Epilogue Adam
The flashlight beam swings wildly across the campsite as Caitlin tries to hold it steady while helping me untangle our tent. We arrived at Silver Falls State Park two hours later than planned, and we are now trying to assemble our tent in the dark.
“Remind me again why we can’t just give up and go get a hotel room?” Caitlin mutters, the flashlight bouncing again as she shifts position.
“How can I impress you with my manly prowess in the wilderness if I retreat just because of a little darkness?” I reply, trying to connect two pieces that clearly don’t fit together, despite the instruction manual claiming they should, “Besides, I’ve been fantasizing about making love to you in a tent ever since we started planning this trip.
” I drop the mismatched poles and reach for another set, only to knock over our bag of stakes, scattering them across the dirt.
“In order to make love in a tent, we need to first successfully assemble the tent,” Caitlin points out, helping me gather the stakes.
“Oh, I’ll get it assembled. Never fear.”
“I don’t know, for someone who’s spent as much time outdoors as you have, you’re doing an awful lot of fumbling with those poles,” Caitlin teases, putting the flashlight on a rock so it illuminates our workspace and reaching for two poles of her own.
“Yeah, well, I never claimed to be an expert at putting up tents in the dark. I’m more of a daylight tent assembly specialist.” I finally find two pieces that slide together with a satisfying click.
“You should put that on a business card. Adam Kelley: Craftsman and Daylight Tent Assembly Specialist.”
We work in companionable silence for a few minutes, getting the basic frame assembled. As I start to thread a pole through the tent sleeve, I somehow entangle myself in the guy lines. Taking a step to free myself, I trip, stumbling forward and nearly face-planting into the partially erected tent.
“Graceful,” Caitlin comments, not bothering to hide her laughter. “Very outdoorsy.”
“I meant to do that,” I say with as much dignity as possible from my current position on the ground. “It’s a special tent-raising technique.”
“Oh, is that what we’re calling it?” She moves to help me, but steps on the edge of the tent fabric, causing the pole I just inserted to pop free with a twanging sound. It narrowly misses my head before clattering to the ground.
“Come here, you.” I reach for her, still half-tangled in cord, and pull her down beside me. She lands with a soft “oof” against my chest, her hair tickling my chin. “You’re enjoying this way too much,” I tell her, breathing in the scent of her shampoo.
“I am,” she admits, making no move to get up. “Watching you battle inanimate objects is the entertainment I didn’t know I needed.”
“Just wait until you see me try to start the campfire,” I warn her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
She groans dramatically. “We’re going to freeze to death, aren’t we?”
“I’ll keep you warm,” I promise, pulling her tighter against me and pressing my lips to hers.
“Let’s go,” she finally says, pushing herself upright, leaving me breathing hard and aching with desire. “If we don’t move, we’re never going to get this thing set up.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I haul myself to my feet and brush off my jeans.
With renewed focus, we get the poles properly inserted and the tent standing, more or less. It lists slightly to one side, but it’s definitely tent-shaped, which I count as a win.
“Not bad,” Caitlin says, stepping back to admire our handiwork. “It’s only a little lopsided.” She wraps her arms around my waist and rests her cheek against my chest.
I kiss her nose, which is cold in the chill night air. “Ready to go to bed in our only slightly lopsided architectural masterpiece?”
“Not yet,” she says, pulling away to rummage in our bags. “First, fire. Then, food. Then, bed.”
“So demanding,” I tease, but I’m already gathering kindling for the fire pit, eager to see her face illuminated by firelight, to hold her close under the stars.
The fire crackles to life, orange flames licking at the wood I’ve carefully arranged.
It only took three attempts and some choice words muttered under my breath.
Caitlin settles on the blanket we’ve spread, her face glowing in the firelight as she extends her hands toward the warmth.
I sit behind her, legs stretched out on either side, and pull her back against my chest. She comes willingly, melting into me with a contented sigh that sends warmth spreading through me that has nothing to do with the fire.
“See?” I murmur against her hair. “I told you I could get our campsite set up in the dark.”
“I’m super impressed,” she teases, tipping her head back to look up at me, her eyes reflecting the dancing flames.
