Casey woke first the following morning and stared lovingly at his sleeping beauty. He loved the look on her face when she woke to see him looking at her with so much love, and neither of them was disappointed when her eyes slowly opened, a beautiful smile on her face.

“Mornin’ Honey!”

“Good morning, Princess!”

“Mmm! I almost don’t mind goin’ back to work this morning after such a wonderful weekend! I hope we can do it again soon!” A long weekend vacation was added to her list of new experiences, but thinking about work brought another thought to mind. “I feel bad for Sherry and Jake. They haven’t had a few days off in years, Casey. And I know my not being there this weekend was probably rough on Sherry.”

“It’s one of the pitfalls of owning your own business, I’m afraid, especially a small business like theirs. Could you manage it for them if they took a day or two off?”

“I could handle the dining room, but who would cook? Jake’s tried a couple of times to train another cook, but it didn’t work out, so Sherry has to fill in for him if he can’t be there for some reason. And business not being good lately hasn’t helped either.”

“Well, we can’t solve anything lying around in bed. You’d better get ready for work, young lady!”

“Yes, Sir!” she joked as she threw the covers off, still naked after their weekend capping lovemaking the night before. “Ooo!” she squeaked when, sending her on her way, Casey smacked her bottom a little harder than he’d intended. She turned to look at him lying in bed, with a big smile on his face, and an expression that said, ‘You started it!’

A few days later, Sherry was waiting for Casey to arrive at the end of their long day, while Jake was closing up the kitchen. Casey’s email was a bit mysterious, so her mind conjured up all sorts of reasons for wanting to meet them without Harper knowing. Her initial thought was that it had something to do with their future as a couple, but he probably wouldn’t have needed Jake for a discussion like that. She’d finally resigned herself to waiting, though that didn’t entirely quiet her mind.

“Hey, Sherry!” he called out as soon as he entered the diner.

“Hey, Casey. Is everything okay?” she asked immediately, hoping to put her fears about Harper to rest.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I wanted to discuss some business with you and Jake, but I don’t want Harper knowing about it, at least not yet,” he replied, with Jake hearing the end as he joined them. “Hey, Jake. So, you mentioned way back that there were some improvements you wanted to make here, but business being what it was … is? … you were having to delay them. I thought that maybe I could help you with that.”

From anyone else, a statement like that would have their guard up to protect themselves from a scam. They’d had people who allegedly came to eat but, at the first opportunity, began pitching some kind of financial help to update the place. The first one had them going for a few days, but once his fraud was revealed, they learned enough to question future attempts from others with a similar pitch. Sherry couldn’t imagine Casey being like that. Had he tried earlier in his relationship with Harper, she might have questioned it, but not now.

“Help in what way?” Jake asked.

“I’m not sure yet. Why don’t we talk about your business and what you hope to achieve first? For example, how did you come to own this place?”

Sherry told him about the two of them working together at this diner for the prior owner, and Jake’s dalliance with one of the waitresses. They tried to work through it in their marriage with only moderate success, but when the business went up for sale, Jake pitched buying it to Sherry as a way for them to work even more closely together, describing it as their last chance, hence the name, Last Chance Diner.

“I’d wondered where the name came from,” Casey replied, remembering that Harper had told him about some strife in their relationship and assumed this was it.

Further questions revealed they’d remortgaged their home to make a down payment on a bank loan that they were still paying off fifteen years later. The business had been fairly successful up until this year when an unexplained downturn hit them. They were leasing the building, so they owned only the business.

“If things were perfect here, what would that be like?”

“Perfect? Now, there’s a pipe dream!” Sherry replied.

“We’d update the kitchen equipment, mainly the cooking appliances: grill, fryer, maybe the oven,” Jake began. “We’d update the dining room with new furniture, floors, décor, and paint. The pipe dream Sherry refers to is us getting some time off. We haven’t had a vacation since we bought this place, and we've only gotten a couple of days off during the off-season here and there, but that means additional staff: another cook, an assistant manager, and more wait staff. We think we’d get more business with these improvements, but it’s a gamble, and if we lose, we could lose everything.”

