Epilogue
October Again
Brian
I have held a lot of impressive things in my hands.
Contracts that changed my life. Hardware worth more than most people’s cars.
My dick.
Okay, that was crude. What can I say, I’m nervous!
None of it compares to this book.
The cover is gorgeous, if I do say so myself. Thick leather, soft under my fingers. Our names are engraved on the front in beautiful script, while a photo of us sits in the centre, the pair of us beaming into one another’s eyes sickeningly.
But it isn’t the cover that matters. It’s what’s inside.
Because inside is eighteen months of us. Every email, every late-night sneaky conversation, every text. All the jokes and laughter, the fights and the tears.
Our love story told the only way it could have been, in words. In timestamps. In messages sent when we shouldn’t have been sending them at all.
Our very own book of love.
I glance across the garden, our garden, watching her laugh with Stephen Reeves and his lovely wife, Shauna. Her cheeks are flushed with excitement, her eyes bright and expressive. Today is the day her book is released into the world. Months of hard work finally recognised.
All around the party, I can see people devouring her words, relearning their own history and delighting at the people she has brought back into the present.
I’m so fucking in love with her.
I run my thumb over the edge of the book, feeling the slight give where the back cover has been hollowed out. My chest gives a nervous pang, but then she catches my eye, and all is well.
“You ready?” Justin asks, slinging his arm around my shoulder. He was supposed to fly back to the States a week ago and refused. He’s quite taken with Meadowcraig, and a certain nurse who is pretending she doesn’t know she’s being watched.
“I’m ready,” I say, rolling my shoulders. No time like the present.
I spot Darrell across the garden, his arm around Alana. I’m so grateful he could make it. So grateful that he helped guide me when things were at their worst. He catches my eye and grins, looking around as if to say look at all this.
It’s almost unbelievable. Until you know the woman who inspired it.
I scan the crowd until I find her mother. Annabell and I have grown close over the past month, and when I see her chatting away to my own mother, a sense of belonging settles in my chest.
I catch her eye and give her a subtle nod. She stiffens for a moment, already looking misty-eyed, before she nods and squeezes my mother’s hand.
I watch as she moves across the garden, placing a small token in Jesy’s hand, and see her lips move, saying only one word.
February.
Jesy turns the charm over in her hand, confusion knitting her brow as her eyes follow Annabell across the garden. She barely has a moment to react until her father places another token in her hand, with another simple word.
March.
One by one, the people who know and love her offer her a small charm, along with a month. A daffodil for April, an acorn for September. Isla, followed by Penny. Ross followed by Justin.
She looks up, scanning the crowd for me, and I duck out of sight before she can spot me. I’m not ready yet.
More charms come. The infinity symbol. A key. A dog paw. Month by month, milestone by milestone.
Realisation dawns on her, those bright, intelligent eyes starting to well.
When the first notes of our song roll out across the garden, the noise quietens. Even those not in the know understand something big is about to happen.
Peter Gabriel’s voice is soft and familiar. Comforting. I take my cue and hand the book to Justin, just for a moment before emerging from the crowd to face my girl, nodding in approval as Isla takes the charms from her.
“May I have this dance?”
Jesy laughs, not trusting herself to speak as she nods, taking my offered hand. I move her around the garden in a dance just for her and me, like her grandparents did before us in this very spot so many years ago.
“The charms were you?” she asks.
I shrug. “They might have been.”
“I should probably get a bracelet to keep them on then, no?”
“Ah, I think whoever bought you them would be smart enough to get a bracelet.” I nod towards Isla and Penny, who are attaching the charms to a beautiful silver chain.
“Well. What a smart cookie that person is,” she replies. “Thank you, Brian. What a lovely surprise.”
“Oh, that wasn’t your surprise, baby. That was just a warm-up.”
Right on cue, there’s a happy bark, and our bundle of energy bounds into view, pulling Justin alongside him. I don’t envy whoever got Wrex into his tuxedo, but I definitely owe them a pint.
“What is this?” she laughs, pulling an envelope from around his neck.
“Read it,” I say, taking a subtle breath. She scratches Wrex’s ears, and I watch as her eyes move across the page, remembering every last word I wrote.
16 Oct | From: Brian Trainer | To: Jesy Mason
Subject: Surprise!
My dearest Jesy.
I’m sure you’re confused and probably wondering how I pulled this off. So because I know it’ll bug you…
I sent you an email this morning while you were in the shower, printed it off and promptly deleted it from your inbox.
I’m sure you won’t mind, although I’m now realising how invasive that is. And if you do mind, this has massively backfired. If you could shout at me later and not in front of your guests, I’d appreciate it!
Now that all that is out of the way, I am sure you can guess the important question I want to ask you.
Will you marry me?
It’s a simple question with (hopefully) a simple answer. But before you give it to me, let me finish this email.
I want you to marry me; I want you to be my wife.
For as long as I live, I want you by my side. There’s no one else in the world I want to raise children with. No one else I want to grow old with. From the day I virtually met you, I have been on a rollercoaster with you as my passenger. We’ve had highs and lows, good times and bad.
I know you’ve been here before, with a man promising you forever, and because I know you so well, I can tell it will be in the back of your mind. So let me make a few promises to you like your future husband.
I will never stifle you. I will give you space to grow as a person, celebrate your successes and give you a boost when you need it.
I will never expect you to be the person who fixes everything. We tackle life together, even if one of us needs extra support to do that.
I will love you every day of forever and show you in as many ways as I can.
You have nothing to fear with me, Jesy. I promise myself to you as your partner in everything.
And while it’s unrealistic to expect us to be fifty-fifty on everything, I promise my love for you will always be one hundred per cent.
I give you my all. Heart, body and soul.
I will never make you want for anything.
You’re beautiful, Jesy. You are a goddess in my eyes, and I want to spend the rest of my life in the presence of your grace. If you say yes, I will endeavour to deserve you every single day of my life.
Now, Jesy Mason, will you do me the honour of being my wife?
Will you marry me?
P.S. you might want to add this to the book.
Her eyes meet mine, shining with tears as she takes a moment to compose herself.
“Book? What book?”
Justin steps forward to hand me the leather-bound book, and I take a breath before presenting it to Jesy.
She takes it from me, taking it all in with greedy eyes, her fingers tracing our names.
“You’ll wanna add that to the back,” I say, as she skims through the pages, rereading all the words we’ve sent one another. I drop to one knee as she nears the end, inhaling sharply as I hear her little gasp.
“Oh, Brian,” she sobs, pulling the ring from the hollowed-out pages. “Ask me again. I want to hear you say the words.”
I take the ring from her as she presents her hand to me. “Jesy Mason, will you marry me?”
The silence is deafening; my ears are ringing. Everything in my entire life has boiled down to this moment.
“Yes,” she whispers. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
The cheer that erupts around us barely registers. All I can see is her. I slide the ring onto her finger and stare at it for a moment.
My fiancé.
I pull her into me and brush the hair away from her beautiful face.
My love.
My lips meet hers in the sweetest of kisses, her arms tangling around my shoulders. I have everything I ever need right here in my arms, forever grateful for the mistaken email that turned into a miracle.
My life.
Funny, really. I used to roll my eyes at women glued to their screens. Turns out my woman was waiting for me in an inbox all along.