The Regency Rules

Epilogue

"Annie?"

"Up here," she called, excitement putting a tremble in her voice. She looked around the rooftop of her apartment and adjusted the angle of a swinging basket chair half a degree. Perfect.

She heard Blake's footsteps on the concrete stairs leading up the side of the building and onto the sunny roof, and she turned to face him with a smile. Her Blake. So much had changed over the last year, but the thrill in her belly whenever she saw him was still as fierce as ever.

Tonight, he wore a crisp white shirt over dress pants, with a dove grey tie and matching vest over the top. He was still broad and muscular, her bear of a man, but he'd allowed himself to soften at the edges. His belly was ever so slightly rounded now, after a year of home-cooked meals and far less self-hatred driving him to endlessly workout past the point of healthy. His face was softer too, somehow; the deep shadows around his eyes less prominent, the pinch of his mouth gone, his expression gentle and open. Annie's heart swelled to see him looking so comfortable in his skin.

"Wow," said Blake, stepping out onto the rooftop. "Annie, this looks incredible."

He reached for her, and Annie grinned as she squeezed him tightly. "It does, doesn't it?"

After she'd finished renovating every inch of her apartment, she'd started work on the cluttered rooftop. All the way through winter, spring and summer, she'd pottered around when the weather was good, clearing the detritus, organising decking and sails to be installed, and scouring online marketplaces for the best in second-hand furniture to place artfully in the open-air space.

Now, it was done. The hot tub hummed quietly to itself in one corner, while Annie's puppy, a mini-labradoodle (who grew less mini by the day), snoozed on the fake grass patch that flanked the glass divider overlooking the ocean. Stripy deck chairs and swinging lanterns completed the look of a chic 50s beach party. Annie sighed. "I can't believe it's all finished. Now, what am I going to do with myself?"

Blake laughed softly, walking over to the daybed. He pushed aside the draping white curtains and sat down. "Well, there's the booming online vintage fashion empire you've got going on, the visit to Sydney with your mum and brothers coming up next week, a small dog who adores you and needs constant walking, and the wedding you're helping to organise for Hannah and Thomas – oh, and aren't you a bridesmaid too?"

Annie giggled, plonking herself in Blake's lap, allowing the thick satin of her long skirt to drape around their legs. "Not to mention tending to my very needy boyfriend," she said, kissing him on the nose.

"Yep, that guy too."

Annie kissed him again on the cheek, then ran a finger along his skin, from behind his neck to his collar, noting the silver scar that lay just beneath his earlobe. They'd had a rough few months after Blake's surgery to repair his hearing. The implant hadn't been as effective as he'd hoped, and his disappointment had triggered another depressive episode for Annie.

But they'd worked through it, with their therapists and with each other. Neither of them ran or buried how they were feeling, and when they emerged out the other side, Annie knew they were even stronger as a couple. Blake would always be hearing impaired, she would always have depression, but they had learned to thrive, not just survive, despite their conditions.

Annie felt something unlock inside her, a final release of the wall around her heart. "Well," she said, sitting up and staring into Blake's golden eyes, "I was thinking... Now the place is finally finished and fit for human habitation, Danbury and I were wondering if you might like to move in with us?"

"Seriously?" Blake's face lit up, a massive smile joyfully illuminating his features. He'd been hinting for months that they should move in together, first asking if she'd like to live in the beach cottage with him, then when Kristiaan's 'no furry animals other than Warren' policy put an end to that idea, Blake had offered to move into the apartment above her shop instead.