I stared at the check that Gordon had written out in my name. It was the second most beautiful thing I had seen in my life. The first of course was Zoey, and then it was this. It wasn’t the check itself; it was the numbers scribbled across it in Gordon’s flamboyant air.

“Seven thousand, eight hundred dollars,” I read out loud because I needed to process it.

“I obviously deducted the amount you owed me for The Muse,” Gordon said defensively.

“What? Oh right… yeah… that’s fine.”

“It was a successful exhibition,” Gordon said. “In no small part due to my attention to detail.”

“And your perfectionism.”

“I prefer to think of it as attention to detail,” Gordon continued.

I wasn’t about to disagree with him on that. He had just handed me a check that was going to change my life. This was going to make a world of difference.

“Thank you, Gordon,” I said sincerely. “For taking a chance on me.”

“Thank you… for being worth it,” Gordon responded.

I laughed. “So… does that mean that you’d be willing to display more of my work in your next exhibit?” I asked.

“I can do one better,” Gordon said. “I want to set up a new exhibition… an exclusive Danvers collection… nothing but your work.”

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“A hundred percent… your work was popular… people seemed to find it warm and humane and layered. I’ve got to capitalize on that.”

I smiled. “I guess I’ve got to get to work then,” I said.

“You have six months.”

“Six months?” I repeated, with a gasp. “That’s… Gordon, that’s not nearly enough time. You’ll need how many paintings… fifteen, twenty?”

“Twenty-five,” Gordon replied promptly.

“That’ll take me longer than six months,” I said. “I need to create a collection first; I need to work on it… I need to let it breathe.”

“You’ll do fine,” Gordon told me. “We need to build a name for you, and we need to do it fast…while your name is still on people’s minds. Just work full time.”

I paused. “But—”

“Come on… isn’t this what you’ve been waiting for?”

I smiled and nodded. It was what I had been waiting for, and it was time to stop complaining and get to work. If all went well, then this next exhibition would give me an even bigger payout.

“Ok, Gordon… I’ll keep you informed about my progress.”

“Don’t let me down,” he said.

We shook hands, and I headed out of the gallery and back home. It was so nice to say that word, especially because now it meant something. I had a home… and it was with Zoey.

I could hear the sound of sizzling meat in the frying pan when I stepped into our apartment. Zoey had already started making dinner, and I rushed in to help her. But it looked like she didn’t really need my help at all. The table had been set beautifully, though it looked like one too many place settings had been laid out. The wine sat in the middle of the table like a centerpiece, right next to the cheese plate.

There was fresh garlic bread on the table as well and pasta with cherry tomatoes on the top. Zoey was wearing a powder blue dress with thin straps, and over it, she had thrown on a black apron. She had tied her hair up in a high knot at the back of her head. She hated cooking with loose hair. She was humming loudly and twirling around the kitchen so she didn’t notice as I approached. I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” I said, kissing the back of her neck.

“Hey, you,” she greeted, with a little laugh. “I didn’t even hear you come in.”

“You’re in a good mood,” I pointed out.

“Aren’t I always?” Zoey asked.

“True,” I nodded. “But I meant that you seemed happier than usual.”

“Well… that’s because I have some news,” Zoey said, turning to me.

“Oh yeah?”

“I got a job,” she said, with a wide, excited smile.

“No way!”

“Yes, you remember I’ve told you about Professor Milton, right?” she asked.

“Of course,” I nodded. “She’s your favorite professor.”

“Exactly,” Zoey nodded. “She recommended me to Hammersmith’s!”

“Hmm… the name sounds familiar.”

“It’s this exclusive private music school in the city,” Zoey explained. “They teach music to children of all ages, and they have this amazing auditorium that they rent out for special music concerts and performances. Anyway… it’s an amazing school with wonderful programs, and they’re willing to give me a temporary contract there. It’s six months, but if I do well and the fit is right, they’ll hire me in as part of the permanent staff. They don’t usually hire people that easily, but Professor Milton really went to bat for me, and they had a vacancy because one of their teachers just them to move abroad… so the stars all aligned in my favor.”

She was incredibly excited, and I didn’t want to take away from her victory, so I kept mum about the check in my back pocket. I’d let dinner be just about her, and I decided I would tell her my good news after dessert when it was just the two of us.

“When are our guests expected?” I asked.

“They’re on their way,” Zoey told me. “Leah is coming with mom and Seth. Any news from Zack?”

“He should be on the way too,” I nodded, glancing towards the table again.

“Babe?”

“Yes?”

“I think you’ve miscalculated.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… we have four guests coming, six in total with us,” I said. “You’ve set two extra place settings.”

“Oh,” Zoey said, looking away from me guiltily. “That’s not a mistake.”

“It’s not?” I asked, with a frown.

“I invited two more people,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” I said. “Whoever you want to invite is fine… who are the extra two?”

“Uh… your parents,” Zoey said, as she turned to the stove.

“What?”

Zoey placed the meat on the table and gave me another smile. “I’m sorry, I probably should have run it by you first, but I was thought you might say no and then I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that reasoning. “It’s fine,” I said. “I just think… it might be a little awkward.”

“Maybe it won’t be,” Zoey said. “Your parents were very nice to me.”

“You they like,” I pointed out. “Me… not so much.”

“They bought one of your paintings, didn’t they?” Zoey pointed out.

“Probably out of pity.”

“Doesn’t matter… even if it was pity that fueled the purchase, that pity came from love.”

