Epilogue
JULES
Six months in, and the butterflies haven’t left.
They rise when he carries my bag, when he catches my eye across a crowded room, when he meets my sass with nothing but calm, as if he’s always known I could never stay mad for long.
I thought dating Calvin Stewart would mean late-night dinners, lazy Sunday mornings, and the kind of long phone calls that make your cheeks ache from smiling.
And it does.
But it also means this: he promised the weekend would be ours. Then he booked a seminar across the country.
“Tell me again why I agreed to fly across the country for another one of your seminars?” I cross my arms as he tosses my bag into the trunk.
He glances at me, maddeningly calm, that smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Because you love me.”
“That’s debatable when you hijack my week with work trips.” I narrow my eyes, though my chest still stirs. Because it’s true. I do. I love him so much it makes me reckless. But that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass.
“You said this weekend would be fun. Fun, Calvin. I distinctly remember the word.”
“It will be,” he says, certain as ever. “Promise.”
I mutter that fun and Florida hotel conference rooms don’t belong in the same sentence when it was supposed to be one-on-one time.
He only laughs, and my fake grumpiness doesn’t stand a chance.
We pull up to the hangar. A sleek white jet waits on the tarmac.
My heels click too sharp against the pavement. “Please tell me this isn’t where the tuition money goes.”
Calvin shrugs like private jets are as casual as Uber rides. “Perks of being the boss.”
I groan, dragging my suitcase behind me. “So you can afford a jet, but not a week off to just… be with me?”
He doesn’t answer. Just takes my hand, reliable and warm, and guides me up the stairs.
“Jules, this is your life now. Take it or leave it.”
“Tsshh.” I roll my eyes as I walk past him.
I’m ready to give him another earful and a lecture about work-life balance when the cabin door swings open.
And there they are.
“SURPRIIIISE!”
For one impossible second, all I can do is stare.
Riot pops up first, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling. Maddie tugs him back by the sleeve, grinning ear to ear.
Cara and Rodney are tucked smugly in the corner.
Mrs. Dorsey waves a sequined scarf like she’s christening the jet.
And Calvin’s mom, luminous, smiles from the center like a jet-setter.
I freeze. My suitcase drops. My heart stutters. My brain short-circuits.
“What… what is going on?”
I turn around, and the man I love is down on one knee as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.
For a moment, the world just stops. The laughter, the shock all fade away.
“Calvin.” The word barely makes it past my lips, a whisper, fragile and full.
His eyes lock on mine like the whole circus doesn’t exist.
“Jules Avery,” he says, and my knees nearly buckle.
“Six months ago, I stood on a stage and finally found the courage to speak the truth. Now, I don’t need a microphone. I just need you.
“You’re not just the girl I lost. You’re the woman I love. And if you’ll let me, I want forever with you.”
He pauses, soft but sure. “So… what do you say? Will you be my wife?”
For a second, all I can do is stare, desperate to etch this moment into my memory forever.
My heart hammers.
“Yes,” I breathe. Too soft. Too fast.
“Yes! Of course yes!” I laugh through the tears, my voice breaking.
Calvin slips the ring onto my finger, his hand steady while mine trembles. Then he’s on his feet, arms closing around me—a kiss that seals it.
Cheers echo through the cabin. Mrs. Dorsey tossing confetti, Riot belting “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” horrifically off-key, Maddie crying, Faith crying Rodney crying.
And all I feel is him.
I whisper into his ear, “You’re stuck with me now.”
He grins. “That was always the plan.”
The jet tilts, engines rumbling, and we lift into the sky.
This love doesn’t feel like an ending.
It feels like we’ve only just begun.