Epilogue
Chase
August
The sound of an engine approaching pulls me from where I'm working in the barn. I wipe my hands on my jeans and head outside, squinting against the late summer sun. It's Eli's truck, kicking up dust as it rolls down the long driveway.
"Mail delivery," he yells out when he pulls to a stop. "I had to come out and check with the Henderson's, so I thought I'd bring everyone's mail."
"Could've just left it at the road," I tell him, but I'm grinning. He's been out here a few times this year. The first time he came out, he brought the finalized divorce papers for Paisley.
"And miss seeing how you two are doing? Not a chance." He hands me a stack of envelopes and a couple of packages. "Expect to see you in the office before the bridge gets washed out again in a few months."
"Soon," I promise.
"I'll let them know. I've got some more packages to deliver."
He tips his hat and drives off with a wave, and I stand there looking down at the mail. Most of it is bills and junk, but there's a manila envelope addressed to Paisley that catches my attention. No return address, but the postmark is from New York.
I head back to the house, where Paisley is in the kitchen making bread, kneading the dough easier than she used to. Biscuit is on the counter, which she's not supposed to be, but Paisley's given up trying to enforce that rule.
"Mail came," I say, setting the stack on the table.
She looks up, flour on her cheek. "Anything interesting?"
"This is for you." I hand her the manila envelope.
Her eyes widen when she sees it, and her hands shake slightly as she takes it from me. "I wasn't expecting anything."
"You gonna open it?"
She sets down the dough and wipes her hands on a towel before carefully tearing open the envelope. Inside is a stack of papers, and as she reads, I watch her face go from curious to shocked to absolutely radiant.
"Oh my God."
"What is it?"
"It's a contract." She looks up at me, eyes shining with tears. "For my book. They want to publish my book."
"Paisley, that's amazing!" I pull her into my arms, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around. She laughs, the sound bright and joyful.
"I sent it off back in February when I finished it. I thought no one would want it. It's dark and weird and probably too intense, but..." She looks back down at the contract. "They want it. They actually want it."
"Of course they want it. It's brilliant. You're brilliant."
She kisses me, hard and fast. "Thank you for believing in me."
"Always."
She's so focused on the contract that she doesn't notice me reaching for the other small box that was in the mail. Well, not really in the mail. I put it there this morning when I knew Eli was coming.
"There was something else for you," I say.
"What?"
I hand her the small velvet box, and her breath catches.
"Chase..."
"Open it."
Her hands are shaking as she lifts the lid. Inside is a ring, an emerald surrounded by small diamonds. It catches the light streaming through the window, throwing green sparkles across her face.
"It reminded me of your eyes," I tell her. "How they're sometimes so green, it's like the grass in summer."
Before she can say anything, I drop to one knee. Her hand flies to her mouth, and tears are already streaming down her face.
"Paisley, I knew from the moment I saw you in that field that my life was about to change. I just didn't know how much. You've made me want to live again, not just exist. You've shown me that loving someone doesn't have to end in loss, that opening my heart isn't a weakness but a strength."
I take the ring from the box, holding it up to her.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to build something real here, something lasting. Will you marry me?"
"Yes." The word comes out choked with emotion. "Yes, of course I'll marry you."
I slip the ring onto her finger, and it fits perfectly. She pulls me to my feet and kisses me, and I can taste the salt from her tears.
"I love you," she says against my lips.
"I love you too. Somethin' fierce."
She laughs through her tears. "Did you really just say that?"
"I did. Because it's true. From the moment I pulled you out of that car, saved you from that field, I knew you were going to matter to me. I just didn't know you'd end up meaning everything."
We stand there in the kitchen, holding each other, the bread forgotten on the counter and Biscuit meowing for attention. Outside, Blackjack whines from the pasture, and the sun shines bright in the sky.
When I met her, I was a man just going through the motions, convinced that love was something in my past. And Paisley was a woman so broken she couldn't see a future worth living for.
But we found each other. We saved each other.
And now we have forever to figure out what comes next.
"So," she says, pulling back to look at me. "I'm going to be a published author and a wife?"
"Looks like it."
"That's a lot of change from the day we met."
"Good change though, right?"
She looks around the cabin, at the life we've built together here. At the home we've made. "The best change. The best life."
I kiss her again, slower this time, savoring it. "Yeah. It really is."
And as we stand there, wrapped in each other's arms, I send up a silent thank you to whatever force brought her to my field that day. To whatever twist of fate put us in each other's paths.
Because this woman? She saved my life just as much as I saved hers.
And I'm going to love her somethin' fierce for the rest of our lives.