Epilogue

I sucked in a deep breath, letting my chest inflate with air. My eyes flickered shut as I tried to clear my head. I waited until the thumping in my heart had calmed down, at least a little, then opened them again. I stood up, bracing myself by placing my hands on the arm-rests of my office chair, then grabbed the big black binder I had spent months compiling. It was hard to think that I would be archiving this very soon, that very soon it wouldn’t be relevant anymore. I sucked in another deep breath, ran my hand through the thick brunette hair I had gotten jet straight, and picked up the binder.

I had just stepped around my desk when I heard a knock on the door. I pursed my lips and opened it. There was Chet, looking perfect with his brown hair slicked back neat, his sharp features even more striking in the wake of his fresh shave, his bright stare boring into me. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of him, dressed up in a Tom Ford suit. I couldn’t tell whether the jitter in my bones, the one that still hadn’t gone away after six months of dating, was distracting or energizing, given what was just about to happen. “I told you not to come, before.” I said, but only part of me was truly annoyed that he had not followed my wishes.

He shrugged. “I couldn’t resist seeing you.”

Before I could say anything else, he took my face in both of his hands, grounding me, and planted a kiss on my lips, butterflies awakened in my stomach as our lips dance. My blood started heating up, the longer we stood there with me in his grip, his tongue, just ever so slightly in my mouth. I wanted more, but I had to focus. “Come on, you promised.”

He chuckled and pulled away. “I need my daily dose,” then shifted his gaze down to the binder in my hands. He slipped it from my fingers. “Don’t worry. They’re all on your side. Your plan is flawless, and they’ve already debated it for months.”

I stepped out of my office and shut the door behind me. “I know, but I just can’t see them being okay with the whole Doctor’s rec clause.”

“Oh please. It’s only logical to have the doctor as the final say of whether a player plays or not. Especially if the injury happens in a game.”

I nodded. “Everyone else is biased.”

“Of course. Everyone is biased. Except for you. You have one goal.”

“To protect the players.”

The elevator came, and we stepped inside. “And the weekly physicals? What do they think about that?”

But when I looked at Chet, I could see with his body language that it wasn’t exactly positive. “Well… to be honest, Russ finds it a little annoying.”

“A little?”

“Well more than a little. He thinks it’s a massive waste of time.”

My stomach rolled. “Oh God.”

“But he’s the head coach, not the board… and they aren’t really in the field like he is, so they won’t have the same opinion.”

“You know that?”

Chet turned his gaze on me, that deliberate stare stopping me in my tracks. I was possessed with an urge just to jump him in that elevator, but I had to put that away. This was some damn serious stuff. “Yes, I do.”

“Okay, because that’s important. These players don’t wanna let people down. They’ll hide injuries. Literally.”

The elevator swung open on the twenty-third floor of the building, and I stepped out. “What about the monthly mental health screenings?”

Chet shrugged. “No major push-back there.”

“What about having a senior medical professional as a permanent member of the board?”

“There’s already a short-list of names.”

We stopped in front of the large double doors of the conference room. I sucked in another deep breath and let myself think that this was it. I was finally going to get the change that I had campaigned so hard for, the change that had only been little more than a dream and some chicken scratch in a notebook. Chet squeezed my hand before he pushed the door open.

We walked into the brightly lit room and walked around the conference-table, already populated with the entire board. Chet took his place at the head, and I sat down in the guest space - a little ways off. The next thing I knew, Chet was calling for the start of the meeting. This was the final vote. Everything came down to this.

“Everyone in favor of incorporating the changes say, ‘I’.”

I put my hands in my lap, squeezing them together, employing all the self-control I could to stop myself from biting my lips when:

“I.”

I looked around the table, and everyone had their hands up. Chet was the final one, his hand up, a twinkle in his eye.

