Epilogue
EPILOGUE
Margo
Eleven months later
“This is more overwhelming than spectating Chicago.” I elbow my way through the crowd near the New York City Marathon finish line to get in front of the metal barricade blocking the course from non-runners. “How are you not freaking out right now?”
Holden laughs and steps to the side so I have space. “You’ll get used to it after you go to your third or fourth World Major. This is your life now. The only thing better than New York is Boston. I can’t believe Finn didn’t run this year because you two were on a Mediterranean cruise. Where are his priorities?”
I know he’s only teasing me; almost a year of dating Finn, and his friends have become my friends. His family is my family, and we all hang out, alternating between apartments for game nights and movie nights. Last week we were at Katarina’s place, and I swear Holden pretended to forget his keys upstairs so he could spend more time with her.
It’s cute he thinks we didn’t notice.
“Weird. It’s like Finn loves me or something,” I say.
Holden drapes an arm around my shoulder. “He definitely loves you.”
Gosh, does he.
He whispers those three words to me every day—in the middle of a speed workout when I’m regretting lacing up my sneakers and trying to chase him down.
At night when he comes home from the hospital and kisses me like the world is ending tomorrow.
This morning in our hotel room before he headed out for his race, curling up and wrapping his arms around me for an extra two minutes because he said he was going to miss me too much when he left.
Finn has encouraged me and motivated me in so many ways over the last eleven months. He’s helped me be a better runner. A better teacher and a better person. Everything with him by my side is so damn fun , and I never thought ending up in a medical tent would change the trajectory of my life.
Jeremy took a few days to come around to the idea that Finn and I are together, and he honestly doesn’t care. I don’t hang out with Finn when he’s around, but we’re cordial enough to attempt Christmas together this year without any insults.
It’s a start.
Everything has been so good lately, and watching him pass by at mile twenty-six of the marathon he’s spent months training for is the perfect way to head into the holiday season.
“How’s he looking?” I ask, and Rhett taps on the tracking app he’s using.
“He’s still with the leaders. There’s a pack of seven of them that came through twenty-three together. Finn said if he was with the front group at 5k to go, he’d have a shot at being the first American to cross the line.”
“I bet he does it.” Holden jumps up and down, and I’m not sure if he’s cold from the November New York air or excited. “He’s in better shape than ever.”
“I’m going to pretend like I helped with that,” Katarina jokes. “Our early morning speed workouts are what made him even faster this year.”
“It’s sure as hell not me. You two do ten miles before I’m even out of bed.” I shiver as a gust of wind whips down the course. I haven’t been able to look at his time or splits. I’m too nervous about how he’s going to perform today, but he should be making his way to the last two-tenths of a mile any second. “It’s disgusting, if we’re being honest.”
“Holy shit.” Rhett shoves his sunglasses in his har. “Finn is in the top four.”
“Top four Americans? That’s amazing.” I stand on my toes and look up the road, desperate to see him. “He said he’d be happy with the top five.”
“No. I mean fourth place overall.”
“ What ?” I grab the phone from him and stare at the leaderboard. Finn is behind two runners for Kenya and another from Ethiopia, one of which holds the world record. They’re not breaking that today with the difficulty of the course, but to see his name up there makes my heart leap to my throat. “Oh my god. He’s going to do it.”
The lead car turns onto the final straightaway, and three police officers on motorcycles follow. The cheers from the crowd turn loud, and I stop breathing.
The runner in first place has started to break away and create distance between himself and the cluster of other athletes. I lean to my left and that’s when I spot Finn charging through Central Park in third place.
“Let’s go, Finn!” Holden screams, and Katarina holds up a sign so he can see us.
I doubt he’s going to give us any attention. We’re four hundred meters from the finish line and the grimace on his face tells me he’s in serious pain.
“Come on, baby!” I yell, and he looks our way. I wave my arms above my head and his mouth pulls into the slow hook of a grin. “Look at him go!”
“What the fuck is he doing?” Rhett asks.
We all watch him veer left, away from the blue line designating the shortest path to the finish line, and toward us.
“Shit. Shit . Is he hurt?” I ask.
“He’s not hurt, he’s?—”
Before Rhett can finish, Finn is in front of me. Looping his arm around my neck and kissing me.
“Miss Andrews,” he murmurs.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I almost yell. “You have a quarter mile to go and you’re in third place!”
“Fuck the placement. I needed to come over and do that.” He grins and kisses me again. “See you in a few, baby.”
I stare after him as he shoots off to the finish line, still safely in third place. I zip up my jacket and maneuver through the crowd of people, running as fast as I can after him while my VIP access badge swings from my neck.
