I'm done making deals with the devil. I'd just as soon keep everything as it was before all this – well, almost.” He gave my hand a squeeze. “I could never go back to not having you, Sarah. No matter what it costs me, you're well worth it.”
People were screaming all around us, their voices trying desperately to shout over one another. Accusations were hurled, names were called. I heard none of it.
None, except for Asher's sweet words. The words I'd wanted to hear for so long, the ones I thought he would never be able to say.
“Do you honestly mean that?”
His arms curled around me. It was such comfort even in all this chaos and uncertainty.
“You're still wearing the ring.”
“Yeah. Because it means something to me.”
“It's funny, isn't it? A couple of months ago, I never could have imagined getting hitched for real. Now though.” He ushered me away from the crowd just as guests started throwing food at each other. “Now I can't imagine a life without you in it.”
A piece of wedding cake came flying our way and hit the wall beside us with a splat. Chunks of frosting speckled Asher's probably very expensive suit, but he just laughed.
“I've had enough of these interruptions, so I'm just gonna spit it out. I love you, Sarah.”
Did he seriously say what I thought he did?
“You... You love me?”
“More than anything in my life. I know I've been a bit of an ass over the years. Done some things I regret, and I'm sorry for that.”
“I love you too,” I blurted. He looked surprised, like he could hardly believe it. “Maybe I fell for you the first moment you pulled me out of the snow.”
“And like an idiot, I made you wait years while I screwed around and refused to grow up.”
“Gotta admit, I kind of liked that about you sometimes. Acting serious all the time can be pretty boring.”
He beamed. “At last, you see the light.”
“Aw, you two look so cute together!”
Mom sashayed over to us, somehow dodging the flying food.
“Maybe I was wrong about you, Asher. Your dad's a royal jackass, but you got a heart of gold. I can tell.”
He chuckled weakly. “Thanks, I think.”
She turned to me. “Now you'd better start working on giving me those grandkids. I ain't getting any younger, you know.”
“Mom!”
“Excuse me,” said a new voice. A young man with a camera around his neck nervously eyed the battle behind us. “Uh, so sorry I'm late. My car got stuck in the snow. Are you two the bride and groom?”
Before I could say anything, Asher flashed me his trademark cocky grin and pulled me close to his side.
“You bet your ass we are.”
“Okay then. Mind if I get a couple of shots?”
“Knock yourself out. How about this one, for starters.”
His lips, so warm and sweet, met mine. The photographer captured our kiss in a flurry of flashes.
“No more fake wedding stuff,” he whispered so only I could hear. “I want you to be my wife for real.”
Asher's wife.
Once a laughable idea, now, it only made complete sense.
“Marry me, Sarah.”
“Of course I will.”
A couple of police officers barged into the hall to break up the fight. They headed for the loudest one in the room – Heath, naturally.
“Sir, we're going to have to ask you to calm down,” said one.
“Calm down? This old harpy is trying to steal my property!”
Grandma stuck out her tongue at him. “Just taking back what you stole from my daughter, you greedy, good-for-nothing buffoon!”
Mom hurried over to her and the photographer followed, leaving us alone at last.
“Something tells me this land business is far from over,” I said. “Your dad won't let it go easily. And now our families have even more reason to loathe each other.”
“He'll get what's coming to him. Anyway, who cares what our families think? We can be like Romeo and Juliet. Very romantic, eh?”
“They killed themselves in the end, you know.”
“Aw, no need to be so pessimistic.”
“No need to be such a dope.”
He laughed. “Always ready with an insult for me. That's all right. You can call me all the names you want once I get you back in my bed.”
“When will that be, do you suppose?”
He surveyed the crowd. Not a single person was paying attention to us.
“How about we slip away for a moment right now?”
“Hmm. I think we're going to need longer than that.”
It was freezing outside, but with him by my side, I hardly noticed.
Epilogue
“Look, it's our commercial!”
Lana turned up the volume of the TV next to the register. Indeed, there we were on the screen, excitedly promoting all the old treasures Curiosities had to offer.
“Come experience Grant City history like you never have before,” I said along with the commercial. “With new items every day, you never know what you might find.”
Lana beamed. “I can't get used to seeing our faces on TV. Gotta say, you didn't do too bad. Maybe you're a natural.”
“Maybe, but I hated every second of it. If it weren't for Asher's prodding, I'd never have gone through with it.”
I gazed past the throngs of customers – more than we'd ever had – across the road toward Slicker Image. With Asher's help, the shop had been
