Epilogue
FINLEY
Thomas and I are going out tonight to celebrate our first official year as a couple. We’re going back to the lodge to pay homage to our first date.
The last twelve months have taught me an amazing amount about life. For instance, it does not always go according to plan, and that’s a good thing.
My path has not been typical, but that’s not only because I’m on the spectrum. I’m different because we’re all unique creatures. No two people are alike and that’s something we should celebrate, not feel diminished by.
I look into the mirror and check myself out.
I’m wearing a copy of Thomas’s blue cashmere sweater, but this one is in my size.
He bought it for me for our one-month anniversary, and it’s now the softest thing in my wardrobe.
I hurry to grab my gift for him and go down to the curb.
As much as he’s practiced, he still isn’t a great parallel parker.
As I leave my building I see Thomas has already arrived, and true to form, he’s parked at an almost ninety-degree angle. He jumps out of the car and comes around to the passenger side. “Don’t judge me,” he says. “I’m going to keep practicing.”
I reach up and give him a kiss—an activity I will never tire of. “We don’t judge each other, remember?” Then I tell him, “I will love you even if you never learn how to park.”
He opens the car door for me and once we’re both inside, he asks, “Can we exchange gifts now?”
“Pretty please!” I say excitedly. Then I hand him my box.
Thomas takes it and opens it up. Inside are two calendars.
The first is the initial one we shot for his parents that I never had printed.
The second is a project Thomas and I have been working on over the last few months.
We’ve taken inspiration from Margaret and Bob’s photo shoots and have been reenacting romance novel covers of our own. The final product is pretty amazing.
Thomas opens that calendar and exclaims, “I don’t care what anyone says, we could do this for a living.”
“We do look pretty great,” I tell him. “I can see why Margaret and Bob never seem to tire of it.”
“I will model for you anytime you want me to,” he says. And I believe him. Thomas has been nothing but supportive and excited about what I do. He puts the calendars away before handing me a small box of his own.
I take it greedily but before I can get the lid off, he says, “This isn’t the only gift.”
“You spoil me,” I tell him with a smile on my face. Then I untie the bow and open the lid. Inside is a car key.
As I hold it up, Thomas tells me, “It’s the key to this car. Now that you’ve become such a great driver, I think it’s time for you to own it.”
“You’re giving me my dream car?!” I have no words.
Thomas points to the glove box. “The rest of your gift is in there.”
I excitedly open the glove compartment, and sure enough it’s full of all my favorite snacks. There are granola bars, mini boxes of raisins, and my favorite strawberry wafer cookies. “You remembered!” I say before throwing my arms around him. “You are the best boyfriend in the whole world!”
He holds me tightly before whispering in my ear, “You missed something,”
Turning back toward the glove compartment, I start to take out my snacks, and that’s when I see it. A small robin’s egg blue velvet box. My whole world feels like it’s stopped moving, and the gravitational fluctuation that results makes me a little dizzy.
“Open it,” Thomas says.
So, I do. Inside is the most beautiful diamond solitaire ring I could ever imagine. It’s huge, too. “Thomas …” I start to say but the rest of the sentence gets caught in my throat.
He takes my hand in his. “Finley Harper, you have been the most unexpected, delightful, and all-around surprising gift of my life. I love you and I never want to spend a day without you. Would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
My body erupts in a sensation of pure joy. “I would be honored to be married to such a fabulous and sexy model,” I tell him. “My answer is yes, Thomas.”
He takes the ring out of the box and puts it on the appropriate finger before saying, “I will always be your model, but I think I’d better keep my day job, too.” Thomas loves being a general practitioner. He’s become friends with a surprising number of people doing what he does.
In the end, Elk Lake has given us both the gift of a lifetime. It has brought us together and we are going to create our own family here as a tribute.