“Do you have any idea how much that would cost?” Casey asked the key question.

“We figured somewhere between thirty and fifty grand,” Jake replied.

“Casey, we still have almost twenty we owe on the original loan, so you can see how risky it is for us,” Sherry added.

“Okay. From what little I know so far, I think I can help you, but I need to do a little more research. I’d like to look at your books. Is that okay?”

“Sherry will email you our accountant’s information and call her to give you permission to view them.”

“Why don’t you want Harper to know?” Sherry asked, showing maternal concern for her surrogate daughter.

“I’m afraid she’d only see a positive outcome and possibly be hugely disappointed if it didn’t work out. Or the defeatist side of her wouldn’t want me getting your hopes up. She thinks I’m meeting with a client tonight. Are you okay with keeping this from her for a month or so?”

“Yes, we can do that,” Jake responded.

“If you promise that she’ll know about it at some point, regardless of how it turns out,” Sherry added.

“Yes, she’ll know,” he said, having positive feelings about it all, and mostly about his Princess’s reaction to it.

They offered Casey guarded thanks before he said goodbye and left.

“How do you think he can really help us, Jake?” Sherry asked doubtfully. “Even if he could get us the loan we were looking for last year, we can’t afford it. Not yet, at least.”

“I don’t know how he can help. He may know nothing about the restaurant business, but he must invest in a lot of companies whose markets he knows nothing about. I can only assume he has a lot of connections to people who do have that information, and if all he has to help us is some expert advice, I think we should listen.”

“I suppose so,” Sherry replied, “but I’m still just a little suspicious about keeping Harper in the dark. He’s been with her for what, six or seven months now, so he’s not using her to gain our confidence, but do we really know how successful he is? All we have is Harper’s viewpoint to go on, and she’s too young and in love to question that. He could be in hock up to his eyeballs, and she’d never know!”

“Precious, I really love that you love Harper the way you do since we can’t have kids of our own. You go on being suspicious, for her and for us. Your ability to read people is better than mine, but Casey seems to be a godsend for Harper. Maybe he can be for us too.”

“Okay, Baby,” she replied and accepted his open arms for a touching moment they rarely shared in the diner.

Casey left, hopeful that he could help them in ways they couldn’t yet imagine, and he hoped that by helping them he was helping his true love as well.

Thoughts of her reminded him it was Friday night, and since she only worked a few hours on Saturday mornings, she was often deliciously playful the night before. He smiled as he often did when thoughts of his Princess came in her absence.

He was surprised when he pulled in the driveway and saw how dark the house was, a state that was common before Harper moved in but unusual since. When the garage door opened, he half expected to see her car gone, but seeing it there made him teeter between worrying something was wrong and hoping it meant she was lying in wait for him.

Entering the kitchen, he’d normally announce his arrival, but two things caught his attention, so he decided to keep quiet for now. The kitchen was a mess, with cooking vessels and utensils scattered over the counter, which by itself meant nothing, but the sight of one of her shoes lying haphazardly on the floor between the kitchen and dining room probably did. A second shoe a few yards away had him smiling hopefully.

Her blouse, flung across the coffee table, was arousing, and her pants lying in the hall made him wonder if she had something specific on the menu. Her bra, hung on the doorknob to their bedroom, decided it for him, whether she had planned it or not. With the bra dangling from his finger, he entered the room, expecting to see her on the bed in some lustful pose, but sitting in the upholstered chair in the corner confirmed his suspicion.

“Hi, Honey! I’m so glad you’re home,” she said, rising from the chair, meeting him halfway, and slithering into his arms, offering her lips for a long, wet kiss.

“I found this on the doorknob,” he accused lightly, the bra still dangling from his finger.

“I’m sorry,” she replied with her lip between her teeth as she took the bra and flung it away. He loved the look on her face when she tipped her head back with eyes closed, wanting another kiss.

“Your clothes are lying all over the place,” he said, more as an observation.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, soliciting another short but sloppy wet kiss.

