Romantically Perfect: A Friends to Lovers Romantic Comedy (Perfectly Imperfect Love Series Book 3)
Page 19
She laughs. “Well, then, we better get started.”
She grabs my hand, pulls me down her hallway, and into our future.
Epilogue
Six months later…
Di
“I swear to God if this child doesn’t decide to make an appearance soon, I’m going to evict him!” Tabby states as we all get off the ferry at Smith Island.
“You sure you want Kent in the delivery room? I mean, you may need to get him his own bed once he sees blood,” I reply.
Tabby laughs. “He’s already told me that he’s staying up by my face and not looking at anything happening down there.”
I giggle and pat her belly. “You better hurry up and get here, kid! Your aunties want to spoil your ass!”
Tabby giggles and groans. “I need to pee again.”
“Come on, let’s stop in the store here,” Gran Tilly says as we walk down the street. After the pit stop, our entire clan begins the short trek to Gran Tilly’s old house. Kent had arranged for all of us to have an overnight here for his babymoon. Lanie and I tried to explain that the babymoon was not a thing for the whole family, but he didn’t listen to us.
He wanted to show Gran Tilly the new roof he put on her parents’ home before we got settled at whatever B&B we were all squeezing into down here. I glance nervously at our giant brood of eleven people.
Just as we clear the bend, the house comes into view, and Gran Tilly stops in her tracks.
“Oh, my,” she whispers as we all look at the old house. Kent did a hell of a lot more than just redoing the roof. The house looks completely renovated. It’s beautiful.
Gran grabs Kent’s arm, her eyes filling with tears. “Kent…I…how?”
He laughs. “Well, I came out here before Thanksgiving last year. I got to talking to some guys and everyone here knows your family, our family, so after I explained what I wanted to do, I got a lot of volunteers. Then it was just making it happen. Come on, come see it.”
He takes her arm in his and leads her up the newly laid path to the house. There’s a giant porch swing on either side of it. He unlocks the door, and we step inside. I’m taken aback by the sheer difference from last year. It looks brand new. The floors are re-stained. The walls have new paint. The kitchen has been updated. We all begin to walk around. I’m pleased to see that the books still line the built-ins in the front room.
Kent turns to me as everyone meanders around the house. “You should go check out the master bedroom. I added a little something just for you.”
I point to myself. “For me?”
He nods and winks. “Go on.”
I roll my eyes and walk up the grand old staircase, feeling the smooth curved wood of the railing glide beneath my palm. I walk down the hall, passing three of the six bedrooms on my way. Two more rooms are on the third floor in a converted attic above me. I make it to the master bedroom and look around. I grin. My brother had the house re-furnished as well. I know the second I step into the room that we are not staying at a bed-and-breakfast, we are staying right here tonight.
I notice that in addition to the double doors leading to the back second-floor deck that runs along the entire backside of the house with views of the bay, there is now a small bi-fold door on another wall. I walk to the side of the house and open the door. I grin as I realize that my little brother made me a Juliet balcony in here.
“How’s the view?” Kent calls out from below. I glance down to see that my entire family is standing in a small garden below the balcony.
I see everyone but Garrett. I look around in confusion until I hear a rattling next to me. I glance to the side of the balcony and giggle because there’s a built-in ladder doubling as a lattice frame on the side of the house, and my boyfriend has climbed it.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I say to him as I lean on the railing of the balcony.
He smiles back at me. “I may have talked Kent into this when he confided in me about the plans for the house.”
I look down at my brother, who shrugs. “It was hard keeping it a secret.”
“Hey, I knew too, jackass,” Lanie’s husband, Brixton, calls out from behind Kent.
“Well, thank you all. This is lovely, but really this day is about Gran Tilly. It’s her house after all,” I point out.
“Actually,” Garrett says. “I thought maybe this day could be about ‘us.’”
I turn back to him. “Us?”
He nods and crawls over the railing, withdrawing a small box from his pocket and opening it. He lowers to one knee, and I stare at him and then the ring that is now flashing in the sunlight.
“Diana Carol Moore, I know I’m imperfect. But I’d love to try to be perfect for you for the rest of our lives. I can’t promise you a fairy-tale life, but I can promise you that I will always carry your books, cook with you, bring you your favorite coffee and flowers, and be by your side no matter what. Will you marry me?”
I fight the tears threatening to stream down my cheeks. “Yes,” I whisper.
“What did she say?” Gran Tilly says loudly. “Speak up, some of us have hearing aids.”
My tears turn to laughter. “I said ‘yes’!”
Garrett slides the ring onto my finger and stands, pulling me against him and kissing me as my family cheers in the background.
He pulls back and smiles down at me. “Was that proposal adequate? I wanted to make it as close to one in those romance books you read as I possibly could.”
I laugh. “It was even better.”
