Epilogue #2
I spend the next fifteen minutes standing on the sidewalk trying to reconfigure the letters into a word. It’s hard to think when I’m anxious to see her. When I finally figure it out, I shout, “Pretzels!” The people walking by look at me like I’ve lost my mind.
Little do they know I’ve just found it.
Another car takes me to the pretzel vendor where Leni and Raz caught us kissing. As I approach the portly vendor, he grins like he has a secret, and I realize Victory probably showed all of her helpers a picture of me. “Hi. I’m guessing you know who I am.”
“Yes, sir. You’re one lucky guy, if you ask me.” He reaches behind the cart and opens a shopping bag, showing me a Scrabble game.
I laugh to myself, because we were sitting by the fireplace in her apartment two nights ago, and we both said, We should get a Scrabble game at the exact same time. “Please tell me I don’t have to unscramble all the letters in that game.”
“She didn’t say anything about unscrambling. But she did say she liked the idea of kicking your butt in the game.” He hands me the bag and says, “Go to the place where you first promised to be there for her and swore by those five words.”
I thank him and repeat what he said as I walk away, trying to puzzle it out.
Promise to be there for her. Swear by those five words.
Promise to be… I grin as understanding dawns on me and hurry down the street to the music store.
When I head inside, Carey hollers from behind the register, “Dude!” and comes around the counter to greet me.
“I’m not going to ask how things are going, because you are one lucky son of a bitch. ”
“I’m not going to dispute that. I thought this place was temporary for you.”
“It is. I went out West for a while, and when I got back, the guy Drake hired to run the place flaked, so I offered to pitch in. But I’m heading home for the holidays. Then I’ll figure out what’s next.”
“Cool. Vic and I will be there for the holidays. Let’s get together.”
“Absofuckinglutely. She told me she’s been teaching you guitar. She says you’re getting the hang of it.” He looks at my bags and the bakery box. “She’s been sending you all over, huh?”
“It’s been a great trip down memory lane.”
“Well, what I’ve got for you is really special.” He takes out his phone and thumbs something out. “You have earbuds with you?”
“Yeah. Why?” My phone chimes with a text.
“I sent you a file. Listen to it when you leave here.”
“Okay. Is there any other message?” I put the box on the counter and set the bags on the floor to check my phone and pull out my earbud case.
“No, man, that’s it.”
“Thanks, Carey. I’ll see you on the island.” I put in my earbuds, turn on the recording, pocket my phone, and head out the door carrying the bags and box with Victory’s sweet voice in my ears.
“Hi, Silver. If you’ve made it this far, you’re on the homestretch. I know you’re wondering where to go next. Our hearts will lead the way.”
Standing out of the path of passersby, I look around, trying to figure out what I’m missing.
Guitar music plays in my ears, and I recognize the tune of “Your Love.” Victory’s beautifully shocked face flashes before me as I recall the night she learned I was still in high school when she graduated from college.
My heart thunders against my ribs, and I step out into the foot traffic looking for clues about which way to go.
Our hearts will lead the way . I look across the street, past the busy sidewalk, scanning store signs and windows for something that’ll spark a memory.
I have plenty of memories from walking around here with her, but nothing leading me anywhere.
As Victory sings about the things she wants to say and liking her boys a little bit older, I look to my left, seeing more of the same.
There’s a growing ache inside me with every line she sings, a desperation to get to her.
I spin around, looking the other way, and as the crowd shifts, I see it!
Two red hearts hanging from a tree. I rush through the crowd, my arms full, and when I reach the hearts, I see she’s written keep going on them.
I hurry down the sidewalk, toward two more hearts on a sign stuck in a small patch of dirt by a tree.
As Victory sings about wanting to use my love and not wanting to lose it, I race to the corner— cupcakes be damned —where two more hearts with right-pointing arrows on them are taped to the side of a building.
The cold air stings my cheeks as I follow hearts drawn on the sidewalk and hanging from railings, Victory’s voice leading me down streets and around corners.
When her voice softens, the guitar music fades, and the loss deepens that ache inside me.
I sprint around the next bend as if I can catch up to her.
As though she feels my need, her voice rings out in my ears, singing about fire and ice and how she’s still falling for me.
Grinning like the lovesick man I am, I race down the street searching for hearts.
Several come into view, hanging from bare tree branches, and there’s a big red bow tied around the tree trunk with arrows hanging from it that point to a brownstone.
I stop to catch my breath. I’ve been so focused on seeking out hearts, I hadn’t paid any attention to where I was.
The neighborhood is hauntingly familiar, like a friend in a Halloween costume, in those tentative pre-knowing seconds of Is that you? Only I know this brownstone.
