Page 163 of Fire and Icing

“You’re everything. Beyond singing. Beyond any dream. You. I love you, Emberleigh.”

She inhales a quick breath as if I sweetly overwhelmed her with my declaration.

Then she reaches out and places her hand on my cheek. “I love you, Dustin.”

I inhale and close my eyes, letting the depth of her confession wash over me.

Then I open my eyes and give her hand a light squeeze when I say, “You are my world tour, my best song, the woman I didn’t even know I was waiting for. And I will always come home to you.”

Epilogue

Emberleigh - Six Months Later

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences,

penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

~ Maya Angelou

“Anything I can do to help?”I ask Dustin.

He’s hiding something. He’s been acting suspicious all week. I’d say it’s because his family is here, but he acted the least weird when we’ve been around them. It is my birthday, so that could be it. He knows I don’t generally love surprises, but over the past six months, Dustin has shown me that surprises can be sweet, fun, and something to look forward to. He’s taught me so much. And he’s always trying to tell me how much I’ve drawn out of him.

“You can’t help. You’re the birthday girl,” Mitzi says, coming into the kitchen from Gran’s front room.

“Are you baking?” I ask Dustin, looking around at the canisters of flour and sugar, the eggs and other ingredients on Gran’s counter.

“Are you almost ready?” Dustin’s mom calls in from the front room.

Dustin’s family has been visiting for three days. They’re staying at Gran’s and she’s been over the moon about hosting them.

“I can not confirm or deny whether I’m baking.” Dustin winks at me, walks over and covers my eyes with one of his hands. “But if I were baking, that would mean you would not be helping me … Not today.”

“Dustin,” I say with a playful plea in my voice.

“Emberleigh,” he leans in so his mouth is next to my ear. His hand is still covering my eyes. “It’s your birthday. And there’s not a person on the planet who could be happier than I am that you were born. Now, please. Let me do whatever I’m doing. And don’t offer to help.”

My smile breaks out and I feel it spread as he slowly lowers his hand and his eyes connect with mine, so I place a kiss in his palm. He smiles wider when I do.

“Please. I’ve got this whole thing planned,” he says with this boyish look in his eyes.

I raise my hands in surrender. “The kitchen is yours, chef.”

He grins. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

“I don’t always do well without something to do,” I explain to Mitzi when she walks into the kitchen.

“Oh, I hear that,” she says. “Being a small business owner is a little like being a firefighter.”

“How so?” Dustin asks.

“We’re both always on alert. Our jobs could need us at any hour. And we both spend a lot of time putting out fires.”

“Huh,” he says. “I never thought of it that way.”

“I admire you even more now,” Dustin says to the two of us with such sincerity that I almost tear up. “I didn’t even think it was possible to admire either of you more.”

“You two are relationship goals,” Mitzi says.

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