Epilogue
Cat
The family you create is sometimes better than the one you were born into. -Cat
“Can you pass me that wrench on the stool, Cat?” Tornado asks in a muffled voice.
He’s leaning over his bike, fiddling with something again.
The man is forever fixing something up on his bike.
It gives him pleasure and it’s kind of sexy to watch him do it, so I just sigh and reach for the closest tool.
“You got it,” I hand him what I think is the wrench without even looking up from my sketch. I’m sketching him again. He’s my favorite subject, of course. I shade in the dark tufts of his hair and catch my bottom lip between my teeth. Still not exactly right.
“Um, Kitty Cat, that’s not a wrench, that’s a screwdriver,” he says in an amused voice. “The wrench is to your right.”
I wrinkle my nose, still working on getting the shading just right. “Okay, okay,” I mutter. “Let me grab it.”
“Cat, why are you drawing me again? Don’t you have enough pictures of me by now?” he asks in a dry voice.
This time I look up. “Never,” I say with a grin. “I’ll never have enough.”
He cocks his head to the side. “What does your teacher say about you turning in all these sketches of just me?”
I giggle. “She asked me where she could get her own motorcycle man to draw.” I love all my teachers at the nearby university, but Dr. Teal is my favorite. Her sense of humor is always on point.
He just shakes his head and I look down again.
“The wrench?” he asks again. “Why don’t you try behind you this time?”
“Ugh,” I groan and put down the sketch pad. I turn searching for the unfamiliar tool. Even after all this time in the garage with him, I still can’t get my tools right. They all look the same to me.
“Here!” I exclaim triumphantly. I turn back around with the metal tool proudly clutched in my hand and gasp.
Tornado is on one knee before me.
A blush rides high on his cheeks and he wipes his hands on his white t-shirt.
“I know there’s probably a more formal way to do this, but this just seemed the place to do it.
Six years ago, I fell for you in a garage similar to this one.
I looked at you and just knew. I knew that you were the one. The only one I was meant to be with.”
Tears spring to my eyes. “Oh, Tor,” I say softly and place a hand to my chest.
He reaches a hand into his pocket and brings out a small velvet box. He slowly opens it and I take a shocked breath in. The princess-cut diamond ring gleams from its cushioned haven.
He clears his throat. “I thought I would know the exact words to say when this time came around. I thought I would be able to say the fancy bullshit that I needed, but I think I’m failing.
All I know to say is I love you, Cat. I love you with everything that I am.
Will you marry me, Catherine Anne Scott? ”
Tears run down my cheeks, and I laugh. “You did pretty damn good with those words, Tor. And yes, yes, yes! Of course, I’ll marry you!”
I throw my arms around him, and he holds me tight.
The bay door suddenly opens from the back of the garage. “Did she say yes? Can we come in yet? Tornado, we need to know!”
Elsie’s high-pitched voice bounces off the garage walls and I blink.
“Sorry,” Tornado says sheepishly. “I went to her for advice on the ring and made the mistake of telling her when and where I was doing this.”
I pull away from him and look towards the outside. It’s more than just Elsie out there. All of our friends are there. Brick, Silver, Toni the waitress from the Viper that’s become my close friend…there’s over a dozen people there, cheering and yelling for us.
I giggle. “It’s okay.” I give him a kiss. “They’re family. Of course, they would be here.”
And they are. The Silver Snakes have become the family I never had, but always needed. I love each and every one of them and they feel the same way about me.
I look into the eyes of the man who I know I have loved most of my life and will love until the day I die. “Put that ring on me and let’s go out and tell our family I said yes.”
The End