Epilogue
Beth
Four Months Later
Life sometimes takes a turn for the unexpected.
A year ago, I would have never thought that I would be with Jacob Maddox, the assumed abrasive, give no shits playboy. Hell, I wouldn’t have thought that I would be living with the guy.
We’ve gone through a lot in the time that we’ve been together, including the way that I finally got his attention, Jacob’s sham marriage to a stripper, and learning that his cousin was being blackmailed.
Brad unexpectedly came by our dinner party that we were having with Tyson and Allison to air out some of his dirty laundry, and then he stood up and disappeared. I feared that he still had some information that he was holding back. Tyson learned that he went to jail for perjury and was going to be behind bars for four years. He also discovered that the marriage document filed with the county recorder was a doctored copy and not a legal one. Candy had a friend in the department that filed the document for her, in return for who knows what.
Brad told us that night that at first he was being blackmailed for money from Candy and when she found out who he was by seeing him on television, she went after Jacob knowing that he would be a bigger payday for her. Brad though, had feelings for her and apparently for a short time she did too, which then in turn became an us versus them situation.
Brad learned that Candy wasn’t really in love with him when she came up with a new plan to get Jacob, yet still had her talons into him. Brad refused to tell us what he was being blackmailed for, saying it wasn’t important to the grand scheme of things, because both scenarios would have likely become the same end result. He seemed like a shell of a man, not the Bradford Maddox that I’ve gotten to know over the years.
Neither Tyson nor Jacob asked any questions and Brad hasn’t been heard from since. We ultimately knew that Jacob hung out with Candy after she got off work that night, but everything else was probably false.
I was just arriving home from a late night of working. Tyson had me working later than usual, but it was more Allison’s fault. At the end of every day, Allison came into the office and we planned her wedding. She asked me to be her maid of honor, so I was busy helping with a lot of the small details. Sometimes Tyson would join in, sometimes he would leave us to it. Tonight, Allison was at school and Tyson made me help him with the dreadful seating arrangements for a 500 person wedding.
I was trying to find my phone in the giant purse on my arm, when the doors of the elevator slid open. When I walked inside the foyer, I saw flickering lights and heard soft music playing. I walked into the kitchen and saw Jacob standing over the stove stirring whatever was smelled amazing. I put my purse on the counter and walked up behind him, wrapping my arms around his middle. He leans back and we kiss quickly.
“Hey babe. Good day?” he asks.
“Better now that I’m home. You?”
“It was mediocre. Models sure are picky.”
“What cha’ cooking, good looking?”
“Oh, just my signature dish.” He smiles.
“Spaghetti and sauce?”
“It’s a delicacy.”
“For a three year old. Be right back, gotta get out of these clothes.”
I kiss his cheek and then head towards our bedroom. As I walk, I notice that there are petals down the hallway that lead to the bed. In the middle of the bed, is a circle of petals and in the middle of that circle is a box. My hands rush to my mouth, and tears spring to my eyes. My vision goes blurry and my heart is pounding out of my chest as I walk closer to the bed in slow motion.
“It’s not going to bite you.” he says from behind.
“What… what is this?”
“You know what this is.” he says, coming up behind me and leaning over with his hand on my hip to pick up the box. He hands it to me and smiles.
“Open it,” he instructs.
I open the box and inside it is another box, only a smidge smaller. I open that box, and again, another smaller box. I look up to him and he winks at me.
I open the box and inside is a Tiffany’s ring box and while I knew what this was, my breath is still taken away.
With shaking hands, I take the ring box out. From there, Jacob thankfully takes over. He licks his lips, looks at the box in his hand, then at me. He opens the box, yet keeps his eyes on my face.
“Beth, you gave me a second chance when I’m not sure I really deserved it. But I’m glad you did. You took me with my faults, you had extreme patience, and you stood by my side when shit hit the fan. My first marriage doesn’t count since it wasn’t real, so I want you to be my first, my one, and my only forever? Whaddya say?”
Tears were streaming down my face as I tried to find my voice. Instead I vigorously nod my head. He slips the ring on my finger and then pulls me into an embrace.
“You sure about this?” he asks.
“No doubt about it.” I say.
“Good. Now, how about we go have some dinner?” he says, kissing the tip of my nose as if he didn’t just propose to me.
He kisses me chastely on the lips and pulls me by the hand out of the bedroom into a room full of people that weren’t there before.
Clapping and happiness erupts in our living room. I look around and see a few people from work, Tyson with Allison, their mother, Luke with a date, and then off to the side are my parents, two people that I would have never expected to see. Tears spring to my eyes as I look at them, wondering how Jacob got them here. So many questions forming in my mind, I look to both of them, smiling proudly and clapping, my mother with tears in her eyes and my father fighting back his own the tears. My hand is clasped over my mouth as I look over to Jacob, he squeezes my other hand and leans into me with a kiss on my cheek.
“Go get rid of that fear, babe. I’ll be forever by your side.” he says, as he pushes me in their direction while holding my hand to follow me. Dragging my feet a little, I reluctantly start walking to my parents. With one look back at Jacob, he mouths I love you and I feel invincible.
The End