Epilogue
It’s my favorite time of day at the beach—sunset. The sky is a watercolor of glowing light, streaks of petal pink and violet, lush citrus orange, cool water blue. The waves roar steadily, and a warm sea breeze kisses my skin.
I set a plate down on the patio table, cup my hands around my mouth, and yell, “Come eat!”
My heart catches at the sight below me, on the shore.
Lauren smiling wide, hand in hand with her partner, Zazie, who throws the ball for Argos to chase across the sand.
Jen crouched over Mia’s shell art as Mia explains the design to Jen and her boyfriend, Luke, a fellow teacher from another school whom she started seeing a little over a year ago.
Luke is a soft-spoken, gentle giant whom I couldn’t love more for Jen, though she’s taking things very slowly with him—so slowly, I wish they’d hurry up, because he’s perfect for her.
Not that I’m one to talk. I know that, sometimes, you need time.
That, as clichéd as the saying is, time is a healer and, maybe even more so, a teacher, if you let it take you where you need to go.
“Ted?”
The sliding door to our beach rental drifts shut, and I turn; my heart skips a beat. Alex smiles at me, two bottles of wine in one hand, a bottle of sparkling seltzer in the other.
“There you are,” he says, leaning in for a slow, sweet kiss. “Anything you need, Chef, before you serve dinner?”
I glance from the spread of food I made entirely on my own, then smile up at him. “I did need something, but now it’s here.”
“Lemon seltzer?” he says. “For the nausea?”
I shake my head.
He sets the wine and seltzer down on the table, then steps closer. “Hmm. I’m all out of guesses, then.”
I wrap my arms around his neck. “I needed you. But now I have you. Everything’s perfect.”
Alex smiles. “You always have me, Ted.”
“I love you,” I whisper, as he curls me gently inside his arms, my belly, which has finally started to show, bumping into his hard stomach.
“I love you, Ted.”
I lean in and kiss him, tender, savoring. I press my body into his.
Alex groans in the back of his throat. “Ted, I’m gonna have a hard-on at dinner.”
I snort as I pull away, affectionately patting his chest. “You’ll be fine.”
“Hey.” He clasps my hands before they slip away and holds my eyes. “I’m sorry it took us this long to come back.”
“Alex.” I squeeze his hands in mine. “Two years is not a long time to wait for the beach, especially with everything we’ve had going on. The store, the restaurant, buying a house, moving in…”
He tips his head side to side. “I guess when you put it that way, it’s not so bad. I just know I promised I’d bring you back; the beach makes you so happy—”
I tug him close again and kiss him one more time, before the deck is filled with the people we love. “Alex, I’m with you. And you love me.”
He smiles softly. “I do.”
I smile back, because I can’t help it, because his joy never fails to spill into mine. “I could be anywhere in the world, so long as I was with you, and you know what I’d be. What I already am.”
He smiles, then steals a swift, hot kiss, laced with promise, and whispers, “Happy.”