Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER - ROWAN
“… a
nd remember… all humans belong in the outdoors.”
Lola claps, nodding her head as Abbie’s video finishes and it cuts to her outro, as well as a link to the Ecotra Sweden travel page.
“She is so perfect for this,” Lola says, grabbing my arm. “Move over. I’m going to email her.”
I laugh and stand up from my place at the desk, letting Lola take the chair and pull up an email to her friend. If we were other people, Lola might just text her, but we’re not, and that means we don’t have phones.
Instead, we’ve compromised with a single computer and satellite internet, though I did a lot of work on the server to make sure nobody could track it back to us.
It’s not like I’m still terrified of the world, but I don’t need pesky reporters showing up at our doorstep.
While she’s typing, a video call pops up on the screen, and Lola clicks to answer it, finishing up her email and sending it as Belle’s face fills half the screen.
“Hey!” she says, a few hairs flying into her face. “I’m glad I caught you. You’re still coming tonight, right?”
Lola glances at me. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“We’re picking up a bouquet of flowers for her,” I add, grinning at the thought of seeing my niece at her birthday party. She’s a little cutie, and I didn’t realize how much I’d love being an uncle.
“Great,” Belle says, flashing us a coy smile. “Any chance you can bring a loaf of bread for her, too?”
I laugh. Ever since Belle found out about the baking, she’s decided that I’m her new supplier.
Which is fine with me, and we’ve even started selling to some of the townies as well.
I sell the loaves cheap, for five dollars or less, but it’s nice.
It gives me the same feeling that I got back when I first started Chromeo Co.
We have a quick discussion about the upcoming town picnic, which Lola and I will be attending, and Belle clicks off to go decorate for the birthday party.
“Okay,” Lola says, running her fingers through her hair. “Swear I’ll be ready in a second. I just want to respond to a few comments.”
I nod and get up to let Cheese out before our hike. Lola has been working on her videography, telling different stories with breath-taking visuals. A lot of it has been about exploring this land, discovering the history of the native people, speaking about what it’s like to reconnect with nature.
She’s enjoyed being out of the city, enjoyed not having to fight for attention or run at a million miles a minute to stay relevant. Out here, she’s making content because she loves the creative passion, and not because she needs to make rent.
I saw to that.
And I also saw to Maisie’s student loans being paid off, but she doesn’t know that. She thinks it was an anonymous benefactor at the school. Although Lola might be on to me.
Ten minutes later — after she’s laughed and typed out quick responses to a few of her many loyal fans — Lola is geared up and ready to come along with me, and she finds me in the foyer, an excited look on her face.
“Rowan,” she says, breathless, “come in here and look at this.”
“Lola.” I shake my head, looking down at poor Cheese, who’s ready for her walk. “We’re not going to have time if we don’t—”
“I promise,” she says, breathless as she takes my hand. “It will only take a second, and it will be worth your time. When have I led you wrong?”
“Well, I don’t let you navigate, so—”
But Lola starts to tug me back toward the computer, which is still glowing with the light. And when we get close enough, I see the last two faces I ever would have expected in this moment.
I’d all but forgotten about Elliot and Hannah, but there they both are, looking unhappily at the camera. Mug shots.
“What on earth?” I breathe, sitting down slowly, and Lola clicks excitedly, telling me about it. This time, they didn’t have anyone to try and pin the embezzlement on. They’re both going down for it, and the police are even thinking about re-opening the Chromeo Co. case.
I’m not going to pretend like it’s not good news. It feels good to know that they’re finally facing consequences, but I have something much more important planned today, and I manage to get Lola up and away from the computer, moving her toward the front door.
But not before I see a thread of email exchanges with her mom open in another browser, the result of them finally talking to each other, rather than Lola avoiding the relationship altogether.
It’s not perfect, and there’s a lot of history for them to overcome, but Lola’s said that talking to her mom again has actually helped her to control her anxiety.
Avoiding it only ever made things worse.
I shut down the computer and take her hand, and together we step through the front door of the cabin.
The air is crisp, and the tips of the trees are beginning to turn the lightest shade of rusty orange.
Fall is coming, and it reminds me of the day Lola found me out here, coming into my life and shaking everything up.
At first, as we take the winding trails further and further from the cabin, we chat, but eventually we both fall silent, enjoying the scenery.
Every day, we explore a new part of the land around us. I like the exercise, the peace and quiet, the gentle pleasure of having the woman I love at my side. And she usually brings along a little notepad, jotting down ideas for a new video or avenue to explore.
She’s also been writing her own column in the local newspaper. Nothing salacious or groundbreaking, but it brings her joy. And that brings me joy.
Cheese bounds around on the trail happily, nosing in the shrubbery and bringing us clumps of dried leaves, which Lola accepts with the energy of someone who’s been presented with a diamond ring, rather than old foliage.
It makes me think she’s going to make a great mom when we’re ready.
Of course, there’s something else I need to take care of, first.
As we approach the overlook, which I found the other day on a solo hike, I think about the months leading up to this decision.
At first, I’d wondered if I should do it in public, at a nice restaurant with our family and friends around, but I realized the best thing would be to keep the proposal true to ourselves.
So, I do.
When we reach the overlook, Lola laughs and shakes her head, astounded that such a view could have existed for so long without us finding it. Across the valley, we can see the faint mist of a waterfall nestled between two peaks. Several mountain goats graze lazily, paying us no mind.
There’s the sound of the wind shifting through the trees, but it doesn’t hide the crunch of me dropping down to one knee. Lola turns around, her eyes going wide when she sees me kneeling there in front of her, holding the ring up between my thumb and forefinger.
Belle gave it to me a few months into our relationship. She told me that the ring had belonged to our father’s mother, and she’d wanted to give it to me, but Belle was waiting until I found the right girl.
And I suppose that was as close to a blessing as Lola and I would get.
“Lola Kennedy,” I say, because even though I know her full name, I also know she hates it.
“Until I found you, I thought life was meant to be lonely. But you’ve taught me that it’s possible to have both peace and passion, every day.
You’re the light of my life, and I want to spend every second together until you’re sick of me. ”
“I’ll never get sick of you,” she says, and there are already joyful tears running down her face.
I smile up at her and try to forge ahead, “Will you—”
But Lola has never been known for her patience, and she launches herself into my arms, knocking us both backward into the leaves. Her arms are around my neck, and I put my arms around her waist, careful to hold the ring in my palm.
“Yes, Rowan,” she breathes into my neck, and I can feel her tears hot against my skin. “Of course, yes.”
She rolls away a bit and we lay on the ground together, both watching as I slide the ring onto her finger. It shines in the light, catching the rays just right.
The ring isn’t the only thing that shines. Lola looks incandescently beautiful out here, like something that belongs and has always grown from this forest, but still somehow one-of-a-kind. A single wildflower amongst the grass. A robin nestled in the green leaves of a tree.
I lean forward, wanting to kiss her again, but Cheese bounds between us, tail swinging, tongue lolling, looking like she understands the moment and wants to be a part of it, too.
Lola wraps her arms around Cheese and hugs her close, laughing into her fur. I can’t help it. I wrap my arms around both of them like the little family we’ve become.
“I love you,” Lola says, laughing and crying, and I’m not quite sure if she’s talking to our dog or to me.
Thinking it might be both, I squeeze them and say, “I love you more.”
The End
I hope you’ve enjoyed Evan and Amy’s story!