I take out my earbuds as I head up the steps, but I still hear Victory singing. The door is ajar. I push it open, and as I step inside, her voice grows louder, the guitar chords ringing out. The tune is the same, but the words are different. I follow her voice.
“ You’re the air I breathe, the goodness I feel. You’re it for me .”
I step into the living room we’d both fallen in love with two months ago, when we’d been on a scoutabout and had randomly followed signs for an open house.
While we were there, we were informed that the sellers had decided not to sell.
But the house had sparked my hopes for one day , and there she is.
Everything I’ve ever wanted, sitting in the middle of the empty room on the floor playing her guitar beside a picnic blanket set for two.
She smiles up at me with so much love, my emotions soar to new heights, as she sings, “ No one can make me smile or hold me the way you do. Wells Silver, I’ll forever be falling for you.
” She sets the guitar down and pushes to her feet, gorgeous in black slacks and a royal-blue blouse that makes her eyes look impossibly bluer. “Hi.”
“Hey, sweet thing” comes out sounding as stupefied as I feel.
She laughs softly, and the sweet sound knocks my brain into gear.
I set down the bags and box. “Are we on a new path? Breaking and entering? Because I’m totally down with the whole Bonnie-and-Clyde thing if you’re ready to hit the road.
But leaving a trail of hearts could lead the cops right to us.
We’ll have to take care of that on our way out. ”
She’s absolutely glowing. “I was thinking we’d make things a little more permanent.”
My heart races at what I think she’s saying, but I can’t help teasing her. “Like turn ourselves in? Because I don’t look good in stripes.”
She smiles nervously. “More like this.” She picks up a folder and hands it to me. “Happy birthday, Wells.”
I open the folder, scan the documents, and look at her with disbelief. “You sold your apartment?”
She nods, her eyes shimmering with excitement. “There’s more.”
I flip through the documents, and my heart stumbles. “You bought this place? How? I thought they decided not to sell.”
“I think it’s fate,” she whispers. Then her words come fast and impassioned.
“I wanted to surprise you. I’ve been working with a real estate agent, and the day I got the offer on the apartment, this place went back on the market.
I put an offer in, and it was accepted. I know it’s a lot and I know it’s fast, but I know better than anyone how life can change on a dime, and I don’t want to wait for some right moment to show itself.
Like your dad said, every hour we put something off is an hour we can never get back.
” She takes a deep breath. “I want to build a life we don’t have to take a vacation from, and I want to build it with you.
Marry me, Wells. We both want kids, and I’m not getting any younger.
Let’s bite the bullet and eke out everything this life has to offer together. ”
The world tilts on its axis as her words burrow into me. The hopeful look in her eyes sears into my memory, and soul-deep joy takes root in my heart. “You want to make an honest man out of me?”
She laughs. “Yes. More than anything.”
“Usually a proposal comes with a ring.” I cock a brow expectantly.
Her eyes widen in amusement. “Well…yours came with a brownstone.”
“I don’t know, Vic. No ring?” I shake my head.
“I didn’t think you’d want a ring,” she says, like she’s not sure whether I’m serious.
“You’re right about that, but it’s a good thing I have one, because my brilliant future fiancée should have a ring that shines as bright as she does.”
I reach into my interior coat pocket, withdrawing the jewelry box I picked up earlier in the day with the ring I had my father’s cousin Sterling make for her.
I open the box, and her jaw drops as she takes in the princess-cut blue diamond surrounded by a halo of lighter-blue diamonds and three white diamonds on either side of the delicate band.
“ Wells…? ” she whispers, full of disbelief.
“You beat me to the punch. I spent my whole life thinking I wasn’t built for relationships.
That I wasn’t enough, or I wouldn’t know how to do the right things to make someone happy forever.
Then you came along, fighting me every step of the way with your sass and snark, and I realized it wasn’t that I wasn’t enough or didn’t know how.
My heart was just waiting for you all along.
Yes, Victoria, I will marry you. The question is, are you sure you can handle my charm and good looks for the rest of your life?
Because once I put this ring on your finger, that’s it. You’re stuck with me forever.”
She laughs, tears sliding down her cheeks. “There’s no one in the world I’d rather be stuck with than you.”
“Is that a yes ? Because I know how you are with wordplay.”
“ Wells. Yes! Now put that ring on my finger and kiss me before I pass out.”
“There’s my bossy girl.” I slip the ring on her finger and say, “The blue diamond represents our love of the ocean.”
“There you go again, making me love you more with everything you do.” She throws her arms around me, and we seal our promises, and our future, with a kiss.
Ready for More Silver Island Romance?
I hope you loved Wells and Victoria’s story.