Epilogue
The Oasis
One year later
Will you spend forever with me?
I feel them before I see them. Their familiar heartbeats carried by the breeze. Rylee’s laughter reaches me first, bright, unguarded, and different from before. The kind I’ve been waiting to hear again.
Luc spreads out a blanket on the grass, his eyes never leaving her as she moves around. She talks about everything and nothing at all, her words floating between them like birdsong.
She’s glowing from pure happiness and being loved exactly as you are. “This place is magical.” She tilts her head back, gazing up at the canopy.
He smiles at the wonder in her voice, setting the food on the blanket. Rylee looks across the water where the last colors of the day ripple across the surface. She smiles in awe, like she can feel what this place means and the memories I hold dear.
Luc watches her, drinking her like a man starved for light. When she turns back to him, he’s already on one knee. “I know last time wasn’t really a proposal, and I want to do it right this time,” he says with a smile in his voice. “But you already know this was never an arrangement for me.”
Rylee’s breath catches as she looks down at him.
Luc looks up at her like she’s the sunset behind her. “There’s love at first sight, then there’s what I felt when I first saw you.” He pauses as he searches for the right words. “It’s like seeing your favorite comfort movie after a long time. At first, it feels familiar, but the more you watch it, the more you remember why you loved it. And the more you fall in love with it over and over again.”
Rylee lets out a soft, broken laugh, the kind that’s half a sob, half wonder. Tears shine in her wide eyes.
“It’s always been you, and I want to spend forever with you.” His heart’s so full, it almost breaks him. “Will you spend forever with me? In this lifetime and maybe the next,” he whispers, holding out the ring.
Time stills.
The river hushes.
The trees lean in.
The breeze softens.
“Yes,” she says, breathless, laughing through the tears slipping down her cheeks. There are no fears or hesitation. Because Rylee knows with every beat of her heart, with every breath in her chest, that she wants to spend her forever with him.
He slips the ring on her finger with trembling hands. It fits perfectly. A rose quartz stone and a diamond in the center.
She lifts her hand as she stares at the rose quartz stone before looking back at him. He stands, and she leans in, brushing her nose against his. “I love you,” she whispers.
“I love you more, Mon Soleil.” He pulls her against his chest. “If there’s a curse,” he whispers, “then it’s for me to love you forever.”
Rylee lifts her eyes to his, and she smiles—a smile so fierce, so luminous, it could split the whole world wide open. “Dance with me?” she asks.
She rests her head against his chest, feeling his heart beating steadily under her ear as they sway together. And they dance to a song only their hearts can hear.
“Thank you for not giving up on me,” she whispers.
His arms tighten around her, and he presses a kiss to the top of her head. They sway like that for a long time. If there were music, it would sound like sunset and forever.
Their souls might have found each other, but this time, they choose each other.