Epilogue
A SECOND TIME AROUND
Gage
Early next week, I trot up the steps that lead into the courtyard of The Escape, heading toward the lobby for Felix’s office. I scheduled an appointment to meet with him, telling him I had two things to discuss.
I’d be lying if I said my muscles weren’t tense. But a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.
Own up.
In his office, with the door closed, seems as good a place as any to do it. But when I near the pop-up shop, I do a double take. Felix is there behind the counter, stocking more items. I peer. Are those our Special Edition T-shirts?
Yeah, they are.
He waves me over. So much for the privacy of the office, but at least the shop is closed.
“Gage,” he says, when I push open the door and he adds a new shirt to the stack. “We can’t keep these in stock, but that’s a good problem to have.”
“Definitely,” I say, and then I nod toward the shirts and other merch. I’m a goddamn bartender. I know how to talk to anyone. “Did you ever think you’d be selling merch for a hotel?”
He smiles. “I can honestly say never.”
We shoot the breeze for a bit, but then he pauses, comes around the counter, and gives me a straight-shooter look that disarms me since I’m so used to his grandpa style. “But you’re not here to make small talk. What’s going on?”
I suppose that’s no surprise. He runs a wildly successful business. He doesn’t have time to dick around.
“Sir,” I begin, since he feels like a sir right now.
“Yes?”
I swallow down my nerves. “I’d really like to keep doing this.”
“Special Edition?” His voice pitches up with tempered hope.
“Elodie is pretty busy with her store, and honestly, I want to spend more time with her on weekends.”
He smiles warmly. “That’s great.”
“But we’d love to do the cocktails and chocolates once a month, if that’s of interest to you. And we all really enjoy the Sunday pop-up. Is there any way you’d consider extending the lease on Sundays for me? And my grandma and the kids?”
Now that I’ve said that out loud, it’s a big ask.
He exhales, his face unreadable as he seems to give it some thought. “I have to see what else I might do with the space. But I like the idea.”
“Great,” I say, but that was the easy bit of this two-part convo.
“And your other matter of business?”
No point dragging my feet. “And the other thing is…Elodie and I weren’t actually engaged when we rented the place.”
His brow knits. “Excuse me?”
Shit. I’ve offended him. But I soldier on. “We had the impression you wanted us to be engaged, so we pretended to be. You said you’d prefer to lease to a committed couple, so we decided to act like one.”
When the ruse registers fully, his expression falters. “Oh.” It’s said with more disappointment than I expected.
“I’m sorry we lied to you.”
He scrubs a hand over his beard. “And the wedding? Was that a lie too?”
“No, we really got married, even though it was a little impromptu,” I say. His eyes stray to my ring, like he’s checking the facts, so I keep going. “And we’re staying married. But I wanted you to know the score.”
A smile shifts the corner of his lips, but he seems to fight it off as he asks, “So you faked it, but got married for real, and fell in love?” He sounds too amused. That has to be a good thing.
“Yes, sir.”
“I did have a good feeling about the two of you.” He sighs contentedly. “I can just tell. It’s a gift of mine.”
He doesn’t sound mad in the least.
But he also doesn’t offer me the lease. “I’ll let you know if it’ll work out,” he says.
* * *
After dinner that night, Elodie and I pore over real estate listings in San Francisco, scouring rentals. “We can’t stay here much longer,” I say, looking fondly at Zane’s palace of a place.
“And neither one of our places is big enough for the four of us,” she says heavily.
“But we’ll keep looking,” I add. “We’ll find something.”
And we do look, every night and every day until finally, we find a small three-bedroom outside of Hayes Valley that’s available in two weeks.
I’m on that listing so fast.
A few days later, we sign the lease, then make plans to move in together.
And since my wife likes football, and Carter plays for the team, we say yes when Elodie’s friend Rachel invites us to attend a game in a VIP suite to cheer on the star receiver. We pile into the chichi room above the field before the game. It’s full of familiar faces and new ones too. Monroe’s here, and so is Carter’s brother, Axel. He’s a thriller writer, and he’s married to Elodie’s friend Hazel, who’s also a writer.
“And you write Elodie’s favorite books,” I say when I meet her.
Hazel smiles. “I’ve trained her well.” Then she adds, “And Elodie makes my favorite chocolates.”
Juliet’s here too, and I thank her and Monroe for the bad sex challenge episode. “We took it,” I tell them, then add, “But we made it the great sex challenge.”
Elodie shoots me a naughty look. “And we take it every single day.”
“And night,” I add.
“Show-offs,” Monroe mutters.
Then Elodie introduces me to her friend Fable, who’s wearing a team jersey I’ve never seen before. It’s sparkly with seventies vibes in the font. “Cool shirt,” I say.