“And the kitchen’s a mess,” he added in a tone that told her he was onto her game.

“I’m sorry … Sir!” She couldn’t contain the hint of a smile now. “I won’t do it again. I promise.”

“This isn’t the first time, young lady.”

“I really am very sorry, Sir!”

“I don’t think telling me you’re sorry is enough anymore, Princess!”

“Oh? What can I do to show you I’m sincere?”

“You need to learn a lesson, young lady, and I think a spanking on your gorgeous bare bottom will work better than empty promises.”

“Ohhh, my poor bottom! Please don’t spank me, Sir!?” she pleaded unconvincingly as he took her hand and led her back to the chair where he sat, and she stood at his side expectantly.

“These are new,” he said, running a finger over the gusset of her innocent, pink satin panties.

“Yes, Sir. Do you like them?” she asked, breathing deeply with the touch.

He loved seeing her in panties of almost any type, not only because she was just so sexy in them, but it also reminded him of that night they met when she came to his room to ‘thank’ him. They’d since come to an agreement that when she shopped for clothes, she’d buy a pair of sexy panties for each other garment she bought. The panties, more for him than her, left her feeling like she’d earned the other clothes, and he enjoyed seeing her in a seemingly endless array of exciting underwear.

“I do, but you know they’ll have to come down before we’re done here,” he warned.

“You don’t really have to pull them down, do you?” she pouted.

“You know I do. Come. Over my knee,” he instructed, pulling her hand to get her bending, her tits in his hand as he helped her lie in his lap, her torso on the chair’s cushion beside him, and her long legs stretched out behind.

“Oh God!” she moaned, as his hands alternately patted her firm cheeks playfully with squeezes, caresses, and roaming fingers.

“I think you should ask me for what you need, to show you’re accepting your … punishment.” He didn’t like calling it that, but the scenario she’d cooked up called for it.

“Yes, Sir,” she started, turning to look at him with desire written all over her face. “I’ve been a naughty girl, and I deserve a spanking. Please spank me, Sir?” she said in the cutest, apologetic voice that ratcheted his desire up several notches.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, with his other hand resting on her bottom. Her aural response completely obliterated any reluctance that remained. She played her part so appealingly, he hadn’t even spanked her once and already knew they’d be doing it again. Her bottom rose, pushing his hand away as though repeating her last request. ‘Please spank me.’

“Oh God!” she cried again, when three firm smacks across both cheeks announced the beginning of a new kind of sexy play for them. Everything that preceded them had her so wet, she wondered if she might even cum during this attack on her quivering bottom.

While the intensity wasn’t all that different from the first time he’d spanked her, the reason for this one and the foreplay leading up to it made all the difference in the world. The feeling of lying in his lap while he spanked her paid both physical and mental dividends; her bottom lighting up with countless nerve endings firing and the intimate connection to the man she loved more than she knew how to express. Something about the way he played into her scenario had her feeling like this was yet another way he was coveting and protecting her.

“I think these need to come down now,” he said with fingers in the waist of her panties, and just when she thought it couldn’t get any better, the baring of her bottom and the subsequent flesh-on-flesh spanks amped up her physical and aural response even more.

As the spanking continued without a consistent pattern, Harper never knew what to expect next, including that there was no defined end like there had been with the counted birthday experience. He’d switch between punishing alternate cheeks at a leisurely pace, smacking one cheek repeatedly with increasing speed, and totally random spanks all over her bottom, but favoring her lower cheeks.

Casey’s interest grew to unexpected heights as well. Just holding her as he did was exciting in itself, but her reaction to it was simply incredible. Her body writhed sensuously in his lap and under his hand, her bottom rising, begging for more, or pushing into his lap, attempting a temporary reprieve. The nearly constant soundtrack of gasps and moans, where even an exclamation of ‘Ow!’ expressed a desire for more rather than pain. After a minute or two, he realized he was no longer just doing it for her, but she was giving him something in return.

“Have you learned your lesson, young lady?” he asked, whispering in her ear during another rest where each hand claimed a cheek for soothing caresses.

