Beyond Eighteen(104)
“Yes, I will marry you,” I whispered as he pushed the ring onto my finger. I wanted to run and tell my grandparents. For a moment, I had the same feeling I had when I was a little girl and I found the most beautiful star in the sky. I wanted to burst through the door and holler for them to come look. I felt a pang in my chest become lost in the folds of my heart, drenched with my memories. This was something I’d dreamt of my whole life, and they were going to have to watch from the sidelines. My breath caught. Max noticed and wrapped his arms around me.
“My grandparents,” I mumbled.
“I know, sweetheart,” Max said softly against my ear. A moment clung silently to the darkening night before I looked up at the sky.
“I think they’re here, watching over us, in the stars. Maybe there, next to the Taurus constellation. He’s watching Jupiter disguised as a white bull carry Europa straight to Crete to make her his wife.”
Max laughed before he kissed the top of my head.
“You remembered,” he sighed.
“Yeah, it’s the only Greek mythology I care to remember.”
The wind swept across us. I shivered and he pulled me closer to his chest.
“How about we go back to the house and celebrate? Besides, I think you’ll want to tell your best friend that your family just grew.”
He was right. I couldn’t wait to tell J that I was marrying the man of my dreams and making our family just a little bit bigger.
Epilogue
~ Wilson ~
Six months ago, if someone came to me and bet me everything I owned that my life was going to do a complete 360, I would have laughed in their face and shook on it. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have imagined that I’d be where I am today—graduated from Wesley early, getting ready to go to college, living in Carbondale, Colorado, with my fiancée, the man of my dreams, and reconnecting with my birth mother, Candice. Heck, I would have lost the farm on that handshake.
Living in Carbondale is incredible. I’ve never lived somewhere that had definite seasons. In winter, the scent of pine mixes with the brisk breeze off the snowcapped mountains. Trees dressed in all white, married to the landscape below their branches. In spring life is recaptured in the meadows, which are filled with wildflowers bursting from the sunny edges of the shadowy forests. The sapphire blue sky is filled with white, downy clouds and the fiery sun licks warmth across your cheeks. By night, the silvery glow of the moon caresses your skin with cool rays while the multitude of stars invite stories of warriors and rulers.
Truthfully, Carbondale feels a lot like Mendocino; a place where everyone knows each other. You can’t sneeze without someone knowing about it. It’s a safe place, where we don’t tell people how we met. It’s taken a little getting used to the neighborhood block parties and community barbeques in the park. Every weekend we are either heading off to Nancy’s for a family dinner or doing something in the community. I can tell Max has found his place…let’s just say, I’m still settling in.
Nancy is just over the moon that we’re living so close by, and Max likes the idea that we are far enough away that his mom usually calls first before dropping in for a visit. When Max stepped down as CEO of GP, Dan graciously took over the position. Let’s face it: Dan was cut out for the role. No worries, though. Max is set for life, he still works at GP, and plays a vital part in every decision that’s made.
Camille and Dan bought a house just five minutes outside of Aspen, and announced that the guest bedroom is going to be remodeled into a nursery. Yep, the family will be growing by one come November. They said if it’s a boy they want to name him Frank; if it’s a girl, Francis. They’re very happy. Max and I are happy too because it takes the pressure off of us from Nancy to set a wedding date.
Calvin is, well. Still Cal. A life filled with snow bunnies and mixed drinks. He’s desperate to find something that fulfills him beyond the one-night stands and raging parties. He moved in with Nancy and they have been thicker than thieves ever since. It’s been good for her too. Ever since Frank died, she has good days and bad. Max still worries about her, and on his way home from the office, he stops in to see her couple of times a week, just to make sure she’s okay. She’s really taken to the news about being a grandma, and has already begun to convert Camille’s old room to a nursery for the baby.
I talk to J every day. She stayed in Bay Area after graduating from Wesley. She received a full scholarship to Stanford and she couldn’t pass it up once she found out that Cindy wasn’t going there. In fact, Cindy convinced her father to send her to some hoity-toity fashion design school in Paris. I guess she met some French dude in New York, and well, the rest is how Cindy rolls.