Epilogue
Adam
The time had come.
Jo was writing the epilogue to her current book, and she’d lightly hinted she wanted to practice some element. I’d been waiting for something like this—the right idea to click and run with it.
Everyone had joked with me that I had to do something huge to propose to Jo, but they didn’t get it. It didn’t have to be huge, it just had to be right for her and for us.
Yes, this was coming a little sooner than I might’ve imagined, but at this point, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more than to commit my life to hers. I already had, and I wanted the vows and the paperwork to go with it. Wouldn’t mind the sharing a house and bed and all that, too.
“Hey, you’re here.”
Jo beamed at me as she came in through my front door. She had a key, and even though we didn’t live together, we spent a great deal of time together and having access to each other’s houses just made sense.
“I made lunch, but did you want to knock out that practice scene or whatever you needed first? I have to head out for the weekend after this.” My last fall survival weekend trip. I’d miss them over the winter, but I wouldn’t miss being away from Jo. Leaving her today, if all went to plan, was going to kill me.
She set down her laptop and unloaded a notebook and water bottle. “Yes. Let’s do it. So he’s going to do the traditional thing. Obviously, it’s not hard to imagine, but I want to look at the details like your hands and biceps and all of that. So kneeling, pulling out a ring, holding it up and pretend spiel, all that.”
Perfect.When she’d mentioned needing to stage a proposal weeks ago, the clock had started ticking. I always enjoyed hearing what she was writing but knowing this scene was coming, I’d been on tenterhooks.
I’d known Jo was my future for a long time now—much longer than I’d originally admitted to myself. It’d take time to accept that I didn’t need to be a different person—I could be myself and embrace who I was, and that would allow me to embrace what we had between us.
When I’d seen the book I’d helped her with and read the dedication page, it had confirmed that the heroes Jo was writing were fictional, yes, but that wasn’t what she needed, because she saw me as someone special and, dare I believe it, right for her.
To Doc, the inspiration for this story and so much beyond it.
She’d decided on that dedication long before the book had been published, likely when we were still skating around each other, while I was still in denial about who she was for me.
I’d never stop thanking myself or the people around me for surrendering the stubborn insistence that I couldn’t love her well enough, and today was the next step in our story.
“Okay, so… maybe let’s go outside. It’s so nice out,” I said, walking toward the deck.
“Oh, sure,” she said, grabbing her notebook. She liked to either do a writing sprint or at least jot down notes when we did these kinds of things.
The leaves in my backyard had fallen and created an orange, yellow, and red carpet. The sun was still high and the air crisp but not too cold yet. Another week or two and there’d be snow higher up and we’d be getting hard freezes indefinitely.
She stopped at the top of the deck, pausing to enjoy the view. From where she stood, she could see Silver Ridge Peak and the sisters over the trees, especially as they thinned with leaves changing and falling.
Her hair blew around her, and she nudged her glasses up the bridge of her nose, then tucked her notebook close to her body like she’d caught a slight chill. She was so completely beautiful, and nothing in me doubted what came next. That was a gift she’d given me.
“Come here, Jo.” I held out my hand.
She grinned, suspecting I was beginning the practice. Little does she know. She set her hand in mine and descended the stairs. I led her a few steps away from the bottom, then knelt.
“Jo, I?—”
She laughed. “You don’t actually have to say anything.”
I squeezed her hand and held her gaze. “Josephine.”
Her smile fell and her expression grew serious, like suddenly she saw through me.
“I never believed I could love someone well enough to ask them to share my life. You’ve not only taught me how misguided that belief was but you’ve taught me to see the way I’ve been learning to do that with my whole life, not just with you. And that speaks to how boldly and beautifully you live and love—you do it so well that just by being around you, people are better.”
She sniffed and pressed her lips together, so I kept going.
“I love your persistence and determination to do what you love. I love the way you enjoy your friendships and care for your family and soak in your community. And I love you, the woman you are and the way you share yourself with me.”
She sucked in an audible breath and chuckled a little, not quite crying or laughing but clearly full of the moment. My voice wavered with the same as I continued.
“You gave me the courage to try and helped me see what I couldn’t on my own. You helped me hope for more, and honestly, the day I met you, I started wanting more than I’d ever planned.”
She beamed and chuckled at this.
“I want to keep hoping together. I want to commit to a life together and work together, but I want to keep hoping and loving each other until our last breaths decades from now.”
Her chin wobbled and her eyes filled with tears as she nodded. I released her hand for a second and pulled out a small velvet box, flicking the top open to reveal the ring, and held it up.
“Jo, Josie, Josephine…”
She laughed loudly at this, a little puff of air releasing from her like a pressure release valve
“I love you so much, it’s mined new depths in my soul. I want to keep loving you. Will you do me the incredible honor and inconceivable joy of accepting this ring and becoming my wife and partner for the rest of our lives?”
She laughed and cried all at once, shoulders shaking and eyes leaking as she nodded. “Yes, yes, of course.”
I slipped the ring on her finger and she pulled me up, then pounced, wrapping me in her arms as I did the same to her. Her kiss was frantic and punctuated by laughter. After a moment, we pulled back, and I smoothed the tears from under her eyes with my thumbs.
“That go okay?”
She just laughed and shook her head.
“Should we do it again?” I asked, beaming and a little teary-eyed myself.
“No. I think that’s good. I don’t think I’ll forget any of it.”
With a soft kiss I couldn’t resist, I held her close. My friend, my love, and now my fiancée. “I love you so much.”
She held on with as much determination as she did everything. “I love you, too.”
Thank you for reading Jo and Adam’s love story! Don’t miss the bonus epilogue to get a sneak peek from dear Beast’s perspective! And don’t miss Beast and Jess in their book Fighting For You.