The announcer calls out Finn’s name and I burst into tears, waving the credential to the security guard standing at the finish line. It feels like hours pass before I can squeeze to the front of the media members with their cameras capturing shots of him with the other medalists.
There’s an American flag draped over his shoulders, and when he spots me, he halts his conversation and jogs over.
“You’re an absolute idiot,” I tell him when he gets close. “Stopping to kiss me like that.”
“You’re my good luck charm. Wouldn’t have felt right if I didn’t see you before I crossed the line.”
I cup his cheeks and look him up and down. “How are you feeling? How was the race? Oh my god. Finn. Top American and a spot on the podium? You’ve worked so hard for this.”
A fresh wave of tears hits me when I think about the sacrifices he’s made. The early mornings where he’d knock out twenty miles before work and the late nights he’d spend in the gym weight training.
When he told me his goal for New York, I believed in him. No one works as hard as him, and seeing him accomplish a dream like this at forty-one is the most special moment in the world.
“I feel good. Puked a little at mile eighteen and the hills nearly got me, but I came out on top.”
“Holy shit.” I rest my forehead against his. “Third fucking place.”
“And sixty-five thousand dollars,” he adds.
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Forty for third place and an extra twenty-five thousand for being the first American.”
“Maybe I need to start training more seriously so I can bring home some cash. Oh, Finn. You are incredible. I’m so happy for you.”
“I love you.” He turns his head and kisses my palm. “Thank you for standing in the cold and cheering me on.”
“I love you so much. I’d freeze my ass right off for you.” I laugh when he reaches over the barricade and picks me up. “And I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed down here.”
“Don’t give a shit. They can deal with it.” He kisses me again, and I don’t mind the sweat on his singlet or the poke of the safety pins from his bib, because this is exactly where I want to be. “You know you’re going to have to stand at mile twenty-six during every race from now on, right?”
“I’ll be there with a huge-ass sign.”
“Good.” Finn takes off the flag wrapped around his body and hands it off to Rhett. “I couldn’t have done this without you, Margo.”
“I didn’t run twenty-six point two miles. That was all you, buddy.”
“You were there, though, and that’s what matters.”
“I think the only way this could’ve ended any better is if you wound up in the medical tent. A little role reversal and a full circle moment.”
“You’re my favorite person in the world,” he says, dropping his voice low. “Remember that time you asked something about where we would be on our three hundred night stand?”
“Vaguely. Eleven months is a long time together, Finn, and I’ve said a lot of things.”
“So many things, and I like hearing them all.” He reaches past my ear, and his phone is in his hand. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Take a look at this TikTok video and tell me what you think.”
“A TikTok—Finn. Are you having a stroke? Since when do you watch TikTok videos?”
“Just watch it, Miss Andrews.”
I huff and tap the screen. The video starts to play. It’s of Finn, and I turn up the volume so I can hear what he’s trying to say.
“Just finished fifteen miles,” he says in the video, wincing as he squats on one knee. “Want to make sure I get this pose right. I’m going to be doing it after every long run so I have it perfect come Marathon Sunday.”
“What—”
The video keeps rolling, and there’s clip after clip of him kneeling in various places across Chicago. Sometimes he’s slower to get on the ground. Other times he’s quick, dropping to a knee then popping back up. When the screen goes black, I blink up at him.
“Here’s what happens after a three hundred night stand,” Finn says to me, and he holds up a bag.
“Is that weed?”
“What?” He bursts out laughing and shakes his head. He moves his thumb out of the way, and I see the flash of a diamond. “Nah. It’s something better.”
“What is going on?”
“If you can catch me, I’ll tell you.”
“You know I’m slow as hell compared to you. And you just ran a full marathon. The last thing you need to do is run more.”
“Fine. Let’s try something else.” Finn grins and gets on his knees. He pops a leg up and gestures to the phone. “This is why I’ve been practicing after every long run. So I can get in the right position and say what I want to say.”
“What do you want to say?” I whisper.
“There are a lot of people around, so I’ll save the sentimental part for when we get back to our hotel later. I love you, Margo.” He takes my hand in his. “I love you so much, and the only thing I want to do with you is dash all the way down the aisle until you’re my wife. Until we’ve been married for fifty years and you’re sick of me.”
“That’s a lot of one-night stands.” I let out a watery laugh and get on the ground with him. “I don’t think I can ever be sick of you. Even with your silly jokes.”
Finn slides the ring on my finger, and I start to cry again. Never in a million years did I think I’d be at the finish line of the New York City Marathon getting proposed to, but here I am.
With the greatest man I’ve ever met who’s looking at me like he won more than sixty-five thousand dollars in prize money, and I’m on top of the freaking world.