Page 105 of Love At First Fright
“I love you,” he said, standing and resting his forehead against hers. Rosemary felt a joyous laugh bubble out of her. “Move in with me?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” She grinned and sank into Ellis’s embrace, and wondered if you could die of happiness.
Epilogue
Eight months later
“Scott and Eric texted, they’reall there,” Ellis called up the stairs to Rosemary as she put the final touches to her bold red lip for the evening.
“Okay, I’ll be down in one minute,” she said, grinning at her reflection. Perfect lipstick? Check. Sexy, figure-hugging dress? Check. It was a warm early-autumn evening, so she’d opted for a pale cream dress that made her tattoos and hair pop. She looked great, but that didn’t mean the nerves weren’t kicking in. After tonight, everyone in the world would be able to go to cinemas and watchWhen the Devil Takes Hold.Rosemary couldn’t be prouder of the movie they had created, and as a horror movie connoisseur, she had high hopes for it.
She’d banned Ellis from their bedroom for the last two hours while she got ready, but now she made her grand entrance into their downstairs hallway where he stood waiting for her, leaning against the wall and watching Fig and Bee (and Cherry) play in a sunbeam.
When he saw her, he froze, his eyes roving up and down her body with delicious heat.
“Cancel the premiere,” he said. “We’re going back upstairs, and you’re going to cover me with that lipstick.”
She swatted him, even as heat pooled in her belly. “I take it you like the dress then?”
Ellis spun her around. “I love it. You look like a fucking goddess.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss to it, running a finger over the diamond ring she wore.
“Are you worried I’m going to lose it, is that why you keep checking if it’s there?”
He laughed. “No, I just need to make sure I’m not dreaming, and that you’re actually going to be my wife.”
Rosemary paused to take in her fiancé’s suit, a dark maroon three-piece that fit him in all the right ways.
“I’m the one who’s dreaming.” She winked.
Ellis mocked surprise. “Are you flirting with me, future Mrs. Finch?”
“I believe I am, Mr. Finch. Do you think Fig and Bee will be okay? We won’t be back until late.”
Ellis took her hand and walked her back into the living room from the hall. “Look at them, they’re fine. We’ve walked Fig, they’ve both had their dinner early, and they’ll only be alone for a few hours. Are you perhaps not really nervous about them, but the premiere instead?”
She nodded, leaning back into his chest, looking at their little animals playing. “You’re right.”
“It’s going to be a hit,” Ellis said. “But we have time, we can be fashionably late, if you want to take a minute.”
As he spoke, Rosemary watched as Fig lay down, dutifully letting Bee clumsily climb and trample all over her like anannoying little sister. Cherry looked on from another sunbeam at the runt of her litter, not so little anymore.
Cherry was fading more and more each day. Rosemary expected she would wake up one morning soon to find the ghost cat had moved on to rest. Her baby was safe, and she’d had time to make sure she was. Ellis was right, it wasn’t their pets she was nervous about, but the premiere. Another Big Life Moment™.
For the whole drive, Rosemary’s heart was in her throat. When the car stopped just off Charing Cross Road, Ellis squeezed her hand and tilted her face to his.
“I’ll be with you the whole time. You can squeeze my hand if it becomes too much and we’ll ignore the cameras and go straight in, okay?”
She nodded, nerves scattering across her skin.
“I’m so proud of you,” Ellis said, pressing a light kiss to her inner wrist (Rosemary would have murdered him if he’d ruined her pre-premiere makeup), “and I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
“You’re definitely the cheesiest,” she teased. “I love you.”
“Let’s do this.”
Ellis got out of the car and held out a hand to help Rosemary stand.
“Mr. Finch, Miss Shaw, please come with me.” A very serious-looking woman in a black suit complete with earpiece ushered them to the start of the red carpet. The cheering from fans was cacophonous, and she had to squint against the blinding flashes from the cameras.
“Okay? You ready?” Ellis whispered in her ear.
She was about to say no, this is too much, but then she spied Dina and Immy, Scott and Eric waving at them, and further down the red carpet she saw Lyn and Jenna, hand in hand. Herdad was here somewhere with Maria, and no doubt Lance would be flirting with journalists like a true debonair.
Rosemary thought about what Juliet had written in her journals; she thought of all the ghosts she had known and how, when it came down to it, they stayed because they wanted more time with the people they loved.
Cherry loved her babies, Hank had loved his owner, and Juliet and Cecilia had stayed to let themselves love each other as they hadn’t been able to in life.
Tonight, Rosemary was going to see her book on the big screen. She was going to hear the audience scream at the jump scares. This was more than a dream come true.
She had been given something precious; she was with the person she loved, and she hoped she’d have many years with him. She had been given time. The nerves slipped away, leaving only excitement. There wasn’t any reason to wait.
