Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“What’s the worst-case scenario?” he asks, trying to help me see reason.
“They hate you forever and I have to find new friends.”
“That’s…extreme. Remember what happened when I met your parents?”
We went over to their house for a belated birthday celebration for my dad. Once we arrived, my mom fussed over Noah like he was Queen Elizabeth coming for a visit. Noah, is that chair comfortable enough? Audrey, switch with him—let him have the recliner.
I see now that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
My dad took him out back for a “stern talking-to”, as he explained it to me, but then a few minutes later, I heard laughter. When I peered through the wooden blinds, my dad was affectionately patting Noah on the shoulder. Later that night, I heard him call Noah “son”! They have plans to play golf together next week!
“They loved you.”
“They loved me,” he repeats.
“I love you.”
His smile drops. His shock is written all across his face. He blinks as if trying to process the magnitude of what I’ve just said, and then a beat later, he repeats it.
“You love me.”
He’s never looked happier.
“Oh great.” I roll my eyes. “Is this the end then? The part where you call in the camera crew?” I affect my best impersonation of a TV producer. “Guys, please tell me you got her confession on video. We really fooled her big time! Yeah, well, the joke’s on you because I still have that contract you signed in Italy.”
He laughs, shaking his head. “You’re right. The ruse is up. I got you so good.” He leans in to kiss my cheek, to lace his fingers through mine and press me to the door. “You really fell for it big time. Your toothbrush is in my bathroom. You have clothes in my closet. Your succulent lives in my kitchen window. How could you be so naïve?”
His lips make their way to mine and he kisses me gently.
When he pulls back, he whispers, “I love you too.”
Epilogue to the epilogue
Noah
* * *
Audrey and I have been elected “cutest couple” for the yearbook superlatives three years running. Audrey cuts out the pages from each edition and proudly pastes them in a scrapbook. When we have friends over for dinner, she brings it out to show them. Embarrassed, I hid the scrapbook from her last week, but it’s only a matter of time until she finds it again.
Principal O’Malley’s still bitter about his $20, but after some persuasion, he let Audrey and me keep our classrooms right next door to each other. Every day, we eat lunch together in Audrey’s classroom. Every day, a teacher walks by, stops, and clicks their tongue in disbelief that the rumors are really true. Gil still gloats about his winnings.
Having had a break from chaperoning the Rome trip, Mr. and Mrs. Mann realized they didn’t have the energy for it anymore and happily passed the torch to Audrey and me. For three summers now, we’ve taken a group of ten students to Rome during the month of July. We take the kids to all our favorite sites and we make sure to pay a special visit to Giuseppe and his family. Standing together in their small kitchen, Eva shows the students how to make homemade pasta, and after, we sit around the table eating our culinary creations and practicing our Italian.
This summer, with the blessing of our family and friends—Melissa and Kristen even helped me pick out the ring—I’m going to propose to Audrey inside the Palazzo Colonna, which is the location of the famed last scene in Roman Holiday where Princess Ann chooses duty over love and Joe Bradley walks away from her forever.
This time, I’ll promise Audrey the ending will be happy.