“Good, because I read like ten of them for inspiration.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Wow, that’s like a lot of books for you to read just to be inspired.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I got some other inspiration from them as well,” he whispers with a wink.
I giggle and feel my skin heat.
“What’s that?” Gran Tilly calls out again from below.
“Oh, nothing, Gran. Garrett just told me he’s striving to be the perfect husband in every way possible.”
Garrett blushes and leans in to kiss me. My family’s laughter rings out below, and I hear Ash ask what I meant by that. But I drown them out and focus on my fiancé, on my happily ever after.
***
Thank you for reading Romantically Perfect! I hope you enjoyed this story. And I hope you’ll take the time to leave a review to help your fellow readers decide on their next read.
Have you read the prequel story to the Perfectly Imperfect Love Series, Chronicles of a Hot Mess? Download it now for more laugh-out-loud moments!
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Acknowledgments
Shout out to everyone who reads, writes, promotes, or otherwise just plain old enjoys romance books. I had such a fun time writing Di’s story because I was able to incorporate the love I have for this genre throughout the book.
There is so much that goes into the indie romance book world, so many behind-the-scenes people who support authors and provide them with services to make a book. I want to acknowledge all of the people that work tirelessly to help me bring you these stories. Thank you for all you do!
And one last special shout out to teachers! This book features several teachers and the lengths they go through to help students. Teachers in the real world work tirelessly to help their students and they are often not appreciated for their work. So, if you are a teacher, I salute you!
Stay Connect
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About the Author
USA Today & international bestselling romance author S.E. Rose lives near Washington, D.C., with her
family. When she's not wrangling her cats or keeping up with her kids, she's plotting her next story.
She loves all things wine, coffee, and cats. In her non-existent free time, she enjoys traveling, going to concerts, binging on her favorite shows, and reading, especially if it's a good mystery or comedy.
Also By S.E. Rose
Deceitful Destiny Series
Island (Book 1)
Secrets (Book 2)
Bravura (Book 3)
Determination (Book 4)
Home (Book 5)
The Poisoned Pawn World
A Fierce Princess
A Valiant Prince
A Wise Prince
Perfectly Imperfect Love Series
Undeniably Perfect
Hopelessly Perfect
Romantically Perfect
Awkwardly Perfect – Coming in early 2021
Reluctantly Perfect – Coming in 2021
Novels
Chronicles of a Hot Mess
Chronicles of a Rockin’ Mess
The Decoy
Second Start (A Holiday Springs Resort Novel)
Endeavor (A Drive World Novel) - Coming in March 2021
Novellas
Neighbor in Apartment No. 5
The Tinsel Tango
The Fighter
Want to learn more? Visit www.seroseauthor.com.
Sneak Peek at Awkwardly Perfect
Kylie
Me: Emergency sibling meeting! NOW!
Clark: Did you die your hair blue?
Me: No!
Kent: Is this like a makeup emergency or a real-life emergency?
Lanie: Are we doing a video chat or meeting irl?
Di: Did you just use ‘irl’ in a sentence?
Lanie: (middle-finger emoji)
Clark: Green hair?
Me: (middle-finger emoji)
Kent: Can you feel the love tonight?
Tabby: Stop singing that Kent!
Kent: You love my singing and you know it.
Me: People! Focus! I need advice pronto!!
I send them a video chat link because this shit is important.
I watch as my siblings' faces pop up on my screen in little boxes.
“And we’re on a video call because?” Kent inquires.
“I got a job offer!” I squeal. I pause for theatrical effect. “In New York!”
“Wait, what?” Lanie asks.
“As in NYC?” Di clarifies.
“Yes, New York City. Remember when I told you that this magazine was interested in me writing a piece like I do on my blog?”
There are a handful of nods from my siblings. I’ve been blogging for about three years now. It’s something I started not long after graduating from college as I embarked into the world of fashion with my first job as a personal shopper. Last year, I took a job as a buyer for a clothing store. And now, my dream job has come knocking on my door after pestering them for months with emails about my blog.
“Well, they officially offered me a guest spot, and guess what?”
“What?” Clark asks, playing along.
“If they like my story, then it’s in the running for the cover! Can you believe it?”
“Wow, that’s awesome,” Lanie says.
“Way to go, little sis,” Kent replies.
“Do you know what you’re going to write about?” Di asks.
I freeze because I sort of do and that part, I’m not totally excited about. “They, uh, want me to do like a makeover thing with this tech guy and spend some time on his island doing a fashion shoot with him.”
“Wait, he has an island?” Kent asks.
“Uh, yeah.” I nervously chew on the inside of my cheek because I know what the next question will be.
“Who is this “tech” guy exactly?” Lanie asks.
“Levi Sanderson,” I whisper.
“Wait, what?” Clark says. “Like, ‘the’ Levi Sanderson?”
***
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