EPILOGUE
“You’re going to have to get along with her after all,” I tell Will when I catch him sneering at Gia from across my cabin.
For her part, she seems oblivious to Will as she acts like a Party Mom, gathering used napkins and discarded plates.
It’s officially summer break. This semester was such a whirlwind, and we have so much to celebrate, it felt right to throw a party.
The day after the special committee meeting, Brie got a call from Geri Belinger offering her the full-time position.
Mrs. Beaufort and my dad were alone in voting against Brie.
Geri was appalled by the way she was treated and liked the way Brie stood up for herself.
Walter Lemons, the fifth on the committee, was persuaded by what I had to say about her.
And Judge Beaufort, judicious as he is, wanted evidence our relationship was affecting her job, since that was the basis for his wife’s vote.
He had his court clerk call every single family with a student in Brie’s class.
The raving reviews convinced him she’s an asset.
“Leave it, Gia,” I call. “Go get yourself a drink.”
She lifts a challenging eyebrow at me as she reaches for another plate, and I chuckle.
“Pretty sure she’s not used to being told what to do,” I mutter to Will.
“Sounds right,” he mumbles into his drink.
Normally, I’d push him on this, but this isn’t the time or the place. Besides, he gets points for finding me at the Jamboree that day.
I leave him to stew and look for my girlfriend.
My cabin’s packed. Lizzie and Finn Santos, another rising third-grader whose parents work at the school, tuck and roll around furniture, spying on adults.
Teachers and staff from school mingle. Ethan walked in with Abbi not that long ago, and I saw Tess’s blond ponytail bobbing over the crowd at some point.
Nearly everyone Brie and I care about is here.
The front door opens, and in comes Mara, Brie’s younger sister, with Tucker, her firefighter boyfriend. She smiles like I’m just who she wanted to see.
“Hey,” I say.
I give her a friendly hug. Tucker and I shake hands as he’s immediately drawn into conversation with Senora Martinez behind us. He keeps his pinkie linked to Mara’s.
“I have something for you,” she says, holding up a gift bag.
“You didn’t have to,” I say. “This isn’t a house warming party.”
She thrusts it toward me. “This isn’t a house warming gift.”
I eye her suspiciously before reaching in. My hand closes on something soft and rolled up. I pull it out. A pair of boxers unfurl, Bob Ross smiling proudly at me from every inch.
“Welcome to the family,” she grins. “I’m not sure Gia wears hers, but we all have a pair.”
Her words hit me hard. We are family. Because even though Brie and I have only been together a short while, we’re forever. There’s no doubt about that anymore.
“Thank you,” I laugh, giving her another hug, the kind a brother might give a little sister. “I was hoping for these at Christmas.”
She beams. “I couldn’t wait that long.” She lowers her voice to a stage whisper. “But I have another idea for Christmas.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“I hope everyone likes Fred Rogers as much as Bob Ross.” She winks just as Tucker tugs at her pinkie, folding her into whatever he’s talking about with Senora Martinez.
“Thanks, Mara, I love them,” I holler, and drop the bag off in my room before hunting for Brie again.
“Seen Brie?” I ask Ethan quietly as Abbi and Nash chat politely. Tess’s brother is in the process of moving to Blue Ridge this weekend, so I appreciate him making an appearance.
Ethan shakes his head.
“Do you have lots of friends here from school?” Abbi asks Nash.
He tips his head toward me and Ethan. “I’d call these guys friends, but not really, no. I only lived in Blue Ridge for part of high school. What about you?” he asks her. “If you were away for ten years, was it hard to come back?”
Abbi smiles warmly at Ethan. “Easiest thing I ever did. Besides, Ethan’s sisters, my two best friends, live here still. And more people than I thought stuck around or came back.”
Ethan frowns down at his wife. “Like who?”
“Like Roxy. Kira.”
Nash shudders.
“What was that?” Abbi laughs.
“Just a pavlovian response to that name,” Nash says.
“What, Kira?” I ask, and he does it again, making us all laugh.
“There was a Kira at law school with me,” he explains. “People talk about the devil like it’s a man, but it’s not. Satan is a woman, and her name is Kira.”