“As you should be.” I wrap my arms more securely around her middle, holding her close against the evening chill. “It’s not every day you witness such mastery of the elements.”
She laughs, the sound vibrating against my chest, and I press my lips to the top of her head.
Above us, stars pierce the darkness, countless pinpricks of light against the black canvas of the sky.
The campground is quiet except for the crackling of the fire and the chirping of countless insects.
I reach behind us to grab the extra blanket from our supplies and drape it over her legs, tucking it around both of us.
We sit in comfortable silence for a while, watching the flames dance. Caitlin’s breathing slows, her body relaxing further against mine as the fire’s warmth envelops us. My fingers trace idle patterns on her arm beneath the blanket, and I think about how far we’ve come in the last few months.
“What are you thinking about?” Caitlin asks, breaking into my thoughts. “You’ve gone all quiet on me.”
“Just thinking about us,” I reply honestly. “About how lucky I am.”
She turns slightly in my arms to see my face better. “Oh yeah? How lucky are you, exactly?”
“Astronomically lucky.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, letting my fingers linger against her cheek. “Universe-bendingly lucky. The kind of lucky that makes me wonder what I did in a past life to deserve this one.”
Her expression softens, the teasing light in her eyes giving way to something deeper. “I think I’m the lucky one,” she says quietly.
I shake my head. “Nope, it’s definitely me.”
“Let’s say we’re both lucky then.”
“If we must.” I press a kiss to her forehead, then her nose, then finally her lips. She turns more fully in my arms to kiss me properly, her hand coming up to cup my cheek. When we part, I rest my forehead against hers, and my thoughts drift to the small box burning a hole in my pocket.
I’ve been carrying it for weeks, waiting for the right moment.
“Caitlin,” I begin, my voice suddenly rough with emotion. “You know I love you, right?”
She smiles, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “I’ve had my suspicions.”
“I’m serious,” I say, though I can’t help smiling back. “I love you in a way I didn’t know was possible before I met you. Complete, all-consuming, terrifying love.”
Her smile fades slightly, her expression growing more serious as she registers my tone. “I love you too, Adam. More than I could have ever imagined.”
Her eyes are shimmering now, reflecting the firelight. I shift slightly, reaching into my pocket with one hand while keeping the other firmly around her waist.
“I want to spend my life with you,” I tell her, my voice low and intense.
“Not just the good times. I want everything. I want mornings when you’re grumpy before coffee and evenings when we’re both too tired to cook.
I want arguments about whose turn it is to do the dishes and making up afterward.
I want to build furniture while you experiment with new recipes.
I want Sunday dinners with your family. I want to have kids with you, and I want to grow old with you.
I want a real, messy, beautiful life with you. ”
I pull out the small velvet box, and her eyes widen as she sees it. With slightly trembling fingers, I open it to reveal the ring inside; a simple band of white gold with a small, perfect diamond flanked by two tiny sapphires.
“Caitlin Hughes,” I say, my voice catching slightly, “will you marry me? Will you build that life with me?”
She stares at the ring, then at me, her eyes wide and full of tears. For one heart-stopping moment, she’s silent, and I wonder if I’ve misread everything. Then her face breaks into the most radiant smile I’ve ever seen.
“Yes,” she whispers, and then louder, “Yes! Of course, yes!”
My hands are shaking as I take the ring from the box and slide it onto her finger. It fits perfectly.
She stares at it for a moment, then launches herself at me with such force that I fall back onto the blanket, her body pressed against mine.
Her lips find mine in a kiss that’s equal parts joy and hunger.
I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight against me as if she might float away if I let go.
“I love you,” she murmurs against my lips. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
I roll us over so she’s beneath me now, the firelight casting golden shadows across her face. Her hair fans out on the blanket, her eyes bright with happiness, and the sight of her, finally my fiancée once again, steals my breath away.
As I lower my mouth to hers again, feeling her arms wind around my neck to pull me closer, I can’t help but think that whatever Caitlin says, I’m the lucky one.
This brilliant, beautiful, fierce woman is mine, has chosen to be mine for the rest of our lives.
Despite everything, she loves me. And as we lose ourselves in each other, with the fire crackling beside us and the stars wheeling overhead; I make a silent promise to spend every day making sure she never regrets that choice.