“Oh! Ohhh, no, Sir! No. I think I … I need a little more,” she groaned. “Oh! OHH! Oh fuck!” she cried with his hand peppering her bottom at the fastest pace yet, and though they weren’t terribly hard, the accumulated sting from so many concentrated into a short time span was unlike any before.

“Is it too much, Princess?” he asked without letting up, relishing the sounds of her and his hand, and the sight of her rosy red cheeks still begging for more.

“No! No! Oh God! Ohhhmmm! Okay! Okay, Casey!” she surrendered. “Oh, my God! I really liked that! Mmm, that too!” she added with his hands coddling her warm, stinging bottom. She lay motionless for a while before turning over in his lap and reaching for him, wanting a kiss, while also cringing as her bottom touched the coarse fabric of his jeans.

“Was it what you were expecting?” he asked, her enjoyment apparent, but wanting to know if he’d done it right.

“Oh, Casey! It was so much more than I was expecting. Do one more thing? Please? Lick me?” she pleaded, remembering what Charlie had suggested, and shifted on his lap with her legs spread and her pussy beneath his chin. “Oh my … fuck!” she cried as he literally devoured her sopping wet pussy, assuming she didn’t want a gentle approach. Squirming in his lap, she came a minute later with her body quaking and legs flailing.

She sat up, still shaking, to wrap her arms around Casey, his arms enveloping her and a hand on her stinging bottom again. She didn’t question the contradiction of feeling so safe and loved in his arms after what he’d just done. Tiny squeaks and moans escaped her lips, to which Casey simply replied, “Shhh,” comforting his Princess after her ordeal.

Slipping an arm under her legs, he stood, cradling her in his arms, and took her to the bed, where he gingerly laid her down.

“Turn over, Princess. Lie on your tummy. I’m going to get something for your bottom,” he instructed before going into the bathroom and returning with a tube of aloe gel. He felt like he hadn’t spanked her so hard as to need it, but thought she would enjoy it just the same. He squeezed a large dollop of the aloe into his hand, spread it across both palms, and placed them lightly on her rosy red cheeks.

“Oh, Lord, that feels good! I like the sting too, but just having your hands on my sensitive bottom is heavenly!” Gentle sighs, pleasured hums, and deep breaths continued as fingers worked the soothing gel into the sumptuous flesh of her beautiful bottom. The aloe having been absorbed into her cheeks, he bent down to press his face into each cheek in turn for a kiss.

“Oh, Casey! Do you have any idea how much I love you?” she asked when he bent to kiss her lips.

“I think I do. Just as much as I love you, Princess! Can I do anything else to make you and your bottom feel better?” he asked with a smile.

“I don’t know how my bottom will take it, but – I’d really like to make love to you right now,” she said, joking at first, but the request for love was quietly earnest.

Casey stripped and climbed in bed beside her, pulling her on top of him and, with her help, slid his cock, rock hard since he’d entered the room and saw her, into her welcoming pussy. Their lips and eyes made love as well while they climbed toward the summit together, each feeling a deep appreciation for having someone so incredibly affectionate and caring in their life.

It took a few weeks, but Casey felt he had enough information to make a proposal to Sherry and Jake. He’d talked to one of his clients with experience in the food service industry. He learned that people, especially young people, were avoiding the big chains and preferring small local establishments, which should have made the Last Chance an attractive choice.

He already knew Athens was considered a college town, with the University of Georgia’s main campus home to thousands of students, but he was surprised to learn the number was over forty thousand and that they represented the city's second-largest restaurant market. When he compared the Last Chance's menus, prices, and atmosphere to similar casual dining options, he found it wanting on all three counts. Their menu was outdated, prices were a bit high, and they already knew their décor needed updating.

On top of all that, their Yelp reviews were mixed, netting them less than three stars. The language used in the reviews suggested older customers rated them more highly, while students and young couples did not.

His final conclusion was that they were taking more risk by doing nothing than by updating, but he had a unique proposal that took most of the risk out of the equation. He expected Sherry and Jake, and also Harper, to object to some degree, but he thought he had a way of making it more palatable for all.

