Epilogue
The warm summer breeze drifted through my hair as I looked down at Evelyn, her legs lazily swinging through the water off the edge of the sailboat. The sun hung low over the Mediterranean, turning the impossibly clear water to liquid gold.
Sitting beside her, staring ahead at the islands surrounding the coast of France, was the perfect way to enjoy the summer after her first year teaching at the university.
Today also marked one year of her being mine.
That alone had been reason enough to sail at sunset and spend the week at an absurdly extravagant resort on the Riviera. Fortunately, Evelyn had long since accepted that my definition of ‘reasonable’ rarely aligned with anyone else's.
I would have done this sooner, but our trip to Hawaii for spring break had to be canceled due to court trials.
With Evelyn’s encouragement, I’d chosen to give a victim impact testimony after someone spoke out about their experience with the former CEO of Quantum.
As a result, he was finally in prison, and for the first time, it felt as though that chapter of my life had truly ended.
Getting up, I walked to the center of my sailboat. It was a glorious new possession of mine, and like the new villa in Monaco, it would soon be ours.
Predictably, footsteps followed behind me.
I didn't have to turn around to know Evelyn was smiling. She'd spotted the coils of rope waiting beside the mast.
Even after a year, she never seemed to tire of watching me tie knots, observing with the same intensity she'd had the first time I'd shown her.
Some things never changed, and I’d never want them to.
When she came to stand behind me, her quiet breaths brushing the back of my neck, I turned to face her.
Without a second thought, I lowered myself onto one knee and reached into my pocket.
Kneeling for her was an infinitesimal price to pay if I got to have Evelyn as my wife.
Confusion flickered across her face as she looked down at me. Then her eyes widened, her lips parting as the realization settled in.
“I can no longer envision my life without you beside me, and I never want to.” I opened the square velvet box, revealing the golden ring. “Evelyn, will you marry me?”
Upon it lay two stones, one emerald, and the other aquamarine.
Her reaction was instant as her eyes welled up with tears of joy. She looked up at me, covering her mouth with both of her hands, nodding frantically.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be," she managed through a sob.
Smiling, I gently took her trembling hand.
“I need a yes, sweetheart,” I chuckled, refusing to cry.
"Yes!" She nodded again, unable to stop smiling through the tears.
"Have my feelings really not been obvious since we stood here last year?
" She shook her head, trying unsuccessfully to compose herself.
"Actually... probably since I walked into your office.
" Another watery laugh escaped. "Or maybe even the bar. "
I slid the ring onto her finger, where it settled as though it had always belonged there. The emerald caught the fading sunlight while the aquamarine mirrored the sea surrounding us.
Looking up, my green eyes reflected in her watery blue ones, both so full of emotion.
“I will love and cherish you, Evelyn. Forever and always. That sole fact is the most obvious of them all.”
A tear trickled from the corner of my own eye as I leaned forward to cup her cheek, sealing us together in the most tender kiss.