Abbi’s in stitches. “Not this Kira, she can be intense and competitive, but she’s also the sweetest. You’d like her.”
Nash shakes his head. “Better to just keep a safe distance from anyone with that name.”
Ethan rolls his eyes. “Wuss.”
“What is this, seventh grade?” Nash says.
“If the shoe fits,” Ethan shrugs.
“No pressure,” Abbi says to Nash. “But once you’re settled, we’ll have a night out, you can meet some people, make some friends. And if one of those new friends happens to be named Kira Mehr, then”—her eyes widen— “What? What’s wrong?”
“Kira . . . Mehr?” Nash says. “Kira Mehr?”
“Yeah,” Abbi says, drawing out the word.
“Fuck me,” he mutters.
I shake my head and walk away, searching for Brie again. Dev walks through the front door, and we nod our hellos from across the house. Lizzie barrels into me, wide-eyed.
“I was never here,” she whispers, before throwing herself over the couch.
Finn, her classmate, comes out from behind the kitchen island, Nerf gun at the ready as he searches for, presumably, Lizzie.
There’s only one other place Brie could be.
It’s only the start of June, but the heat and humidity is oppressive when I walk out onto the expansive back porch.
Brie stands beneath the ceiling fan, across from the still-unused fireplace.
The sun shines on her through the skylight, and I’m struck again by how beautiful my girlfriend is, and how lucky I am.
“I was looking for you,” she says accusingly.
Stepping toward her, I say, “I was looking for you.”
She looks up at me, unamused. “How come when I wanted nothing to do with you, we ran into each other constantly—”
“But now that we’re together, we lose each other in our own house?”
Her cheeks color just like they always do when I call this cabin ours. “Yeah.”
I wrap my arms around her, kiss her on the head, inhaling her pear and citrus. “It doesn’t matter,” I say.
“No?”
“Nope. I found you, didn’t I? I’ll always find you.”
“I believe that.”
She kisses me, then turns in my arms so we can look in at the party, her back to my front.
“I can’t believe I was planning to be gone by now,” Brie sighs.
“Me neither,” I whisper, squeezing her close. “You belong here.”
We watch our family, friends, and colleagues glow with the jubilee only summer seems to bring about. There’s a distinct feel to summer in Blue Ridge. The town is lighter, the streets more alive, hiking trails and creeks and Shady Lake are busy with familiar faces.
“What do you say we host this party every year?” I ask her.
“Love that idea,” she says.
I squeeze her to me. “The first of many traditions for us.”
“Speaking of which,” she says coyly, “I might have another new tradition for us tonight. In private.”
Chuckling into her neck, I say, “Can’t wait.”
Later that night, when everyone’s left and the house is clean, I find Brie on the back porch again. It’s not as muggy as the sun sets. The buzz of crickets and katydids mingles with the gurgle of the creek. She’s wearing one of my flannel shirts, hair in a messy bun.
I love being with her like this, comfortable and at home together.
Her eyebrow ticks up when I walk out, holding two glasses of chilled white wine.
She bites back a laugh. “Since when do you wear a bathrobe?”
I put the glasses on the table in front of her. “Since now.” I untie the belt, and the sides of the robe fall open, revealing my new boxers.
Her head tips back on a laugh. She stands and begins to unbutton the flannel. It’s not the reaction I expected, but with Brie, I can be ready to go in seconds.
She flicks the last button open.
And Bob looks up at me from her crotch.
This is the Brie Casey I always wanted to get to know. The one who’s unabashedly, unapologetically herself. Who will stand here, on our back porch, naked except for the sleeves of a flannel and a pair of gag panties. Who makes me want to laugh and tackle her onto the furniture at the same time.
I close the distance between us, cup her face with both hands. “I still can’t believe how lucky I am. After all the mistakes I made with you.”
She shakes her head. “Sometimes I think we needed the bad to make the good so great. Besides,” she adds, pulling back and pointing to my crotch, “there are no mistakes. Just happy accidents. I think the picture we’re painting together is beautiful.”
The End