“Can you see how I came to this conclusion?” he asked after telling them about what he learned and the market risks he identified.

“I guess we’ve seen much of what you’re talking about but didn’t put it all together and felt helpless to do anything about it,” Sherry said sadly.

“There’s not much to argue with in your conclusion, Casey, but we still don’t have the money to fix it!” Jake added, both sad and angry at what he saw as a hopeless situation.

“There I know I can help you,” Casey replied.

“How? To help us secure a loan? I don’t know,” Sherry replied.

“Not a loan. I would give you the money,” Casey said, seeing the expected look of shock on their faces.

“What!?” they cried almost in unison.

“Why would you do that?” Jake asked.

“We can’t accept such a large gift from you, Casey!” Sherry added. “It’s truly amazing and generous of you to offer, but …”

“I’m not giving you the money for nothing,” he started, seeing confusion return to their faces. “I’m suggesting I trade the money for a 20% stake in the Last Chance,” he said, still holding back one more detail.

“Why would you want to own a piece of this?” Jake questioned, his arms out expansively, including the whole restaurant in ‘this’. “You obviously don’t have trouble earning money in the business you already know.”

“I wouldn’t own it,” he began again, thoroughly enjoying the effects of the showmanship he couldn’t resist. “Harper would.”

“Oh my God, Casey!” Sherry cried real tears. “You are … are … just amazing!”

“It would mean her getting involved in managing the business, which I know she’d like to do. She told me when she spoke of a future in restaurant management, although she wasn’t talking about the Last Chance. Can you accept that? You’d both still have controlling interest, each owning twice what Harper would.”  

“You’re offering to bankroll possibly fifty grand?” Jake questioned, still in disbelief.

“No, quite a bit more. See, I think you need some seed money to add to your staff until the business takes off, and to pay off your existing loan so your home isn't at risk anymore. Maybe we can even make the pipe dream come true and get you a lighter work schedule to enjoy some time together.”

“How much are you talking about?” Jake asked.

“About $120,000.”

“A hundred and twenty thousand?” Jake shouted, and Sherry’s eyes opened wide, still crying. “Are you sure?”

“To do it right? Yes, I’m sure, and maybe a bit more. I want to do this so Harper sees a future for herself besides …” he paused, not sure if he should reveal the next part of his plan. “Besides just being married to a rich guy.”

“Married!?” Sherry screamed, coming to life again. “You’re going to be married!?”

“She doesn’t know it yet,” he laughed. “I’m not sure how she’ll react to this whole deal we’re talking about here. She might love it, or see it as another gift she can’t accept; that’s why I’m planning on making it a wedding present.” He paused to let the whole thing sink in. “So? Whattya say? Will you let Harper help you manage this place?”

“Well, I think …” Jake started, but Sherry cut him off.

“I’d love to have Harper as a partner. And you are such a wonderful son-in-law-to-be!” she said, jumping up, taking Casey’s face in both hands, planting an inappropriate kiss on his lips, and then hugging him tightly.

“Wow!” Casey gasped at the unexpected show of affection. Looking over at Jake, who at first offered a hand, invited him to join in the hug with his arms mostly around his wife.

“When are you going to ask her?” Sherry asked, with her hands on Casey’s shoulders, already regarding him as part of their self-proclaimed family.

“Saturday afternoon, on our hike. I figure it’ll be unexpected there, and private, so she can react any way she feels.”

“She loves the hiking, as much because it’s you she’s doing it with, and I can see why. Casey, you are a wonderfully unusual and good man, and I couldn’t be happier for you and Harper. I’m sure she’ll say yes, and you’re both going to make us all very happy,” she said with quiet enthusiasm.

“I told you, what good is money if you can’t make people happy with it,” Casey replied.

“Why are you dressing me for a hike?” Harper asked when Casey suggested what she should wear.

“I love you in tight, white shorts, and a tight crop top to go with it will give me something to look at on our hike!” he replied without revealing that he was dressing her for the selfies they’d ultimately take later, after she hopefully accepted his proposal.

