Epilogue
“Oh, no you don”t.”I tightened my grip on Pete the Dog’s leash. He”d become an expert at wrenching free of his collar to chase squirrels during our daily walks, but I”d also learned a thing or two about how to handle him in the past twelve months.
“He almost got you that time.” Frannie passed us on her way up our favorite trail with a lightness in her step.
I’d been working on making it to the top of the mountain all summer long. Frannie had been by my side as I recuperated and regained my strength after the surgery I”d had at the beginning of the year. We’d had the whole summer together, but tomorrow she”d be headed back to work.
I”d miss her stopping by the warehouse to bring me lunch every day, and the few times I’d called in late so we could play hooky and linger longer in bed.
“You think you”ll go all the way today?” Frannie asked.
“We”ll see how I feel,” I told her. I”d learned the hard way not to push myself beyond my limitations. As much as I hated feeling or appearing weak, the best way for me to heal was to take things slow. What she didn”t know was that I”d made the trek to the top a couple times in the past two weeks to make sure I could go all the way today. It was important to reach the summit for what I had planned.
“I think you can do it. You”ve been making great progress. You might even be able to complete the fundraiser 10k this year if you keep up the good work.” I could tell by the sass in her tone that she was teasing. One thing hadn’t changed between us—she still loved giving me crap.
“Are you planning on signing up so you can run next to me the whole way?”
“Absolutely not. In fact, I”m turning that entire project over to Charice. She raised more money for the school than I ever did when I was in charge. Maybe we should book a getaway to Nashville that weekend.” Frannie glanced back at me. I liked it when she took the lead since it gave me a great view of her backside. “I”d hate for you to have to watch Andrew Stewart cross the finish line and break another record.”
“You never get tired of rubbing it in, do you?” I let out an exaggerated sigh. We’d reached a place in our relationship where I could tolerate her giving me crap about how competitive I’d been. I wish I could go back and tell that version of myself that my priorities were all fucked-up. Maybe I could have avoided the public humiliation of face-planting in the middle of Main Street, but I doubt I would have listened.
“If you weren’t so easy to tease, I wouldn’t take such pleasure in it.” She waited for me to catch up and held out her hand. “We’re almost to the top. You’re going to make it.”
I twined my fingers with hers and tried to calm my nerves. Over the past year, I’d learned a lot about what it meant to love someone. I hated to admit it, but Miller had been right. It wasn’t just enough to love Frannie, I’d had to let her love me back. That was the hardest part, but it had been so worth it.
I’d had help. Weekly meetings with a therapist had provided a lot of insight in to why I felt the way I did and tips on how to heal a lot of the hurts from my past. Frannie’s dad had recommended a support group for veterans, and even though I still felt awkward as fuck sitting in on the meetings, I’d made a few friends and appreciated knowing I wasn’t alone in dealing with how to move on and leave the past behind me.
The effort I’d been putting in hadn’t gone unnoticed. Even my dad commented on how much I’d changed, and we’d started spending more time together. With time, maybe we’d figure out a way to heal our relationship.
Today would be the ultimate test, though. If Frannie said yes, then everything I’d gone through over the past year would be well worth it.
“Oh no.” She squeezed my hand as we reached the top of the trail. “We shouldn’t be here. It looks like someone set this up to celebrate a special occasion.”
Good. She had no idea I’d conned Miller and Vaughn into trekking up here early this morning to drop off the blanket and picnic basket.
“No one’s here yet. We should see what they brought.” I tugged her toward our spot—the one where we’d taken a selfie last year on the day before school started.
“Evan! Don’t go snooping around in someone else’s stuff.” She tried to pull me away as I bent down to peek inside the basket.
I held up the bottle of cold sparkling wine. “Hey, there’s bubbly.”
“Put that back. Let’s grab a quick selfie, then get out of here so we don’t ruin their plans.”
“What about our plans?” I left the bottle in the basket and pulled her into my arms. “I’ve always thought of this as our spot, and I’m not sure I want to share it with anyone.”
She glanced down the trail like she expected to see someone following right behind us. “We can go somewhere else.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere else. Pete the Dog likes it here, too. Don’t you, buddy?”
Frannie rolled her eyes. “I’m serious. We should go.”
“We’re not going anywhere.” I loosened my grip and awkwardly sank down onto one knee.
“Are you okay? Is it your leg?” Her eyes filled with concern and she crouched down next to me.
“No, it’s not my leg. You need to stand up.” With as much thought as I put in to how to set up the perfect proposal, it never occurred to me that Frannie might think I was injured.
“If it’s bothering you, we can rest for a few minutes.”
A year ago, I would have been pissed at myself for ruining the moment. Thank fuck I’d grown enough to find humor in the situation. “Moon pie, I’m trying to propose. Think you could stand up for a second?”
Her eyes widened as she struggled back to her feet. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about.” I stared up at her and reached for her hand. “In fact, this is perfect. It’s so us.”
“If it’s so us, then I want to be sitting next to you, not towering over you when you ask me.” Holding my hand, Frannie sank back down until we were eye to eye. “Go ahead. I’m ready.”
“Are you sure? Because I can wait another ten months or so if—”
“Yes.” She cupped my cheeks between her palms and pressed her mouth to mine.
I’d expected her to say yes, but I figured I would be able to actually ask the question first. Without breaking the kiss, I lowered my ass to the ground and pulled her into my lap.
She broke contact first and opened her eyes. “You were asking me to marry you, weren’t you?”
“I was thinking about it,” I teased. “Do you want me to make it official?”
Nodding, she pulled her bottom lip into mouth and held it in place with her teeth.
“I had a whole speech worked up, Frannigan. I was going to talk about how much you mean to me and how long I’ve loved you.”
“Just ask me, Evan.”
I stared into her eyes and saw the girl I’d fallen in love with and the strong, beautiful woman she’d become. She was my everything—my past, my present, and my future. I’d known it all along and was so thankful she’d given me the chance to prove we belonged together.
“Frannie Masterson, will you marry me?”
“Yes.” She whispered the word against my lips, already leaning forward to seal her promise with a kiss.
Pete the Dog couldn’t stand to be left out of the fun. He burrowed his big, wet nose between us until we made enough room for him to curl up in my lap as well.
“Should we celebrate with some champagne?” I asked.
“I should have known you were responsible for this.”
Reaching for the bottle while trying not to disturb the giant mutt, I shot Frannie a grin. “I’m going to do my best to keep you on your toes, future Mrs. Bishop.”
“Oh, I like the sound of that.”
“What? Being called Mrs. Bishop or me keeping you on your toes?”
“Both.”
Her laughter mingled with mine, echoing off the mountainside as Pete the Dog thumped his tail against our legs, a perfect witness to the beginning of our forever.