Page 51 of Planning on Happily Ever After

EPILOGUE

Holly

The wedding was everythingHolly had hoped it would be, with a beautiful ceremony followed by a reception that was more fun than she could have imagined. Holly would always remember the look on Ben’s face when he saw her at the end of the aisle. He had looked amazing in his tux, that was never in question, but the awe and love that was written all over his face was what was truly the most stunning thing about him.

Ben was a man besotted, and Holly felt so lucky she was on the receiving end of all that love. Ben had carried his adoring expression for the rest of the night, and Holly was sure she had a similarly smitten look on her face the entire time. Hailey had really outdone herself with the chocolate truffle cake, and Holly was excited to dive into the leftovers that she had put in Ben’s freezer.

Since the wedding had happened so quickly, they both had work that couldn’t wait a week or two, so they hadn’t had time for much of a honeymoon. However, they did spend a long weekend in New York City, exploring the different boroughs, enjoying some new cuisine, and revisiting some of Ben’s favorite haunts from when he attended NYU. As incredible as their adventures were, most of their time was spent in their hotel. It had been a wonderful weekend away and she couldn’t wait for them to go on the extended honeymoon to the Bahamas they had planned for just after Hailey’s wedding this summer.

Thinking about Ben and the wonderful time they had and would continue to have in the future had a familiar fuzzy feeling spreading throughout Holly’s body. She still couldn’t quite believe she had found such a great guy, and even though they’d always have things to work through, they would do it together. Holly smiled to herself as she stepped away from one of the final boxes she’d packed and walked up to Ben, planting a kiss on his cheek.

Ben smiled at her, his expression slightly quizzical. “Not that I’m complaining, but what did I do to earn that?”

“Nothing more than just being awesome and loving me.” In Holly’s mind, there was no better reason.

Ben wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “Loving you is the easiest thing in the world to do,” he said sweetly before leaning down to capture her lips in another kiss. They spent a few moments getting lost in one another before a loud cough caused them to break apart, albeit slowly.

Holly peeked over her shoulder to glare at her brother. His eyes narrowed and they had one of their silent twin conversations. “Whatever, Holls. I thought today was moving day not gross out Henry day,” he said before moving some of his own things into her room. She watched as he dumped his bedsheets on top of her mattress before flopping down on top of it. “Hey, do you think you guys can help me move my mattress before you go? This one is lumpier than mine.”

“Why are you even changing rooms, dork? Yours is bigger and has the big bathtub.” Holly would still never get over the fact that Hailey had voluntarily given him the bigger room when they moved in together a few years ago. Her reasoning, she was always in the bakery anyway, so Henry should have more space but it was a concession Holly never would have made.

Henry leaned up on his elbows. “One, I don’t take baths, so the tub was kind of wasted on me.” Holly had to hold herself back from strangling him at the admission.I could have been using the tub for relaxing soaks this entire time?“Second, this room clearly has some kind of love mojo going on, and I plan to take advantage of that.”

“Love mojo?” Ben questioned. He raised his brow at Holly and she just shrugged, not having a single clue as to what her brother was talking about.

“Yea, love mojo.” He sat up and ticked his fingers. “First, Hailey lived in this room and now she’s engaged, then Holly moved in the same room and she’s married less than a year later.” Henry spread his hands out like that explained everything and Holly tried really hard not to laugh.

“You do remember that before our grandparents bought and converted it, this space was used to store mannequins for the dress store next door, right?” Holly reminded him.

Henry visibly shuddered at the reminder. “Thanks for that nightmare fuel, but it doesn’t matter. This room is going to work for me, I just know it.” Henry nodded and Holly smirked at him when finally, the memory that had been tingling at the back of her head came to the forefront of her mind.

“You know,” she began, unable to hide her excitement at seeing his reaction. “The Morrison wedding is coming up soon and I ran into Jenna at the grocery store the other day. I guess she’s back in town visiting before the wedding, and she mentioned she might stay a while. You could always ask her out.”

Henry’s face flushed and he scratched the back of his neck. “She’s really back in town?” Holly nodded and he looked hopeful for a moment before flopping back on the bed. “Ugh, there’s no way she’ll stay in town for good, and even if she did, there’s no way she would go out with me,” he said miserably.

Even though they had seemed like polar opposites in high school, Jenna more woodland fairy, spontaneous and flitting around happily and Henry a very studious numbers nerd, Henry had formed a very serious crush on Jenna. He did manage to get up the courage to ask her to prom, but by the time he had eventually talked himself into it, she had already had a date.

Holly patted his knee and smiled at him. Henry was a great guy, he just needed to see that for himself. “It will all work out, Hen. I’m sure the love mojo of the room is on your side.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled before climbing off the bed. “So, are we moving my mattress or what?”

Two hours later, Holly and Ben were back home at their apartment, and she had mostly unpacked everything.

Once everything important had its place, the two of them sat together on the couch and snuggled into one another, Ben ran his thumb over her shoulder. “So, Mrs. Williams. What should we do tonight?”

She smiled mischievously at him. “Oh, I think you know what I want to do, Mr. Williams.”

He nodded in understanding before grabbing two game controllers and switching on the game console. “Winner gets to choose the position?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows comically.

“It’s a plan.”

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