One Year Later

Silbie tried to hold on to sleep, but in spite of her best efforts, her eyes fluttered open. For a moment, she stared at the ceiling, then propped herself on her elbows and let her vision sweep the room. The lace dress crumpled in a heap on the floor. One satin slipper rested under the desk, while the other had landed near the window. The bridal bouquet perched on a pile of scripts.

The wedding had gone off without a hitch. No small feat since paparazzi had camped out for weeks waiting for the rumored event to happen. Silbie couldn't help but smile. Their dedication had been a waste of time. While they'd been waiting for a scoop on the big day, they'd missed the opportunity to cover two major Hollywood scandals.

Building a chapel on Dante's property had been a good decision. The structure, nestled under the cover of dense trees, made it impossible for cameras—even those mounted on drones.  As guests left the church under a tented walkway and entered one of two gazebo canopies, the reception remained just as private.

With dining and dancing, it had been a night to remember.

Outside, the rumble of trucks sounded on the road. Soon, all signs of the celebration would be gone. Tables and chairs loaded. Tents dismantled and folded away until the next memory-making event.

Time to get back to reality. She flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling again. In three weeks, she'd return to Hollywood for the Oscars. Last year, she'd presented an award, this year, she might be receiving one—Best Actress for The French Mistress. Even if she didn't win, the nomination for that particular movie was doubly sweet. It had been her character, Simone DeRoux, who'd bewitched Owen in a dark hotel room and finally made him come to his senses.

With the way things were going, Silbie might have to resurrect Simone again to get what she wanted. Last night's discussion had not given her the results she'd hoped for.

Down the hall, the kitchen door slammed. Owen was back from his morning run.

Determined to continue their unfinished conversation, she'd have to ease into it. With Owen's PTSD, she'd learned a lot. She could only push him so far before anxiety set in. He'd improved so much during the last year, she had to keep reminding herself he'd never completely go back to the way he was when they first met.

"Hey, babe, you gonna sleep all day?"

His voice shook her thoughts away. "No. I'm about to get up. How was your run?"

"Good. A couple of Zach's friends went with me."

"Aren't they leaving today?"

He walked to the end of the bed, sat on the edge, and Dash joined him. "Yeah. All the guests will leave. The trucks are loading the rental stuff. A cleaning crew is at the chapel. By noon, all signs of the wedding will be gone."

Silbie racked her brain for another subject. She needed to practice the rule of three. Discuss three things before she blasted him with what was really on her mind.

"Gabriel and Zari are moving today, right?"

"Yeah, but we aren't helping with that. They hired a moving company."

Silbie swung her feet to the floor and ran her fingers through her hair, then pulled it into a ponytail and wrapped it with an elastic band she'd taken from the side table. "Well, moving from their little cottage into Bea's won't take long. What furniture they have won't begin to fill that place. I still can't believe Gabriel agreed to it. I mean, honestly, accepting the house as a gift is so unlike my brother."

"Yeah, but Zari has the power of persuasion when it comes to him. And now that she's pregnant again, they had to have a larger place.  That little two-bedroom wasn't big enough for five people. This way, the twins and the new baby can have their own rooms."

"I think I'll give her a gift card to a furniture store. She really loved the stuff I bought from that place in Houston."

"Good idea." He rose, strolled to the corner chair and gathered Silbie's sweatpants and hoodie. "Here, put these on. It's cold outside. Dante's got a big breakfast buffet at the house. Thought you might wanna go eat."

While she dressed, she talked. "I'm not hungry. What do you have planned today?"

He dropped into the chair where he'd gotten her clothes. "Check to make sure the final cleanup is done on the entertainment complex. We open in a week. I can't thank you enough for agreeing to take part in the grand opening."

She knelt in front of him and rested her hands on his thighs. Dash angled beside her and nudged his face onto her legs. "You know I'll do anything for you. Besides, how could I refuse? All four screens have a Silbie Luna movie showing, while Burgers on the Fly is featuring a Silbie burger, whatever that is. It's a little bit crazy."

"When Dante put me in charge of the projects, I resented it. I thought it was his way of getting me out of the house. Turns out, I really like it. Even better than selling real estate. Which is a good thing since we decided to sell the business."

"Really?"

"Makes sense. I'm more into the construction part now."

"So what's next? You've finished that project along with the park expansion. Anymore plans in the works?"

"Dante just bought a bar downtown. I'm gonna renovate it."

"Who will run it?"

"Don't know yet. I guess he'll hire someone. Come on. Let's go. I wanna run by the park and make sure the workers cleaned everything up and took down the barriers."

"Before we go, could we finish our conversation from last night?"

Owen came to his feet, bringing her with him. "I thought we did finish it."

She wanted to say more, but his tone warned against it. The man infuriated her. She'd caught the damn bridal bouquet. Maia had made sure of it, and tradition said Silbie should be next at the altar. But she couldn't even get Owen to discuss an engagement much less marriage. What was he waiting for?

A few weeks ago, she'd thought for sure he'd surprise her with a ring on her twenty-first birthday, but once again, she'd been disappointed.

She tucked her feelings away and followed him outside to the car.

When they arrived at the park, the construction had been cleaned up, but it was still roped off. Not that it needed to be. The temperature was too cold for outside play. That could work to her advantage. This was the place she'd first confronted him about her feelings. It's also been the location where she'd revealed her identity as the mystery woman who'd seduced him.

Yes, they had history here, so it was the perfect setting to remind him of what she wanted more than anything—to be married. Or at the least, a promise of marriage. She walked to the bench where she'd sat all those years ago when she'd only been eighteen. Owen and Dash trotted behind.

She twirled around, faced Owen, and folded her arms. "I don't think we finished the conversation from last night."

Owen shook his head. "For God's sake, would you hush and just once, let me take the lead?"

She straightened and stumbled backward, catching herself on the picnic table. He'd never spoken to her that way. She'd pushed too hard. He was more upset than she thought. "I'm sorry. Okay. Discussion over. Forget I said anything."

"What is it about the word hush you don't understand? You're still talking."

Despite the fact that he didn't appear to be angry, she got that horrible burning in her nose. She sniffed and blinked.

"Oh, God. Don't cry." He dropped to his knees and grabbed her hands. "I love you so much. I can't breathe half the time. No matter how horrible I feel, seeing you makes me better. You're like the sun, moon, and stars all rolled into one. You're my home."

He let go of her hands and pulled a jeweler's box from his back pocket, and flipped open the lid. "Marry me."

She didn't speak. Just nodded and held out her hand for him to place the ring on her finger.

He smiled. "Were you surprised?"

She nodded again.

"Was it romantic enough? I mean, I lured you to the place where it all started for us."

Another nod.

"You don't have anything to say?"

"You told me to hush."

He took her in his arms. "You can speak now."

She took a deep breath. "I was surprised. It was romantic. How long have you had this planned?"

He shook his head. "Marrying you—years. The proposal—months. Like I said, I'm not good without you."

"I'm no good without you, either."

Aaaaand we're done here. It's been a ride. Thank you for taking it with me. Especially if you've read Silbie and Owen throughout Zari and Gabe's story, and then this. I don't know if anyone read this as a standalone, but kudos to you as well.

FIN.