Epilogue
They laughed, and their eyes twinkled. “Hold on to your britches there, Ontario. I’ve now got closets full of both men's and women’s clothes.
You’ll never know what I’m going to turn up in.
” They made a little swooshing motion with their hand like a magician, and I laughed.
As I looked them up and down, I did notice that they were wearing everything from a saffron pocket square to one concession to absolute comfort: a pair of Chuck Taylor red high-tops.
Olly noticed me looking at their shoes, so they brought their leg up to the couch and pulled up a pantleg.
“And look! No pantyhose, never again! These socks go all the way up to my knees. They’re compression socks, to help with circulation.
” I looked down at the cats, once again shooting laser beams out of their eyes, and nodded in approval.
Grace was more than happy to watch Bea for us even though it was her day off, probably because she had student loans to pay off, and I gave her double time and a half plus a tip for working anytime not in her agreed-upon schedule for the month.
I was ecstatic to have the afternoon and early evening for just Olly and me.
First we had Philip take us on a little tour of the Aspotogan Peninsula, since it was beautiful, like a postcard with every turn of the head.
Then he dropped us off at the field across from the firehall, which I had arranged to have permission to use for this purpose.
One of my cars had been brought down by a pair of interns earlier this morning, so we climbed out of the helicopter and into the car, Olly smiling widely.
This, however, did not last—the closer we came to East River, the quieter Olly became.
We had just rounded the corner so that the beach came into view when Olly asked, in a bit of a nervous or timid tone unlike them and their usual exuberance, if this was the beach we were going to. I flashed them a grin and said, rather cheekily, “Wait and see.”
“No,” Olly said with a bit of panic in their voice.
“This beach, you can't understand, but some days I feel it is all I have left of Thomas and me.
I don't know if I'm ready to share it with someone else.” I noticed them gripping the handle on the door, as if they wanted to escape the vehicle itself.
I pulled over in the first place I could, which was, conveniently, one of the spaces for the beach.
“Well, um, the GPS says we're here. But if you’d prefer, we can head somewhere else. Though I have been here before, many times, in dreams. I came here to ask Thomas for his blessing.” I felt about two inches tall.
Olly stared out the window, probably taking in the breathtaking view of the ocean: islands in the distance, including our home of Big Tancook, sun on the waves, and the accessible ramp that led from the road over the rocks and down to the sand.
There was even a frickin’ rainbow, and the beach was generally deserted.
The odd feeling in the car persisted, only ending when they turned to look at me and flashed me a broad smile.
“I trust you,” Olly said, “you are a true friend, the best I've ever had.
You know I didn't really understand what true friendship outside of family was all about before I met you.
Shepard counts as family, in case you were wondering about his ranking.
So if you've brought us to this beach in the waking world, I know there's a good reason for it. Let's go.” And with that, they opened their car door and began making tracks for the silver ramp. “Come on, lazy bones,” they shouted, “I want to show you my favorite kickin’ spot.”
My hands were shaking, and my heart felt like it was about to beat straight out of my chest like a cartoon character.
I walked down the silver ramp before Olly, so that if they slipped they would bang into me and not the metal.
They then let out a burst of laughter which lightened my heart and made at least half of my worries and fears float away.
I joined in for a moment and then asked, “What's so funny?” I looked back to where they were behind me and saw that they had tried to take off their shoes and socks and roll up their pants, but were tipping over in the process.
I reached back and grabbed them, narrowly avoiding disaster.
“Can you reach down and take off my socks and shoes?
The sun has been shining on the sand and I'd love to get my toes into it.
Unless you think it'll make too much of a mess in the car.” What a freaking setup!
I couldn't have imagined a better scenario.
I knelt in front of them and took off one shoe, then another.
I then peeled off their socks, and just watched as they closed their eyes and buried their toes in the sand, head tilted back and a smile that seemed to stretch the whole length of the beach.
Their left hand was resting on my shoulder, so I had to fiddle a bit to get the ring box out of the opposite side of my jacket pocket.
When they finally opened their eyes, they looked down to see me holding open what I thought was a beautiful rose-gold ring, set with a huge, stunning opal.
It was a very colourful fire opal, because I knew they loved all things Australia and that was where this particular stone originated.
Olly started shaking, and I instinctively closed the ring box and stood so I could better support them so they didn't tip over, even though we were standing in a pile of fluffy white sand.
“Oh my God, Clark. What are you doing?” they said in a tone with a definite frantic edge to it.
“Well, I don't know if it was obvious or not, but I was about to propose to the love of my life.” I flashed my best smile at them and retrieved the ring box, hoping beyond hope I wouldn’t fuck this up.
“Olly Oliver McLeod, would you do me the great honor of becoming my spouse? I promise to love and support you, and be right there by your side whenever you need me to be. You are the brightest soul I have ever met, and I never want to be apart from you. I’ve loved you since that first Tuesday we met, I love you now, and I will still love you when we’re dropping our dentures into their nightly baths. Marry me.”
Olly’s hand shook as they moved their left arm from my shoulder and stretched the arm downward, the bare ring finger the only thing I saw as I pulled the ring out of its box and slid it on to that shaky finger.
It fit perfectly, and they were already looking at the opal as the sun shone down, making the colours vibrant and appearing as if they were dancing inside the stone.
“Well?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t gotten an actual “yes” yet.
“Clark, I don’t—yes. Yes!” The next thing I knew was I had an armful of Olly and almost tripped backwards.
“Wait, was that a ‘yes,’ or am I going slightly nuts over here? Does Olly McLeod want to marry me?”
“Don't get cocky,” they murmured, pressing their mouth firmly to mine.