EPILOGUE （The Scott Backyard）
“Shh! He’s coming!” I hiss.
“Val is going to hate this,” Nash mumbles. I fire a sharp look at him, and he shrugs. “He will. He told you not to make a big deal about his birthday.”
“And I didn’t.”
“A surprise party, by definition, is a big deal.”
“Who invited you anyway?”
Nash’s lips tip up in a grin.
“Welcome to my world,” Paige mutters.
Whatever. I’m not letting my broody friend ruin this moment. I learned two horrifying facts just over a month ago when the subject of Val’s twenty-fourth birthday came up:
He didn’t care and had no intention of celebrating it.
He’d never had a surprise party.
Neither were acceptable, so here we are. For his sake, I kept it small to just over a hundred close family and friends. Alright, so maybe that’s a tad more than small, but once I started listing the people who really cared about him, well… Hey, I was able to narrow it down to one-fifty. And then only a hundred could actually make it, so there.
I can’t stop a grin when I think about his adorable expression this morning when I surprised him with breakfast in bed and birthday sex. The breakfast in bed was a huge hit. The birthday sex needed some very aggressive coaxing, though, since he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of—and I quote—“F-wording their daughter with your parents just down the hall.”
They weren’t even home since they had bowling league practice this morning (or so Val thought), and I finally managed to persuade him with an eloquent, carefully constructed verbal argument. It’s possible the birthday lingerie I put on and mercilessly flaunted also played a role, but there’s no way to be sure.
Then we got him out of the way by sending him with Dad to do father-son bonding stuff like “hunting.” Since neither of them wanted to kill anything or fire a gun, I’m not exactly sure what that entailed. The only update has been a picture of Dad standing proudly beside a taxidermy buck in a sporting goods store. Val’s accompanying text confirmed my suspicion:
Success! Just “bagged” my first ever 2-for-1 deal on swim trunks. We’re about to go “fishing” for thermal socks next. Wish me luck!
And now they’re on their way back. Time for the real fun. (Well, second real fun. Birthday sex is pretty fun, even when your boyfriend keeps pausing to whisper, “Wait! Did you hear that? How long is bowling practice again?”)
“I’m so nervous!” Chad whisper-shouts beside me. His entire body is vibrating like he really might be. In his defense, I didn’t invite him until yesterday out of concern for his ability to keep a secret. It was a risk even telling him at all, but I couldn’t imagine celebrating Val’s birthday without his “tour bestie.” Chad booked the first flight he could get—and brought his girlfriend, who I’m not entirelysure knows she’s his girlfriend.
Speaking of tour besties, the infamous joint tour is officially wrapped. All parties involved in the scandal agreed to complete the tour for the sake of the fans and sever official ties after the final show. Lakebend has been surprisingly amenable to my demands in exchange for my willingness to keep the mountain of evidence we have against them to ourselves. Not only could we prove all the awful things they were planning, we could have made their lives miserable for a very long time. They gave me my unreleased songs, waived any remaining provisions in my contract, and even sent a gift basket thanking me for being a valued artist and wishing me luck.
Jarvis isn’t faring as well navigating his crushed reputation, however. In a head-scratching move, he still went ahead with releasing the “breakup song,” but apparently singing about your heartbreak boots doesn’t have the same effect when the world knows you’re the reason you’re stuck walking around in them. Guess he got his precious cheating scandal after all.
The best part? His song hasn’t come close to Val’s and my hit “Third Last Kiss” which made several charts and even got a Hot Rat Track stamp from The Tattletale Review. (It’s a good thing, trust me.) Our new label is thrilled, as is Jarvis’ former assistant, Mallory, who I hired to replace Steve who decided he needed to replace Sage and Coriander. So now it’s Steve following me around sipping iced coffee and telling me how great I look in everything. I don’t mind. At least I like having him around and I know he cares about me. As for Sage and Coriander… I don’t know, actually. I don’t follow their vlog. I also haven’t seen a single Cagelicious light fixture for sale, so I guess that dream died.
My phone lights up with a text from Dad letting me know they’re pulling in.
Eek! It’s happening!
Also, Nash is right. Val will hate this, but he’ll forgive me because he forgives me everything. Then, once he reflects on it, he’ll love it, and that’s the moment I live for: when his cloud slips and frees a ray of the sunlight hidden inside him. It’s been happening more and more over these past few months, and I’m dying for a glimpse of it today.
Everyone is deathly quiet at the scrape of the latch on the fence leading to the backyard. Will Val think it’s weird Dad’s taking him through the yard instead of the house? Probably, but oh well.