I smiled and shrugged. “It doesn’t matter… I don’t mind that you invited them anyway. Just prepare yourself… this night might not turn out like you expected it to.”

“Meaning it might be a disaster?” Zoey asked, reading between the lines.

I smiled and didn’t answer, but in the end, it was Zoey that ended up being right about everything. The night turned out to be far from a disaster, and everyone actually seemed to get along. I was nervous of my parents and the airs they tended to put on without even realizing it, but it seemed that my exhibition had earned some respect because even my father no longer looked at me like I was a total failure. That and the fact that I had somehow managed to get Zoey back had obviously impressed them.

Seth had forgiven me too, and I was endlessly grateful that he and Zoey’s mom had been so kind and generous to me since Zoey and I had got back together. After everyone had toasted to Zoey’s new job and the champagne glasses were being cleared away, my father walked up to me.

Neither mom nor dad had brought up the fact that they had bought one of my paintings during the exhibition. I wondered if it was something they would rather I not have known about, but I couldn’t help myself.

“So… where have you put it?” I asked.

“Put what?” dad asked.

“The painting you bought,” I clarified. “My painting.”

Dad looked towards me, and I saw one corner of his mouth tilt upwards. It was the closest thing to a smile I had ever seen from him in the recent past.

“It’s in the study.”

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. “Your study?”

“Yes.”

“But that’s your special, private, very important space. You’ve handpicked every single thing that went into that room.”

“I handpicked that painting,” dad told me. “So it fits.”

“You chose my painting?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes,” dad replied. “Does that surprise you?”

“Of course it does,” I nodded. “I thought mom had been behind the purchase.”

“It wasn’t her.”

I felt deeply touched at the thought that my father had not only come to my exhibition but he had swallowed his pride and bought one of my pieces. The fact that he had bought it said a lot. It said that he finally acknowledged that this was what I wanted to do with my life; he had finally acknowledged that I was not some talentless layabout who didn’t know what he was doing. This was his way of saying that finally after all these years he finally supported me.

“Dad,” I said. “I have the money to pay you back for the bail posting you made for me.”

“Consider the debt forgotten,” dad said, cutting me off. “I don’t need the money… nor do I want it.”

“But—”

“I appreciate you trying to pay me back but… it’s not necessary,” dad said, in his gruff manner. “Now we don’t need to speak about it anymore… agreed?”

I stared at him for a moment and then nodded slowly. “Ok, dad,” I said. “Agreed.”

“I’m glad you’ve managed to turn your life around, Devlin,” dad said, with his eyes trained on Zoey. “You’ve finally found your way.”

“Thanks, dad.”

“Remember not to let your guard down,” he continued, and I realized he was actually advising me. It was a very paternal thing to do, and I was taken aback by it for a moment. “Just because you’ve got everything you want doesn’t mean you can’t lose it.”

“I know, dad.”

“She’s a brilliant woman, Devlin,” dad said. “Make sure you don’t lose her again.”

“I won’t,” I said fervently.

That night after everyone had left, Zoey and I made love in our bed. We were lying naked, tangled up in the sheets when I told her about the next exhibition that Gordon was putting on.

“Oh my God!” Zoey practically screamed. “A whole exhibition just for your work. Devlin, why didn’t you tell everyone at dinner? We could have been celebrating that too.”

“I wanted to celebrate you tonight… and only you.”

“Silly boy,” Zoey said, kissing my cheek affectionately. “But honestly, I am so proud of you.”

“Want to see the check?” I asked.

Zoey laughed. “Sure.”

I grabbed the check from my pants, and we sat in bed and stared at it. “That’s a lot of money,” Zoey breathed.

“It’s only a drop in the bucket compared to what I might make at the next exhibit,” I said.

“Wow.”

“I was thinking… maybe we could work towards a bigger place,” I said.

“A bigger apartment?” Zoey asked.

“Actually, I was thinking… a house.”

“A house?” Zoey gasped, with raised eyebrows. “You want to buy a house.”

“Obviously we’ll have to invest outside the city… far outside but I think we could manage it,” I said. “I want to start planning our future.”

Zoey smiled. “And what does our future look like to you?” she asked.

“A nice house in a good neighborhood,” I said. “With a music room for you and an art room for me. It might have to be a big house though… the children will need rooms too.”

Zoey’s smile got wider. “We have children?”

“Three,” I nodded. “And a golden retriever.”

“I’ve always wanted a dog.”

“Me too,” I nodded. “But those are steps two and onwards. We’re missing crucial step number one.”

“Oh?” Zoey asked. “And what is crucial step number one?”

“Marriage,” I said softly.

Zoey cocked her head to the side and looked at me curiously. “Devlin… are you proposing to me?”

I laughed. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I meant to do this right. I meant to have clothes on. I meant to go out tomorrow and buy a ring, make a special meal for you, get down on one knee… the works. But I don’t know… for some reason now seems like the perfect moment to ask.”

I saw Zoey’s eyes get soft and emotional. “So ask,” she said.

“Zoey Larkson,” I said, taking both her hands in mine. “Here I sit, naked and vulnerable, a man bearing his soul to the woman of his dreams. I know this is really fast… maybe even too fast but I can honestly say that you have turned me into the best possible version of myself. You have transformed my life and healed me at the same time. I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else. Will you please do me the honor of marrying me?”

She smiled, and I saw a tear slip down her cheek. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

I leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips, and we sealed our entwined fate with that perfect kiss.