“Oh yeah? You want to ogle my hot body!? Maybe you want to do more than just look at it?” she said in mock anger, grabbing his hand and stuffing it into the still-open shorts Casey had picked for her. “There! Is that what you want? My pussy!?”

“Harper, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to …”

“Casey! I’m kidding!” she said, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him lovingly. “With all the things we are and do for each other, I also love that you think I have a hot, sexy body. You are nothing like all those jerks, like Jimmy, who saw only my body.”

“Have I told you lately that I love you?”

“Well, it’s been at least a few hours! You’re slipping, Honey!” she giggled. “And I love you more than I could have ever imagined!” she added, kissing him tenderly again.

With an afternoon start, they elected to have lunch out beforehand and he packed only drinks and a snack for the hike. It was still early afternoon when they started on the first trail, hand in hand as they always were at the beginning.

The cooler late-fall temperatures made their favorite exercise even more enjoyable. The bright blue sky, with large fluffy white clouds, provided a perfect balance of shade and warm southern sun. The only thing missing was the abundance of green foliage, as most leaves had turned or fallen, leaving only the evergreens to provide that color.

As they headed toward a shelter for their snack, Casey felt her hand on his ass, telling him what kind of snack she was interested in. He was still rummaging around in his pack for something when she pressed her body to his with her arms around his neck and lips puckered, looking for a kiss. Having found what he was looking for and stuffed it in his pocket, he could now hold her with both hands for the full body contact they both loved when kissing passionately.

“I could eat you up, Princess!”

“What’s stopping you?” she said, taking his hand and leading him to the back side of the shelter facing away from the trail. She stepped up on the bench and pulled her shorts down, a lack of panties leaving her delightfully presented for his favorite snack. This wasn’t part of his plan, but how could he deny her?

She sat on the tabletop with legs spread wide as he sat on the bench between them. She shifted forward with legs over his shoulders, serving herself to him.

“No panties, Princess?” he teased. “Such a naughty girl! You know how much I love to see you in sexy panties. I oughta …”

“Spank me?”

“No. Do this!” he said, mashing his face into her crotch, skipping the gentle approach and going for fast and furious.

“Casey! Oh my God!” she squealed loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. Her thighs clamped around his head; she pushed herself into his face, moaning and gasping continuously. The incredibly fast climb left her dizzy, and she fell back on the table’s surface while Casey ravaged her proffered pussy.

Just minutes later, she came with a loud gasp, but with her body still shaking, she slid off the tabletop into his lap and pulled him in close, sharing her trembling body with her head on his shoulder.

He hadn’t planned it, but decided it was a suitable preamble to the request he would soon make. She lifted her head for a kiss, grinding her butt into his lap, and feeling the lump in his shorts.

“Your turn!” she said, kissing him again.

“Can we save that for later? I have something important I want to talk to you about,” he asked with a smile. “It’s okay, Princess,” he offered when a look of concern appeared on her face. “I think you’ll like it.”

Feeling like sitting in his lap naked from the waist down wasn’t the way to talk about something important, she got up, put her shorts back on, and sat next to him, taking his hands in hers.

“You know those couple of times I went out late to meet a client recently? Well, I was actually meeting with Sherry and Jake.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You’ll understand when I’m finished. Sherry told me way back during one of my early visits to your diner …”

“It’s not my diner,” she said, making him smile at her picking up on that word, knowing it would be her diner soon.

“She told me they’d planned on making some improvements after a good last year, but this year has been disappointing, so they put the plans on hold.”

“Yeah, she talked to me about how to dress up the dining room.”

“Well, I thought I might be able to help them with that. The first meeting was to get a better idea of what they wanted to do, what their vision was for the future. I offered to help, and they agreed, but they were skeptical about how they could afford to do anything. They realized that something needed to be done, but with little money in reserve and a good chunk of their original loan still outstanding, they were paralyzed by the risk. Still, I had an idea, but I needed to do some research to be sure it was viable before telling them what it was.”

