Epilogue
JUDAH
Eight Months and Three Weeks Later
“Look at you,” I teased Amelia as we broke through the trees. “I might actually turn you into a hiker.”
She heaved as she reached the rock ledge and dropped like a sack of potatoes, wiggling to the edge and dangling her feet off. “Unlikely, but your delusion is endearing.”
I chuckled as I sat beside her and looked out over the valley. “And yet we’ve been here six months longer than we anticipated.”
Her laugh was light as she tipped her head to the side and rested it on my shoulder. “You gave me internet access. Did you really expect me to leave and go back to the real world?”
It had been almost nine months of the two of us hiding away in the cabin atop the Monongahela National Forest—a far cry from the three we had initially agreed upon. But when December rolled around and the date to pack up and head back to Connecticut came, we just . . . didn’t.
Sure, living out here was a pain in the ass. We had to plan our meals weeks in advance unless we wanted to blow an entire day driving to the grocery store. We had to drive our trash down the mountain and dispose of it in town. Cell service was patchy, and that was when the weather was good.
But when the weather was bad, there was no place I wanted to be other than under that roof with her. When the weather was good, neither of us wanted to stay inside.
Unless she was teaching, we were exploring. Reading. Talking. Playing cards. After a lifetime of living to serve, we retreated to our mountain and lived to love.
Since we weren’t using the cabin as an off-grid safe house, we’d spruced up the place. We brought in a new bed. Some appliances. And Amelia’s favorite, a satellite internet connection.
In an attempt to keep her on their faculty, Alcott University had offered her a completely remote teaching position. In my spare time, which was really just when Amelia was teaching, I did a little consulting.
When the folks at Keller & Associates couldn’t add a job to their calendar, Joel would shuffle them my way if they wanted advice.
It ranged from a pop star looking to shake a stalker from her tail to companies wanting to beef up their building security and needing someone to coach their in-house team on what upgrades to make.
On one occasion, it was a casino wanting Amelia and me to train their dealers on how to spot and thwart card counters.
We told them to get fucked.
“We survived winter up here,” I mused as I tucked her into my side.
The corners of her mouth turned up. “Way better than Connecticut. We didn’t have to go anywhere. No slushy roads. Just you and me and the woodstove.”
Thankfully, we were almost out of the wood-splitting temperatures. I didn’t mind quite so much—it was a good workout—but I was grateful as May turned into June and we could comfortably sleep at night without a small fire.
“I thought for sure you’d get bored after a month,” I said as I studied the view. “Like when we were up here the first time.”
Amelia was quiet for a moment. “I wasn’t prepared the first time.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s my fault.”
She nudged me with her elbow. “But this time . . . being alone is a privilege. Not a sacrifice. I’ve never had time to myself. Not like this.”
“Say the word and we’ll stay here forever.”
She laughed. “I do miss good coffee.”
“We can get an espresso maker.”
“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”
“There are very few things in life that can’t be solved.” I kissed her head. “And when it comes to you, there’s nothing I won’t do.”
Silence descended as the two of us sat and appreciated the view. It was one of our favorite hikes. Sometimes we’d go down to the river, whether it was through the cellar tunnel or walking above ground. But this . . . this spot was where I felt her most.
“Remember the first time we came out here?” I asked as I shifted so that she was sitting between my knees.
She nodded. “I told you about my parents. We kissed . . . a lot.”
“Did you know today’s our anniversary?”
Her brows furrowed. “No, it’s not. It’s May. Not September.”
I laced her fingers between mine. “This didn’t start when we moved out here in September, little fox. This started the night we ran from the Four Horsemen.”
“The night you kidnapped me,” she corrected.
“Semantics.”
“Crime,” she clipped.
“Proactively relocated,” I said mildly. “Besides, it’s not like we were strangers.”
“Nooo,” Amelia said dramatically. “You were just my friendly neighborhood stalker.”
I tipped my head back and laughed, my hair spilling down past my shoulders. Amelia had me grow it out again because she liked it. Honestly, so did I. The two of us had created a life where we chose who we were.
Amelia fell for me when I was at my least lovable.
That changed everything for me.
It was never about who she was told I was—a bouncer. A mob enforcer. A criminal. It was all about who she believed I was at my core. A protector. Someone gentle. Someone kind.
I would never take her love for granted, and I woke up each day determined to be the man she believed I was.
“I can’t believe it’s been a year since then,” Amelia said. “It feels like it’s been just a few days, but also a millennium.”
I knew exactly what she meant.
“It feels like I’ve known you my whole life. That when we finally met, we were just picking up where we left off.”
She leaned back against my chest. “Yeah.”
“A year since we came out here for the first time. Almost nine months since we came out here after everything ended.” I kissed her temple. “And you’re still with me.”
“There’s no place I’d rather be.”
“I think we should take that train ride this summer,” I said.
“I’d be down for that,” she said. “The semester’s over next week.”
“We should do the Vegas trip again. Do it right.”
Amelia stiffened. Even though the nightmares had faded over time, distance, and copious amounts of remote sessions with Dr. Chen, there were certain things neither of us ever wanted to revisit. The entire state of New Jersey, for one.
But Las Vegas . . . that had never been off the table.
“I think I’m banned.”
“You’re not banned,” I said with a laugh. “There’s a difference in being fake arrested by a dirty FBI agent and being banned. Being banned is way worse.”
“What do you want to do in Vegas?” she asked.
“See some shows. Eat some good food. Enjoy the spectacle of it all. Clean up at a casino, run to a chapel, get married by an Elvis impersonator, and then jump in a getaway car and drive to California like Bonnie and Clyde.”
She laughed. “An Elvis wedding?”
“Baby, I don’t care where we get married as long as I’m marrying you. But I think a Vegas wedding would be fitting for us.”
She swallowed, her voice growing small. “You want to get married?”
“Yeah. I do.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small box I had picked up in town. Joel had shipped it to me. I popped the top and held it in front of her.
I would’ve gotten down on one knee, but I wanted the moment to be the two of us looking ahead to our future, together.
“There is no one else for me but you,” I said as I dropped a kiss onto her shoulder.
“You’re kind. Smart as hell. Funny. You balance me in a way I didn’t know I needed.
You push me. But most of all, you see the best in me and make me see the best in myself.
I would run to the ends of the earth for you.
And if the day comes that you leave this life before I do, I’ll chase you until I find you once again. ”
Amelia turned in my lap and threw her arms around me. “I love you so much,” she whispered. “So, so much.”
I kissed her, tasting her deep and slow as she tackled me, pushing me onto my back. “Is that a yes?”
Tears welled in her eyes as I took her hand and slid the ring on her finger. “I hit the jackpot.”