48. Epilogue
Epilogue
Lennox
It’s my birthday today, the big three-zero.
For the first time all year, I’m not dreading this day. There were many days I felt I wouldn’t make it to see this day. And then I met Roxie, and she changed everything for me.
It’s been four months since Pam and Greg were arrested, and they are now safely tucked into a prison far away from us. Roxie set up her physical therapy business shortly after and now has a full schedule of patients and classes. The entire town shows up for a couple of her classes. I show up so I can watch her ass when she bends down in stretches.
In that time, I’ve been busting my ass to get myself back to work. Today is D-day, in a sense. The big boss is in town to do a fitness test in order to clear me. They’ve been incredibly flexible and understanding while it’s taken me damn near a year to get back to this point. But today is the day.
I’m probably overprepared at this point, but I wanted to have no doubts that I was capable of coming back.
“Good to see you, Lennox. You look great,” my boss, John, says, holding out his hand as I walk up to the trail.
“Thanks, man. I appreciate you coming out for this. ”
He lays out what he wants to see and gives me a time limit in which to complete it all. Then he sends me on my way.
The entire time I’m working through the drills, my mind is on the ladies waiting at home for me. It’s on the anticipation of a major life change as long as I can pass today.
My heart is racing, my palms sweating as I pull into my driveway. I’m not nervous, per se. I’m just ready to take this step.
I walk up to the front door and open it. I’m greeted by an eerie silence, which has me worried for a split second.
Until most of Bluebell Falls pops out screaming, “Surprise!”
“What the fuck?” I whisper.
Roxie steps up next to me with a tentative smile on her face. “Did I fuck this up? This was the wrong move, right? I can kick them all out,” she rambles as I see the smile transform to worry.
“Rox.” I stop her with my hand. “It’s … fucking incredible.” I attempt to swallow down the knot in my throat. “I need, like, five minutes with you and Pixie, though.”
“Okay.” She nods frantically. I’m freaking her out, but I need to do this right this second, or I’ll explode. “We’ll be back in five minutes. Don’t break anything.” She points her finger at Mabel with an assessing eye.
“One time. I broke one thing at Sunday boot camp, and now you hold it over my head.” Mabel rolls her eyes, but she has a smile on her face .
I snag Roxie’s hand and make eye contact with Ivy. With a tilt of my head, I summon her to follow us. She pops up immediately, beating us to our bedroom.
Roxie shuts the door. “What happened? Did you pass?” She whirls around then freezes in her tracks. “What is happening?” she whispers with tears in her eyes.
“I passed. I probably could have passed months ago, but I passed.” I smile a watery smile from down on my knee. “I had a whole plan. I was going to pick you both up and go to the park, to a spot that overlooks the whole town. But you had to one-up me.”
Tears are already falling as I try to keep my composure. I can barely see Roxie through them, so I wipe my face off before reaching into my pocket. “Marry me, Roxie. Marry me because I can’t live life without you. Marry me because you know me better than anyone. Marry me because you and Ivy”—I look over at my Pixie, who is vibrating with excitement—“are my entire world, and I want to enjoy what time we have on this earth together.”
She drops to her knees and cups my cheeks in her palms. “Yes.” A simple answer that has my heart exploding.
“Yes!” Ivy jumps on top of us, hugging our necks so hard she almost chokes us out.
“I have something for you too, little Pixie.” I dig into my pocket and pull out the necklace that has a small wing with ivy wrapping around it. She gasps and waits until I put it on her before holding it in her hand.
“I love it so much,” she whispers. “Thank you, Daddy.” She presses a kiss to my cheek before hugging Roxie .
I’ve never been prouder of myself than when Ivy decided she wanted to call me Dad. It’s the greats title I’ve ever held, and I hope I live up to it every single day.
“Hey, Bug, can you give us a minute?” Roxie asks as the tears still flow.
Ivy wastes no time sprinting out the door. She does shut it behind her, and for that I’m grateful.
“Everyone will know about this in two seconds.” I smile, wrapping my arms around her.
“Yep,” Roxie says.
“You make me the happiest man in the world,” I whisper.
“I’m so glad you were an asshole when we showed up on your porch.” She lets out a watery chuckle.
Laughter bursts from my chest. “I’d like to think I made up for it.”
“You have more than made up for it. I’m so fucking proud of you.” She kisses me.
The kiss starts to get carried away before I realize I’m still holding the ring in my hand.
Grabbing her hand from my cheek, I slide the ring on her finger. It looks perfect there. A symbol of two lives coming together and creating something really special.
She looks down on the eternity band of simple round diamonds. “It’s beautiful, Lennox.”
“It definitely looks good on your finger,” I observe as warmth spreads through my chest. My woman, forever.
A knock on the door startles us.
“You might want to celebrate that later. The Gossip Crew is about to break the door down,” Ledger’s voice says through the door .
“Coming,” I call to him as I look at Roxie. “Maybe I should have waited.”
“Hell no! Now it’s a birthday and engagement party.”
I help her stand up before joining her. When we open up our door, half the town is circled around it in the hallway.
“Y’all need to learn about boundaries,” I tell them.
“Our little Lenny just got engaged! Let us be excited!” Alice says with tears in her eyes.
It’s at this moment I realize the entire town has been by my side as I find my new normal. They looked out for me, helped me when I didn’t want it, and accepted me during my lowest point.
We walk out to bear hugs galore and words of love. I’ve mostly stayed on the outskirts, never actively engaging in town antics. But that didn’t matter to this group of people.
“Okay, let’s go grab some food, people,” Arlo calls from the living room.
Everyone follows his command as Roxie leads me to the kitchen. My siblings and their partners are hovering around the kitchen island as Roxie hands me a plate.
“So, we have burgers, brats, and all the fixings. Salad, both potato and a yummy strawberry walnut salad.”
My head jolts up at her words. I see Ledger, Willow, and Rina trying extremely hard to not laugh. “Did you tell her?” I ask accusingly.
“Nope, she did that all on her own, Lenny,” Rina teases.
“What am I missing?” Roxie looks between the four of us.
“I may or may not have a dislike for fruit in salads. But you made it, so I’ll try it.”
My siblings’ eyebrows shoot so high they are almost lost in their hair.
“What the fuck?” Willow mouths to Rina.
Shooting them a look that tells them to shut up, I scoop up some as I finish making my plate. I take a seat on the back porch, and Roxie joins me after she has everyone settled. Arlo or Oakley must have had words with everyone because no one bugs us for a while. Ivy is showing everyone her new necklace and talking to anyone who will listen.
“I never thought I could have something like this.” Roxie sighs wistfully. “Less than a year in this town, and I have a full extended family, a fiancé, and a thriving business. It’s all thanks to you.”
“Technically, it’s thanks to Ledger.” I shove a bite of the offensive salad in my mouth and forcefully chew it.
She giggles next to me. “What’s the deal with the salad?”
“Nothing. It’s great,” I croak.
“Liar.”
“I don’t understand fruit in salads. I will eat pretty much everything, but I don’t understand this. Why not just eat the fruit and then have the salad separately? Why combine them? It’s weird.”
“Noted,” she says with a huge smile on her face.
We watch through the sliding glass doors as the town of Bluebell Falls celebrates so many things: the start of a family, a lost man getting back to himself, and an entire town overcoming one hell of a hard year. And I’m the lucky one who still gets to be a part of it.
There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.