Terms and Conditions

Declan goes to Cal’s place first thing in the morning, stealing Cal’s keys and locking Cal out so he can talk to Iris. Declan asks her to come home and tells her he misses her, but she tells him she needs space. Declan listens, retreating to work with Cal, who will be Declan’s assistant during Iris’s simultaneous two-week vacation and two-weeks’ notice.

Cal brings Iris’s resignation letter to Declan and pushes him to sign it. Declan tries to refuse, but Cal explains that Declan and Iris have been codependent for too long and that if Declan wants to save their marriage, he has to let her go as his employee. Declan listens, signing the letter and returning it to Cal. When he can’t work because he is too distraught, he closes his computer and thinks about the situation. He thinks of Cal’s words, that it would be okay because Iris loves Declan even though she has many reasons why she shouldn’t. The words inspire Declan to wonder if he can give her more reasons to love him.

Iris spends her first vacation day doing nothing, but she soon rallies herself to find something useful to do. She considers her employment options as she reviews her resume, and the education portion makes her pause. She realizes that as much as others have called her a failure, she herself feels like she is a failure because she has kept herself within her comfort zone. She fell into the position with Declan, and she allowed herself to stay and work hard to prove herself, rather than take a risk and go to college as she really wanted. Determined not to be led by fear any longer, Iris researches schools and makes a to-do list.

After a few days of Declan’s foreign-language texts expressing his regret and sadness, Iris longs to talk to him but still resists. She tells Cal that she is afraid of trusting him again, and Cal assures her that if Declan loves her as much as she does him, he will do everything in his power to make it right.

Still struggling, Iris goes to her mother. She gives her mother an abridged version of the story, and her mother tells her that although a spouse should never talk down to her or intentionally hurt her, people make mistakes. She emphasizes that marriage will include fights and that learning to forgive is just as important as asking for forgiveness.

Declan moves forward with his plan to win Iris back. After shocking Cal by taking the rest of the day off (and telling Cal to move all eight of his afternoon appointments), he and Harrison drive around to as many animal shelters as they can find, looking for the kind of dog Iris had described when she said she wanted a dog as a cover for the conversation with Cal about possibly leaving her job.

They have no luck until the last shelter. Declan sees a dog in a crate separated from the rest, and the shelter employee tells him the dog is set to be euthanized first thing in the morning. Upon release, the dog tackles Declan, and he fits every description Declan had been looking for, so he adopts him on the spot.

The next day, Declan brings the dog to work after finding his favorite shoes destroyed. When Cal discovers what Declan did, he laughs, knowing Iris hadn’t actually wanted a dog. Cal offers to help Declan, knowing Iris does truly love him and hoping to prevent any more drastic measures.

Cal has brought Iris out to help him with an errand, but she soon wonders what he actually has planned as they drive out past the city and into more suburban and rural areas. Cal stops in an empty area, tells Iris to get out and that someone besides him is surprising her, and then jumps in the car and flees, refusing to answer her calls. Iris sees a van coming in her direction, and it pulls over to reveal Declan. He offers her a ride and shelter from the coming storm—she tries to get him to take her to a Starbucks, but he drives in the opposite direction. She asks about the dog in the backseat, only to find out it is their dog now, and Declan tells her that the van is his start to building the family she said she wants.

Declan pulls up to a run-down farmhouse and pulls her out of the car and into the rain. Pulling her rings off her finger, he pulls out another ring box, gets down on his knees, and asks Iris to marry him for real. With his moving speech, Iris forgives him and accepts his proposal in front of the house that he now tells her is theirs. Out back, Declan reveals the best part—a well-cared for greenhouse for her to fill.

Iris enters the office, greeting her replacement, and joins Declan for lunch. She has worked with the assistant to make sure Declan was busy for today’s appointment with her doctor, as she wanted to surprise Declan with the sex of their baby. When Declan pulls out a succulent plant with a pot reading, “I’m a succa for my little girl” (459), he is overjoyed, and Iris revels in the love she feels from Declan.

A little more than five years later, Declan helps his daughter prepare for their surprise for Iris. She jumps the gun, running into the bedroom before Declan, who rushes in to tell Iris that they have planned a graduation party for her. Declan wants her to be able to celebrate even though she is on bed rest during her pregnancy with twins.

In his speech at the party, Declan acknowledges just how hard Iris has worked and how much she has sacrificed so they can also have a family. Praising her work and her heart, he tells her he is proud their kids have her as a role model. Finally, he ends his speech with one word: gunnen, meaning “to find happiness in someone else’s success because that’s how much you love them” (466).