“Thank you. I designed it,” she says, proudly. “And thank you for making my friend so damn happy. I’d be jealous if I didn’t adore her so much.” She squeezes Elodie’s shoulder.
“You’ll find your magic D soon,” Elodie says, and a minute later, the door swings open.
A man in a sharp suit that can only be custom tailored strides in with the kind of confidence that says he owns the place.
Because, well, he does.
I’m not usually starstruck, but I don’t bump into a lot of billionaires. That’s Wilder Blaine and the dude just has charisma. Poise. “Fable,” he says, in a deep, commanding voice.
She turns to him, flashing a smile. “Yes, boss?”
That surprises me. She doesn’t seem fazed by his intensity.
“Do you have a second to discuss the proposal?”
She rolls her eyes his way. “Before kickoff? Do you ever stop working, boss man?”
Elodie whispers in my ear, “Someone is sassy with the boss.”
I just nod.
Wilder glances at his watch, amused as he points out, “It’s not kickoff yet.”
“Fine, fine,” she says, then heads up the steps in the suite.
The man with the dark eyes and chiseled jaw watches her closely as she walks. When she reaches him, he gives a crisp nod to the rest of us. “Go Renegades,” he says, then leaves with Fable.
I turn to Elodie to ask what’s up with that. But she’s already grabbing Juliet’s arm. “Did you get a vibe?”
“We all got a vibe,” Juliet says.
“Every single one of them,” Rachel adds.
“If they aren’t banging in his office now I’m going to be really mad,” Hazel says.
When Fable returns a few minutes later, the ladies pull her aside for a debrief, and I make a mental note to ask my wife for details after the game.
Then I settle in and root for the home team.
* * *
At the end of the year, Special Edition winds down, but Sticks and Stones keeps me busy. I promote Zoe, who’s all too happy to take on more work, freeing me up some nights to come home to my girls.
Elodie’s busier than ever since her store continues to reap the benefits of the buzz she so rightfully deserves. But she’s hired smart and capable employees, and she has Kenji, who’s her right-hand man.
As for Sebastian, it’s such a shame. It seems he’s going out of business. Everything is ninety percent off as he’s been forced to shut down his shops. I guess no one wanted his brand of small batch after all.
In early January, Elodie is at work and I’m at her place, packing up her kitchen cabinets, when Felix calls me. I answer it so fast.
“Hello, sir.”
“I have an update.”
“I’m ready,” I say, steeling myself for whatever verdict he’ll render. I took a big swing and there’s a good chance I’ll miss. “I leased it on Friday and Saturday evenings to a cake shop that makes the best flavors—Earl Grey, lemon cake with blackberry jam, chocolate cake with potato chip filling.”
Damn, my mouth is watering while he’s rejecting me. “Those all sound delicious.”
“But wouldn’t you know? The cake shop owners want one Friday night off a month, so I’d happily take cocktails and chocolate on the first Friday of each month. And the place is yours on Sundays too…on one condition.”
I punch the air. “Anything.”
“You should have a real wedding. At my hotel. It’s on me.”
I’m not saying no to that.
But there is something I have to do first.
* * *
Grams and I do a little shopping, heading to a certain jewelry store on Fillmore Street, owned by Rachel. It doesn’t take long for me to find the perfect ring, bright and sparkling, like my wife.
“So this is her third engagement ring?” Grams asks when we leave.
“Yup.”
“You should make it a thing. Give her one each year.”
“Don’t tempt me. I will.”
She laughs. “Don’t I know it.”
Elodie’s at work, so I head to the store, and it’s teeming with customers. I go right up to the counter, like I did the first day I asked her out, with the blue velvet box in my hand.
“What can I do for you, handsome?” she asks.
I get down on one knee, flip open the box, and say, “Marry me again. So all our friends and family can come to our wedding.”
When she races around the counter, saying yes, yes, yes, the whole store erupts into cheers.
* * *
A few days later, my brother and his partner return from their trip and take us out to dinner. Zane walks into the restaurant with a shopping bag from what looks like a men’s store in London, Maddox by his side. When we make eye contact, he thrusts the bag at me. “Figured you’d need a wardrobe upgrade for all the dates you’ll be taking your wife on.” Then he turns to Elodie and says, “Thank you for making my brother happy.”
“Anytime.”
* * *
One day in February, we invite all our friends and family to an intimate ceremony in the courtyard of The Escape near where we had our first kiss, and then our first official date. Maybe we did this whole romance a little out of order. Or a lot.
But as I wait at the fountain in the courtyard, my brother beside me, watching my wife walk up the steps while a string quartet plays “It Had to Be You,” and Amanda and Eliza by her side, I’m pretty sure everything worked out exactly as it was meant to.
I say I do to Elodie for a second time, then I kiss my bride.