“Oh, Casey! You’re going to help them, aren’t you!?” she jumped ahead, happy tears threatening.

“I consulted a friend who knows the food service business, and I did some checking on the competition on my own.”

He told her how they didn’t stack up favorably at all, and he felt the risk of doing nothing was greater than making the needed changes. Harper’s mood darkened with this information, feeling so bad for the couple she’d grown so close to. She knew they’d have a hard time getting another business loan, or affording it if they somehow managed to get one.

“What can you do, Casey? Are you going to loan them the money? Maybe with smaller payments, or letting them wait before starting to pay it off?” she asked pleadingly.

“No,” he said, and her face fell. “I’m going to give them the money.”

“What!? Really!? Casey, it’s a lot of money! Sherry said it could be almost fifty thousand!”

“Actually, I think the number will be quite a bit higher than that.”

“And they won’t take it, so that’s why you’re talking to me about it? You think maybe I can convince them?”

“No, although that would have been a good idea if they decided not to take it.”

“They’re gonna take it!? How much are you talking about now?”

“At least a hundred and twenty.”

“Thousand!? Can you afford to just give them that much money?”

“I could, but I am getting something in return. Part ownership of the diner.”

“Really?” she said, clearly confused. “Why would you want to own a diner?”

“It’s only a 20% stake, and it’s not me who’ll own it,” he clarified, holding back the final detail.

“Casey, you’re not making sense. You’re the one giving them the money, but you won’t own it? Who will?”

“You.” He could see she didn’t know what to say. “You said you’d like to manage a restaurant someday.”

“Yeah, someday, but not as an owner … at least not right away. Have you told Sherry and Jake about this?”

“Yes, and Sherry said she’d be thrilled to have you as a partner. See, my proposal to them included hiring more staff to improve service and give them a lighter schedule. They’d need someone else to manage it when they’re not there, and they felt they couldn’t trust anyone as much as you.”

“I don’t know, Casey.”

“Think about it this way. It’s a win-win all around. They get the improvements they need, and then some, to make the restaurant viable again. They get the staff necessary to improve service and get them some time off every week, and you get to learn about managing while earning a salary.”

“I can see that, but it’s still an awful lot of money.”

“Would it make it easier for you if it was a wedding gift?”

“A wedding gift? For who? Who’s getting marr …” She stopped talking, and her eyes opened wide. “Casey, are you asking me to marry you?” she said, tears already forming in her eyes.

“Harper, I can’t imagine anyone more perfect for me than you. I love how honest and sincere you are. I love how you get so excited about new experiences. I love how you’ve adopted Sherry and Jake as your parents. I love your hot body!” She smiled a bit at that. “And I love you! More than I ever imagined I’d love anyone.” Wiping tears away now, she was still speechless. “I came up with this whole restaurant plan so you’d have a future for you, besides being married to a rich guy,” he finished, using the same phrase he had with Sherry and Jake. It was time for the final surprise: the ring he pulled from his pocket.

“Oh, my God! You’ve got a ring!?” she said, crying a flood of tears.

“Harper Lee Cassidy, will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?” he asked, holding out the ring, ready to put it on her finger.

“Yes! Yes, Casey. I would love to be your wife and have you as my husband, but I still can’t believe this is happening! Oh!” she cried as he took her hand and slipped the perfectly fitting ring on her finger. “Casey! I can’t believe how much I love you! And I can’t believe we are getting married, but I am so amazingly, incredibly, unbelievably happy about it!”

He stood holding her hand, and she jumped up into his arms for a long kiss and hug that felt like no other. They couldn’t hold each other tight enough, feeling like the last part needed to fix two broken souls was finally in place, and what was an uncertain future was now the happily ever after ending Harper had hoped for when Casey reentered her life.

--===<<<O>>>===--

So, Casey's surprises for everyone else includes the best part for him ... his beautiful Princess Harper as his wife! I hope you'll return for the conclusion to this story of two people who needed each other more than either could have imagined, and if you liked this chapter, please 'Like,' 'Favorite,' and/or comment and ... THANKS FOR READING!!