Epilogue #2
“I think I knew I loved you when you kissed me hello at my art show. But I fought accepting it until Anna called and told me Theo was hurt.” I shift, pushing up on my elbow one more time so I can look at him.
“Why then?” he asks, and I shrug.
“When I first answered the phone and I heard her voice, I could tell something was wrong. My first thought was for you. If you were hurt, I just realized there was nothing in the world that would keep me from getting to you. No hockey game. No scary memory. Nothing was more important than finding you, putting my eyes on you, doing whatever it took to make you well again.”
“I should send Theo a thank you card,” he teases. “If all that came out of his injury.”
I roll my eyes. “I would have gotten there eventually. I just needed a little nudge to believe I was capable of being what you need. What you deserve.”
He rolls onto his side to face me. “You are so much more than I deserve,” he says, and I nod.
“I really am, aren’t I?” I lean forward and press a kiss to his mouth. “That’s exactly why we’re going to sleep with the windows open all night long.”
Theo picks us up from the airport, which is perfect because I need him to be at the house for Carter’s surprise too.
When Theo was recovering from his surgery, he and his mom both stayed with us for a few days.
It meant that Carter and I had a very frantic hour moving everything in my bedroom into his bedroom so it didn’t look like we’d only just spent our first night together as a married couple.
But then it meant that I got to spend quite a bit of time with Carter’s mom.
She loved spending time with me in my studio, chatting with me while I worked.
That’s when I got the idea for the painting I wanted to do for Carter. His Sarah Stone original. I knew it had to incorporate his relationship with his dad, and there was no way to do that without also including Theo.
Fortunately, Carter was so busy with playoffs that it wasn’t hard to keep him out of my studio. I finished the painting in a matter of weeks, let it dry, then hid it behind a few other canvases and crossed my fingers he wouldn’t get nosy.
Theo stops his SUV in the driveway, idling while he waits for us to get out.
“Hey,” I say, reaching up to nudge his arm. “Can you come in a sec? There’s something I want to show you.”
Theo looks at me, then looks over to his brother.
Carter shrugs. “No clue. She’s been hiding something from me for days.”
I roll my eyes as I climb out, shifting my bag up to my shoulder.
“It hasn’t been days,” I say. “It was yesterday. And it’s not that big of a deal.”
I hope my words sound convincing, because I’m practically dying on the inside. My hands start to tremble as I climb the front steps, nerves making me twitchy. This is almost worse than my first solo show at the Second Light.
From a technical standpoint, I know the painting is good. And I showed it to Carter’s mom on a video call, and she loved it so much she cried. But for Carter—and for Theo, too—it’s gonna feel more personal.
“You okay?” Carter asks as he opens the door for me.
“Yep,” I say with a nod, not trusting myself to say more.
Inside, Kim is standing in the living room, right by the fireplace, like she’s waiting for our arrival.
I maybe wish she wasn’t being quite so obvious, but at this point, it can’t be helped. Also, the canvas is four feet tall. It’s not like we can ease into this. The second Carter is in the living room, he’s going to see it.
I hang back, waiting, watching as he steps into the room and notices the new addition. He stops in his tracks, dropping our suitcases at his feet before slowly walking over to the painting.
Theo follows, clearly understanding exactly why I needed him to come inside too.
He had to, because I painted them both.
They’re standing side by side, eyes on each other, their faces relaxed but engaged, like they’re having an easy conversation.
They’re outside, the sun shining overhead, casting long shadows behind them, but the way they’re standing, their shadows blend into one.
If you look from just the right angle, the shadow doesn’t look like them—it looks like the outline of a different man altogether.
“That’s Dad,” Carter says softly, looking over at his brother. “Do you see it?”
“Yeah,” Theo says. “Wait, can you see his eyes?”
He can see his father’s eyes. Only faintly, and only from certain angles, when the light hits just right.
There are a lot of little details like that.
Places where the edges of the scene dissolve into fragments of shapes that represent some part of Theo and Carter’s shared history.
If you aren’t looking for them, you won’t see them.
But they’re there. A hockey puck and stick.
A bundle of bluebonnets, which is the state flower of Texas.
An Appies logo, to honor their first pro team.
“I see his eyes,” Carter says. “And look—there are pennies on the ground.”
I wasn’t sure they would notice the pennies. There are only a couple scattered around their feet, but it felt like an important detail to include.
Kim moves up beside me and loops her arm through mine. “It looks even more incredible in person,” she says.
I nod, grateful for the compliment and happy to have her standing beside me. But I can’t take my eyes off my husband. He’s still standing, staring, and I suddenly hate that I’m behind him, that I can’t see his face.
Finally, he turns, eyes locking on mine, and walks across the room. I step forward to meet him and he scoops me into his arms, crushing me in an enormous hug.
“This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” he says.
I bite my lip. “You really like it?”
“I love it,” he says. “Almost as much as I love you.”
Theo comes over next and gives me a hug. He looks a little raw around the edges, which I expected might happen. Carter’s had a lot of practice talking about his dad, but Theo’s still getting used to owning his feelings in the same way. “Thanks for including me,” he says.
“I actually ordered a print for you,” I say. “I don’t think it’s arrived yet, and it’s not quite as big, but I thought you might like to have your own copy as well.”
He nods. “I appreciate that.”
“Will you stay for dinner?” Kim says to Theo.
“I cooked enough for all of us. And Anna and Miles are bringing the girls over too.” She looks at me.
“I hope that’s okay. I asked Miles when he was here yesterday to hang the painting.
I thought one big family dinner might be nice before I head back to Texas in the morning. ”
“That sounds wonderful,” I say, but Theo seems less certain.
“Maybe you could run out and grab us some drinks,” Carter says to his brother. “Then come back in an hour for dinner?”
Theo nods. “I can do that.” He walks over and gives his mom an enormous hug, then lets himself out the front door.
Carter watches him go, then looks back at me.
“Do you think he’s okay?” I ask, and he nods.
“He will be. He just needs a minute.” He holds my gaze. “It means a lot to me that you did something for us both.”
“I love you both,” I say. “Theo will always mean a lot to me because of how much he means to you.”
After a week away, it’s fun to have the whole family together, plus Holly and Charlie, whom Carter invited at the last minute.
Theo comes back, seeming more like himself, and becomes everyone’s favorite when he’s willing to get in the pool with the girls and make sure Olive, who is afraid of absolutely nothing, doesn’t drown trying to be just like the older girls.
I stand in the shade, close to the house—summers in Atlanta are brutal—and rock baby Fiona, who has fallen asleep in my arms, her chubby cheek pressed against my shoulder.
As I look around the patio at all the people I love, I can’t quite believe this is my life. That I took a gamble marrying a man I barely knew and wound up with this. It feels like a miracle that I get to be so close to Miles and Anna, to watch their girls grow up.
But even that pales in comparison to how it feels knowing that when everyone goes back to their own lives, their own homes, I get to stay here.
I get to go inside and clean up the kitchen, maybe watch an episode of something on TV. Then I get to crawl into bed beside the best man I know and fall asleep with my head on his shoulder.
Carter comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around me and letting me lean against him, my head resting on his chest.
“Penny for your thoughts,” he whispers, his voice close to my ear.
I tilt my head up to look at him. “Just that I love you,” I say.
He smiles softly, then leans down to kiss me. “Love you too.”
Who would have ever thought I’d marry Carter Williamson and finally find home.
I hope you enjoyed Carter and Sarah’s story!