Epilogue
Two Years Later
Alice
"A re you sure you’re ready for this?”
“Not my first time under the gun, Ace.” Jake winks and turns around to face me while he walks backward through the drizzling rain. He holds up both arms, showcasing his artwork. “Are you sure you’re ready? No chickening out now. We’re here.”
“I’m good. Not my first time either,” I remind him, pointing at my neck.
Despite his teasing, I know if I really did change my mind about this one, he wouldn’t hold it against me. But it doesn’t matter, I’m not backing down. I’ve never been more ready for anything.
He pulls the door open and waits while I walk inside ahead of him. We both shake the rain from our hair, and I shiver when a blast of air conditioning meets my wet skin.
“Welcome to Ink. I’m the artist on staff today. Do you have an appointment?” The woman at the counter asks.
“Sure do.”
We’re here on the two-year anniversary of the storm that threw us together so we can get the matching funnel cloud tattoos Jake designed. After surviving a literal hurricane and tornado and getting swept up in our own stormy romance, it seemed fitting. We have a lot to celebrate.
Just Art is doing so well we’ve opened a second location in Marnock this year. Shelia even stopped by the opening to say hello.
Things are still strained with Jake's parents, and he has decided to keep contact limited. He doesn’t want to cut them off completely since it is almost impossible not to cross paths in a town as small as ours, and he still has hope they can repair the damage that’s been done. But he’s no longer the one to initiate interactions with them. If they want to have a relationship with their son, they need to come to him. At least for now, things between us and his family are peaceful when we are in the same space.
I created an indie imprint to help other authors publish their work, and I signed a contract last week with my first writer. My own books don’t bring in a ton of income, but they have steady sales, and Jake draws all the artwork for them. I even got a five-star review recently from someone with the username Ratty Professor that said I may have previously misjudged this author. She has shown a lot of growth in her recent work . That one definitely made me smile.
Jake pulls a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and shows the tattoo artist the sketch he drew. It’s small and tasteful, just a few squiggly lines. The swirl almost looks like someone was testing to see if a pen ran out of ink, except when you look closely it’s much more intentional. There’s an almost floral flourish to it. I’m so excited to have a tiny piece of Jake’s art with me, permanently.
“Nice. Where would you like to place these?”
Jake points to his chest. He plans to put his next to the tattoo he surprised me with last month. He got an Ace of Hearts card done right over his heart.
“And you?” The receptionist turns to me.
I swallow and gather my nerves. I haven’t talked to Jake about this idea yet, but I know where I want mine.
“Um, I was thinking right here.” I point to my left ring finger.
Jake looks at me. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
I nod, smiling cautiously. I’m not sure how he feels about this. I still don’t want to get married in the traditional sense. But I do want the promise of forever with him.
“You about to get down on one knee for me, Alice?” His grin is contagious.
“Nah. I’m not doing this with your crotch in my face.”
“I mean, it wouldn’t hurt your chances,” he teases.
“Are you going to let me do this or not?”
“By all means.” He makes a sweeping gesture to signify that I have the floor.
I take a breath and look up into his eyes. “Jacob Gibson, against all odds I seem to have fallen completely and totally in love with you. Marriage is still off the table,but will you commit to infinity with me and be my partner through whatever additional crazy storms life throws at us? Turns out you’re pretty great at that, and I really want to keep you around.”
“Hell yes, I’m going to be yours to annoy and cherish forever.” He picks me up and sets me on the checkout desk so he can kiss me the way he wants to: deeply, with a lot of tongue. The artist clears her throat, but Jake holds up one finger for her to please give us a minute. He breaks the kiss but keeps his forehead connected to mine as he reaches into his jacket pocket to pull out a little velvet box. “You beat me to it, but we are definitely on the same page. I had a whole plan. I was going to take you to dinner in Marnock after this, then drive out to Uncle Tim’s cottage and give this to you there. I booked it for the weekend. There are real sheets on the bed now and everything.”
I laugh while he lifts the lid from the box to reveal a silver locket. The front is engraved with our initials in the same style as the Just Art logo. When I open the heart-shaped pendant, instead of a photo, there is a tiny hand-drawn portrait of the two of us with Hazel in the middle. I miss her so much.
Tears spring to my eyes while he hooks the necklace around me. It figures, he already had a plan. “Tell me more about this grand gesture at the cottage. What would you have said?”
He doesn’t even take a second to think before he recites, “Alice Caulfield, you’re the most important person in my life, and I never want to spend another day without you. I’m sorry we wasted so much time fighting this, and I’m so glad that storm finally pushed us together. Please commit to making me the happiest man on the planet by agreeing to never marry me.”
“I think that can be arranged.”
“Perfect. Then by the power of this tattoo parlor, in front of absolutely no one except…sorry what was your name?” he asks our artist.
“Molly.” She pops her gum. Molly seems mildly amused by us, but mostly bored.
“Then with Molly as our witness, do you hereby swear to commit to spend forever with me?” Jake asks.
“I do.”
“Cool. I do, too.”
My arms still hang loosely around his neck, and I wrap my feet around his waist to pull him in for one more kiss before he spins us and carries me over to the chair. I hear the low buzz of the needle, and I register when it pricks my skin, but I barely feel a thing because I’m too busy floating on a cloud of my own joy.
We’re here, sticking it out with each other every day, because it’s the choice we wake up and make over and over again. I choose him, and he chooses me. We don’t need the ceremony or fanfare. We don’t want all the drama that comes with big weddings. Ironic, maybe, considering how this all started. But all Jake and I need is each other.
He decides to get his funnel cloud on his finger as well, and it doesn’t take long before the tiny tattoos are finished. Jake pays Molly, making sure to leave a large tip to make up for shushing her earlier.
Then he reaches out for me, and I walk out into the world for the first time with my new ink, hand-in-hand with the last person on Earth I ever expected to call mine.
The rain is coming down harder now. We ignore it as Jake pulls me to his body. He bends toward me, and as the water soaks into our clothes, I stand on my tiptoes, stretching up to meet his lips. Nothing else in my life has ever felt as right as it does to be standing here in the rain with Jacob Freaking Gibson.
“You’re stuck with me now, Ace. It’s in writing.” He holds up his left hand, then he takes mine and brings my ring finger to his lips, careful to keep his touch near my knuckles and away from the newly sensitive skin.
Igrab his jacket and pull him back for one more kiss. “You won’t hear any arguments from me.”