The gate swings open and…
“Happy birthday!”
“Surprise!”
“Val!”
“It’s your birthday!”
“Hey yo!”
“Hi!”
“Woot!”
“Happy Labor Day!”
Crap. I guess I should have locked in a script for this part. Val’s utter confusion kind of makes it work, though.
His wide eyes scan the crowd, the tote from shopping with my dad swinging loosely at his side.
I step forward, and his gaze snaps to me.
“Did you… what… I don’t…”
My grin stretches my cheeks as I slide my arms around him.
“Surprise, baby,” I say, squeezing tight. “Happy birthday.”
“This is for me?”
I lean back and search his bewildered expression. “Of course it is.”
His gaze lifts to survey the guests again, and I see the moment he recognizes each one.
“See how many people love you?” I say softly. “This is how many people chose you, Val Andrews.”
He blinks away emotion as his focus flickers back to me. “I… thank you. I can’t believe this.”
“Well, believe it.” I settle my cheek against his chest again. “And you’re really in for a surprise when you see the mound of gifts people brought, even though I told them not to.”
“This is amazing, but…”
My heart sinks. “But what?”
He gently tugs my hair to see my face again. “I already had plans today.”
I give him a look, and he returns a sheepish smile.
“Well, you’re going to have to cancel them.”
He shakes his head. “Sorry. Can’t. I promised your dad.”
I step back. “What? You have to. All these people…”
He sighs and scoops the tote off the ground.
“Dad! You knew about this! Tell him,” I demand, glaring at my father. That traitor just shrugs.
“Hey, I’m not getting in the middle of a lovers’ quarrel.”
“Guess we’ll just have to do this in front of everyone else,” Val says.
“Do what?”
He pulls out a small blue box and… oh my gosh!
Tears spring to my eyes as I gasp and cover my mouth. No way! Can’t be!
Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh.
His soft laugh confirms it, and when I see the beam on Dad’s face as he places his hand on Val’s shoulder, there’s no point trying to stop the sob-fest.
Val clears his throat and searches my eyes.
“Larinda Scott, I planned to do this in private.” His tone is quiet but firm. “There’s so much I wanted to say to you, but I guess one of the things I love most about us is that we don’t have to say things. It’s always been that way with us.”
I can’t breathe as he opens the box to reveal the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen. Tiny gems fan from left to right, starting at an almost invisible size and stacking to a width of just over a centimeter by the end. It’s delicate but complex, and completely stunning. The shape and way the gems sparkle in the light make them look like a comet… or shooting star… or…
A ray of sunlight.
More tears fall when I interpret the unconventional design. It’s perfect. Of course it’s perfect. It’s Val.
“From the moment your radiant light burst into my shadows, I knew I would never find another woman like you. I would never love someone, cherish someone, or revere someone the way I would if you chose me, even though it seemed impossible. I still can’t believe you did, but in front of all these witnesses, I want to make it clear I will always choose you too. Larinda Scott, please do me the honor of not being my wife.”
I freeze and drop my hands. What did he just say? Did I hear him wrong? Did he say it wrong?
A murmur spreads over the crowd, confirming my fears that he said what I think he said. I don’t understand. Why would he?—
“Say no,” Paige whispers, leaning in. When I glance over, her own cheeks are wet with tears. She’s smiling too. “He wants you to say no.”
What? Why?
My gaze snaps back to Val who’s now grinning. What is going on?
Wait.
“Please do me the honor of not being my wife.”
Say no.
Please not be his wife.
NO!
I burst out laughing, which sends another shockwave through the audience.
He knows how much I wish I had said no to my first proposal. How much I love saying no in general now. He’s giving me the opposite of what I got (and hated) from Jarvis. He’s giving me the first proposal ever where the person gets to say no to say yes.
Of course he would flip the most clichéd script of human behavior on its head.
“Not a chance!” I cry, throwing my arms around him. “I will not not be your wife.”
He squeezes so tight, I start giggling again.
“Whew. Thank god,” he says just for me.
“You’re a dork, you know that? You gave me a heart attack for a second.”
“Sorry. It worked better in my head. So that’s a no?”
“It’s a hell no.”
We exchange a grin, and I melt into his soft kiss.
“I will always choose you,” I whisper against his lips.
“I will always choose you too,” he whispers back.
He tilts my head up for another kiss, and the audience finally bursts into applause and cheers.
“We really should explain what just happened,” I say as I pull away to slip on the stunning engagement ring. I will never be taking this off. “Everyone is so confused.”
Val threads our fingers and squeezes my palm. “Nah, it’s all part of the code. They can read Chad’s report tomorrow.”