My eyes widened as I stood up. I couldn’t believe it. I had single-handedly changed the course of these players’ lives. I felt like I meant something; that everything I had been through, everything that everyone else had been through, actually amounted to real change…

***

After I had officially decided to stay in Dallas, my mother was not exactly thrilled. In fact, she had already basically gotten accustomed to the idea that I would be with her again. She hated me always going away. But now that I had found a permanent position for myself… and a life, I could entertain the idea of her moving. We had been planning her visit for months, so when I picked her up from the airport that afternoon, right after the board meeting, our reunion was tearful in an ugly-cry-can’t-believe-my-eyes-are-burning, kind of way.

I drove her straight to my house, where we hung out, me telling her about the board meeting and setting out my clothes for dinner that night and her perusing the area for condos and small houses for sale. Moving down to Texas could have been a good thing for her, a fresh start. After a couple of hours of hanging out, we got dressed for the dinner that Chet had planned with his mother to celebrate the team, the new changes… and really, so our moms could meet. I tried not to be nervous as I drove the both of us down to Del Frisco's. I couldn’t help but think of the last time I had seen Chet’s mother, having breakfast in her sunroom, being yelled at because I didn’t like eggs and because she thought I was a horrible match for her son. Chet said that she had changed… a lot, but I couldn’t get that image of her disappointed face out of my head, or the sound of her harsh voice as I practically ran out of that mansion.

Finally, I pulled up to the front door and stepped out, handing my keys to the valet.

“Wow. Nice,” My mom said as we stepped onto the sidewalk. The building was small, but you could tell from the opaque, shining black windows, that it was nice inside. A couple of people hung around outside, all nicely dressed in their expensive looking button-downs or cocktail dresses conversing with each other. We walked down the short path, lined with rose bushes and into the restaurant. The cool air that greeted us was a stark contrast to the soultry, May air. I glanced around, taking in the gorgeous interior. The light was extremely dim, with nothing but table candles and the dim overhead contributing. Past the large hostess stand and to the right, was the hefty looking bar top, made of hunky, dark wood. There were two men in vests and ties, sauntering around, taking people’s orders.

To the left was the beginning of the dining room. There were three, marble steps that led down to the carpeted floor that was spotted with tables. Since it was pretty late into the dinner shift, it had already started to fill up, with only a couple of tables free. A couple of waiters wandered around, looking comfortable and calm as they stopped at their tables, offering more wine or a dessert.

I looked over to find Chet standing to the right, looking particularly dashing in his red button down shirt and black dress pants. I smiled at the sight of him as a sense of pride filled me up, just at the thought of introducing him to my mother.

“Dahlia.” He hugged me.

I sucked in a whiff of his cologne, which I had already become so used to, as he planted a kiss on my forehead.

“You look beautiful,” He murmured.

Six months in and I was still blushing at his every word.

Once we let go, he turned his attention to my mom. “Mrs. Waters,” He said, giving her a side-hug and a soft kiss on her cheek. “I am so glad to meet you.”

My mom smiled at him. “Pleasure.” Then shot me a quick, wide-eyed glance.

Chet then turned to the hostess, who had been watching the entire exchange with a blank look on her young face. “Reservations for Blackwood.”

Just as he said this, I spotted his mom, coming from the bar with a glass of red wine in her hand. Right away, I could tell that she looked a lot heavier. There was more color to her cheeks, a brighter look in her grey eyes. Her hair was even more shiny, glitter in the dim light. Her carefully made-up face brightened when she saw us, and she stretched her red lips into a smile. “Dahlia.” She said, coming right at me.

My heart pounded in my chest as she took both of my hands in hers. “I am so glad to see you again.”

I would have asked her if she was sure, but I decided to keep the snide comment to myself. My mom was here, after all. “Me too.” I lied. I was… less than glad. But I couldn’t deny the obvious change in her. What happened? Therapy?

“Nancy Blackwood,” she said, holding her hand out to my mom.

My mom smiled. “Carla Waters.”

“Right this way,” The hostess said as she walked us down the marble steps and into the dining hall. We stopped at a table a little ways off from the entrance, but still a reasonable distance from the kitchen.

