Epilogue
SEVEN MONTHS LATER
CHARLIE
As I steer through the curves on Route 47, it takes everything in me to drive past the section where Emily and Trina had their crash at the end of last summer. In fact, I’ve had to make this drive four times in the last two weeks to be able to do it without feeling on the verge of a panic attack—because that’s definitely not the vibe I’m going for today.
We have Molly and Max buckled into their seatbelts in the backseat and their heads are sticking out their windows as they live their best lives, taking in all the scents on our drive to Meadow Creek. They’re smart dogs. They know car trips mean either a long hike is in store for them or a trip to the Elladine Creamery, and doggie cups of ice cream are coming their way—sometimes it’s both.
And Emily, God, she’s just beautiful sitting in the passenger seat next to me, hair in a ponytail, leggings, an Elladine Fire Department T-shirt, and hiking boots on. But it’s her smile and her laughter that make her the most stunning. Watching the dogs’ jowls flapping in the wind on these car rides is a source of joy for her, no matter how many trips we take them on. It’s damn adorable that it amuses her so much.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, when you were working yesterday, your mom and I walked the dogs down to the lake for a swim. I asked her if she might be interested in the part time job that’s opening as a lunch aide at the elementary school. She seemed excited by the possibility.”
Hell, could this woman be any more perfect?
I get choked up with emotion for a few seconds when I think about how it was Emily who finally convinced my mom to come stay with us after the last major incident between my parents. The day Mom left my father, we packed enough clothes to get her through a week or so. Then, the next weekend, my friends really stepped up. Emily, Trina, Ben and I went to my parents’ and packed up the rest of her things while Shayna and Finn stayed with my mom at our house.
I smile when I remember finding Emily out in my parents’ yard pulling down all of my mom’s bird-feeders and loading them in the back of my truck. She insisted we take those and my mom’s garden bench so my mom would feel more like our home was her home.
When my father arrived home near the end of our packing, he threw a hissy fit, saying that everything my mom thought she owned was bought with his money, so it belonged to him. Ben shut him right down, then let him know a protection order was being filed against him and, if he violated it, Ben would petition the judge for the maximum penalty—jail time. My dad is smart enough to know he’d lose his job if that happened, and he backed off almost immediately.
I clear my throat before I speak. “Thanks for all you’ve done for my mom, sunshine. I’ll be forever grateful to you for convincing her to leave him.”
“I love your mom. And you keep saying I had something to do with it, but I really don’t think I did. She just needed to remember who she was under all of those years of being made to feel like less. I just asked at the right time. Now she just needs time in a safe space to heal.”
We’re less than five minutes from our destination now and my anxiety kicks up. My hands are sweaty, and my heart is racing.
Stay cool, or you’re gonna blow this.
A few minutes later, I pull off the road into the entrance to the Meadow Creek State Park, find a parking spot and turn off the car.
“Well, it only took us about eight months to get back here for our make-up date, since we had to cancel last summer. And now we have these two freeloaders in tow.” I chuckle and glance to the backseat. When I do, I see the backseat windows. “Ew, guys. Did you have to get so much gross slobber on the glass?” I love these two like children, but they can make quite the mess.
“Charlie!” Emily whisper yells. She turns around in her seat and addresses the dogs next. “Daddy doesn’t mean that, you sweet babies. Everything you do is adorable.”
I give her an exaggerated eye roll and climb out of the vehicle.
It only takes us a few minutes to get the dogs out of the car and secured to their leashes. I put on a backpack with their water bowl and a few bottles of water for all of us. I get in front of our small pack so I can guide Emily to the trailhead I want us to take.
It’s about a ten-minute hike with a little bit of an incline but the scenery at the top is unparalleled with a clear view of a cascading waterfall, surrounded by groves of cedar trees on each side. When we’re about one minute from the spot I planned to have our picnic, I stop to tie my shoe and let Emily and Molly get ahead of Max and me.
And I know when she’s found it because she stops dead in her tracks.
* * *
EMILY
When I get to the top of the hill Charlie insisted we needed to climb for the best views, I’m halted by the scene in front of me. The waterfall is stunning and the foamy white water as it crashes over the edge of the fifty-foot falls creates a white noise symphony that is mesmerizing. The sky is blue with a few white, puffy cotton-like clouds and the trees are majestic. But that’s not what has most grabbed my attention.
A large navy-blue blanket is spread out on the ground, a cooler sitting on it, a gorgeous bouquet of salmon-colored Gerber daisies—my favorite—and a bottle of champagne is chilling in a bucket of ice. It hits me then—shit, we’re interrupting someone’s proposal set up.
“Charlie, turn around! We’ve gotta get out of here. Someone’s propo?—”
I’ve spun on my heels to leave and gasp when I find Charlie down on one knee before me, holding a gray velvet ring box. My hands fly to cover my mouth.
“Emily, I don’t know what I did to deserve having you come into my life a decade ago, but I know that since you did, my life has been brighter, and I’ve never been the same. You’re damn stubborn and sometimes the stuff that comes out of your beautiful mouth shocks the hell out of me. But you’re also the kindest, most compassionate, empathetic, and forgiving woman I’ve ever met. You’re so amazingly strong and you love like no one else. I love you with every piece of my soul and the only thing that could make me happier than I am right now is if you’ll agree to marry me. You’re it for me, Emily Flynn. You’re my past, my present, and my future. Will you marry me?”
Happy tears stream down my face, and I drop to my knees in front of Charlie, not even caring that I’m kneeling in dirt. I cup his cheeks in my hands. “Yes,” I whisper.
Charlie slips a gorgeous white gold past, present, future engagement ring with an oval center stone on my ring finger and pulls me into his arms, lifting us both to standing. He brings his lips to mine, and we get lost in the sweetest kiss, my heart full of love and gratitude for this man and all the happiness he brings to my life.
When I’m totally not expecting it, Charlie reaches under my knees and swoops me up into a bridal carry and walks us over to the blanket he has laid out on the ground. He kisses me again and lowers us both to lie on the blanket while our lips are still joined. The kiss speaks of love and passion and feels a lot like forever.
And that’s perfect because forever is exactly how long I want the love we feel in this moment to stay with me.
~~~