Epilogue
Brinn
“What if she hates it?” I fret as we clip leashes on harnesses.
“Then she can sit with us.” Isaac smiles at me as he straightens up.
I’ll never get over that smile. Every time I see it, every single time, I feel the flutter of butterflies that I got the first time I saw it. It’s been two years, and I’m still in awe.
“We’ll never know if she doesn’t try.”
I sigh, and I follow him and Pork Belly out the door. “Come on, Juice,” I say. Juicy Lucy, our newest member of the family, trots out after me. Her big puppy paws clumsily navigate the stairs on the front porch. “Do you have her life jacket?”
“Yes,” Isaac laughs. “It’s in the backpack.”
“Fine, okay.”
The sun is blazing hot, but the dogs don’t seem to mind, stopping to sniff every bush between our house and the beach. J’s tiny legs valiantly keep up with her older sister.
When the sea breeze hits, both dogs sniff the air with excitement. I close my eyes for a moment, pushing away the small fizz of panic that still makes its way to the surface occasionally.
It’s easier now, most days. Some days, it’s easier to stay inside. But when I can, I revel in Calysto’s Cove and all its magic.
I wait outside of Cup of Nick as Isaac runs in to grab our Cold Nut. We pass The Spooky Nook and wave at Alejandro. Isaac waits with the dogs as I grab to-go lunches from Cove Cafe. The once foreign and frightening streets are comfortable under my feet as we wind through town.
The beach is empty when we reach it. Isaac hands me the blanket from the backpack to spread on the sand and digs for J’s life jacket.
“Got it,” Isaac says behind me.
Turning to grab it, I instead find him down on one knee, Pork Belly beside him, both of them grinning like fools. “Isaac?”
“Brinn,” he says, eyes tipping down bashfully as he pulls a small box from behind his back. The sight of the carved wooden box in his hands consumes me as he flicks it open, revealing a silver band with a sparkling pear-colored stone.
“Brinn, will you marry me?”
PB’s tail wags in the sand, and next to me, J lets out a small, excited bark.
A hiccup of laughter bubbles out of my throat as the tears prick at my eyes. “Yes,” I tell him. “Yes, yes, yes!”