“So, you’re in for a treat because the lamb chops here are to die.” Mrs. Blackwood said as we all sat down.

My mom’s eyebrows shot up her face. “Wow.” she was already looking at the menu.

I moved her hand away, holding it in mine.

Chet rested an arm on my chair as Mrs. Blackwood asked, “How did the board meeting go?”

I opened my mouth to respond before Chet said. “Amazing. They agreed to everything. Dahlia did great.”

Mrs. Blackwood, with her solid poker face, just nodded. “I suppose that’s a good thing.”

“Of course it is,” Chet said.

“Yeah but, it wasn’t just me. Chet did a lot of work, convincing them that my suggestions made sense.”

Mrs. Blackwood let out a dry laugh. “Yes, those old men need the information cut, chewed and spit out before they can even have a hope of digesting it properly.”

We all chuckled at this.

Eventually, the waiter came over, and Mrs. Blackwood ordered a bottle of red and white for the table. Soon enough he came back with the wine and the glasses. We all started sipping and discussing the menu when Chet made the absolutely cliche move of hitting his glass with his fork.

I almost laughed at that.

“I have to say something.”

Mrs. Blackwood stopped what she was saying to my mom and turned to face him. “Well, go ahead son. There’s only four of us here.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that.

But then he turned to me. “I know it’s barely been a year since my father died,” Mrs. Blackwood bowed her head at this.

“And a lot has changed. When I first took over the company, I had no idea what I was doing… and I still don’t.”

“That’s not entirely wrong.” Mrs. Blackwood muttered, her voice colored with the dry humor.

“I was lost, but I found myself grounded in the sense of duty I felt towards my family, my team and the woman I fell in love with.”

My heart swelled at this, and I gazed up at him, reveling in the way his eyes twinkled in the light, the way that he stared at me like I was the only woman that existed.

“Dahlia Waters.” He put the wine glass down as my eyes widened.

Even when he got down on one knee, my mind had still failed to fully compute what was happening in front of me. “Yes?”

My heart pounded so much that I had to strain to catch his next words, but I did hear them, and I could never forget them.

“You came into my life and completely turned it upside down. You challenge me more than any woman ever has, and when I look at you I see everything I need, everything I’m not, in your eyes. I feel,” he cleared his throat then as he grabbed my hand. I could feel him trembling a little as he held me in his grip and my eyes watered. This was the man I loved, the man I could give my life to, down on one knee, gazing up at me with that certain expression of love, an expression a girl can only dream of being reflected back up at her. “I feel like we’d be an amazing team. I want to experience all the joys and… sorrows of this life, with you by my side.”

Hot tears streamed down my face as I gazed down at him. My mom and Mrs. Blackwood were staring right at us, not breathing, as they watched this scene. I could feel the hush in the entire restaurant, and it didn’t take me long to realize that they all watched too.

“I can’t see a life without you in it.” He slipped something out of his pocket, a black box.

There it was. It was happening. I was about to be engaged. He flipped it up, and I caught the first glimpse of that diamond ring. My heart skipped a beat before it went into overdrive. Goosebumps rose on my skin as I was practically blinded by the reflection of the candlelight being refracted off of every edge of that princess-cut diamond.

“Dahlia Waters,” He said. “Will you marry me?”

A lump lodged itself in my throat. I couldn’t speak right away. In fact, a part of me didn’t want to. I wanted to revel in my new reality. I stared down at him, my eyes wide, my body jittery with excitement. But I couldn’t keep the words at bay anymore, or extend this moment any longer. I wanted to be Chet Blackwood’s fiancé right then. I wanted the beginning of the rest of my life, right then. “Yes.”

Chet sighed as he shoved the ring on my finger with trembling fingers. My mom was crying; his mom was clapping, the whole restaurant cheered as he lifted me up out of my seat and into his arms. He kissed me about a million times, the energy between us tangible, the electricity, the desperate need. I loved him.

I loved him.