Epilogue
CALEB
Ethan tugs on my arm and points at the cotton candy cart near the entrance.
"Caleb, can I get the blue one?" I promised Olivia I'd bring him to this festival, though it's not really my thing.
But he's excited, and with her running Helen's boutique booth, I want to do my part.
Besides, today is the day I picked to surprise her.
"After your mom's booth slows down."
"But it's right there." He's a little whiney today, but I’m learning to understand his moods.
"And it'll still be right there in an hour.
" I steer him through the crowd toward the vendor tents lining the main drag of downtown Troy.
The festival packs the streets with families and food carts and kids darting between booths.
And somewhere in the middle of it, Olivia runs the show.
Helen pulled strings to get the boutique a prime spot near the stage, and Olivia's been set up since nine this morning.
We find her tent about halfway down the row.
She stands behind the register talking to a customer gesturing with her hands.
Her face is lit up, and three other women browse the racks behind her.
Helen promoted her to manager last month, and watching her work today makes it obvious why.
She handles the crowd and the inventory and three conversations at once without dropping a beat. God, she's incredible.
Ethan ducks under the tent flap and wraps himself around her waist while she's still talking, and she continues for a second before the customer pauses. "Mom, they have blue cotton candy."
"I heard." She kisses the top of his head and rings up a candle for the woman in front of her. "Give me an hour and we'll go get some together."
"Caleb said after the booth slows down."
"Caleb's right." She looks up at me over Ethan's head and smiles. At times, I feel like a real parent, but only because Olivia acknowledges that I'm really trying to be a good influence. I hope that one day, Ethan sees it too.
I take Ethan's hand and pry him away from her while she finishes dealing with her few customers, and I know now is the time. I've been waiting a few weeks for this, but Olivia is in her element, and I know what this will mean to her.
I crouch down next to Ethan while Olivia turns back to her customer. He looks at me, and I reach into my pocket to pull out a small ring box and open it between us. "Hey, shh," I say, grinning.
His eyes go wide and his mouth drops open. "Is that for Mom?" he whispers.
"It's for both of you." I hold his gaze. "I want to ask your mom to marry me, but I'm not doing it without you next to me. You're part of this, buddy. You think that's okay?"
He stares at the ring, and when he looks up at me, I can tell how happy I'm making him. "She's going to cry," he says. I just hope he's right, and that they're happy tears.
"She probably will."
"She's gonna love it, Caleb." He laughs, but he throws his arms around me in a big hug, and I know in my heart this is the right thing to do.
This kid has had a rough few years, and not getting to see his father for a while is hard on him even now.
I'm not trying to replace Derek, but I can be a good influence on Ethan, regardless.
"Let's do it," he says into my chest.
We stand up and turn toward the booth. Olivia finishes with her customer and hands the woman a bag, and when she looks up she sees us standing there side by side. Ethan's eyes are moist, and I swear if Helen, who stands across the booth, doesn't pick her jaw up, we'll have to call the EMS.
"Why does Ethan look like he's been crying?" Olivia asks, stepping out from behind the register.
"Happy tears," Ethan says, smiling. He's no good at this yet, but one day, he'll probably be better than me at it.
Olivia looks at the box in my hand and I watch it click.
Her hand flies to her mouth and her eyes fill.
She can't believe this any more than Ethan could seconds ago, but I want them both. Life just won’t ever feel complete again without this.
Though it's super fast, I don't need more time to know she's my everything.
"Olivia, I'm not sure how you managed to remove the grumpy old man from my heart, but you did, and I'm not sure I could ever be happy with anyone else.
" I glance at Ethan and then back at her.
"Will you marry us?" I pause, but she doesn't respond instantly, so I say, "I mean…
Marry me, Liv, and let me show you how much you mean to me. How much both of you mean to me."
Ethan tugs her arm. "Say yes, Mom," he tells her, bouncing on his toes.
She laughs, shaking her head before the word comes out. "Yes," she mutters as tears fill her eyes. "Yes, of course."
I hear Helen applauding, but when I wrap my arms around Olivia, the rest of the world vanishes.
It’s just me and her in this moment as she happily cries into my chest. Then I cradle both of her cheeks and kiss her.
When Ethan tugs on my T-shirt, I pause, holding Olivia's gaze for a second before I turn to him.
"What's up, Champ?"
"Does this mean you're moving in now?" he asks.
"Buddy, I'm not sure, but I would like to very much." I glance at Olivia who is wiping tears from her cheeks and showing Helen the ring.
"Well, if you do, can we get a deeper pool?"
I laugh, a deep, rich belly laugh that shakes my whole body and spreads to everyone in the tent. In less than one year, I've gone from knowing my purpose to not knowing which way was up. And now the only thing I know is I want to love one woman every day for the rest of my life.
"The biggest," I tell him, tousling his hair.
"Come on, Ethan," Helen says, switching the "Open" sign on the table to "Closed". She reaches for Ethan's hand. "Let's go get some cotton candy and give your mom and Caleb a minute.”
Ethan takes Helen's hand, and they step out of the booth into the mass of passing festivalgoers.
When Olivia's arms drape around my neck, I rest my hands on her hips comfortably.
I've gotten used to having her by my side a lot.
I spend the night at her house several times a week.
And with as much time as we spend together, I've got a toothbrush at her house too.
It's only natural that we take the obvious next step.
"You want to marry me?" She's smiling now, no more tears, just joy.
"God, more than anything. Is that okay?" Only the eternal optimist could make me come out of my grumpy-ass shell and fall in love. She's perfect to me in every way.
"More than okay…"
Things still loom over our heads, like the fact that we'll both have to testify at Derek's trial in October, but that's still a month away.
And when that's all said and done with, we'll have to talk to a judge about how much time Derek should be able to spend with his son, because Ethan deserves to know his father.
But for now, things seem like they're headed in the right direction, and that's more than Olivia thought would happen when all this started.
"And you want to move in?" She's eyeing me skeptically, but I have a better solution.
"Or you could sell that house and we could shop for one we both love, closer to Ethan's school, maybe…" I would live in a cardboard box with her and she knows it.
"I like the sound of that… And a spring wedding."
"Yes," I whisper as I lean in and kiss her.
More than anything, I want to make her the happiest woman alive. And I will live every day for the rest of my life trying to make that happen. "Just promise me you'll let me take your name." She snickers. "I hate the last name Bennett."
"I can’t say I blame you."
One more kiss and we've sealed our future. I'm going to marry this woman. And that makes my whole life feel like it has a point now. "I love you, Olivia."
"I love you too, Mr. Morgan…" She hums. "Olivia Morgan. I could get used to that."