Epilogue
Jesse:
I’m nervous as hell, and not just because my poor mother and father are scaling the side of a giant boulder to get to the special spot. I shift my weight back and forth in my shoes, doing everything short of hopping up and down, my body filled with anxious energy as I wait for her to arrive.
“Out of everywhere in the entire world, this is where you guys choose?” Max teases. “Seriously, there’s something not right about this at all.” He wipes the sweat from his brow, winded from the long hike up the hill.
We had to put off the wedding for a year so we could have it at our special cave, the spot we were both seeking when we first met. My recovery from my surgery to repair the damage from the gunshot wound was long and intense, with daily physical therapy, but I had Molly with me the entire time. She was reluctant to move across the country at first, and worried that she wouldn’t fit into my life, but I told her she could park her bus in the driveway, free to leave if she ever chose.
Lucky for me, it never came down to that.
No, Molly never left my side.
It’s been fun watching her acclimate to the lifestyle. Even though she could have anything she could possibly desire, our bedroom is decorated with the same floral printed comforter and matching handmade curtains that once lined our mobile home. If it makes her feel comfortable and at home with me here, I can’t complain.
Max and I have decided to take a step back and tone down the business a little bit. We both came to the mutual agreement that we weren’t pushing ourselves out of a place of need anymore, but mainly his addiction to seeing those numbers get bigger and bigger. I think having Molly around has been a positive influence on him. He realized that there’s more to life than flying all over the world trying to land another deal, and he’s been dating women who are more than walking Barbie dolls looking for a payday. His current girlfriend is a kindergarten teacher.
Now Max and I finally have the time to just focus on the projects we want. The projects that are meaningful. I get to make art and he gets to make nice with people other than real estate moguls.
And Molly gets to dump her heart and soul into the humanitarian work that she set out to do so many years ago. Her first project was right here in Creede, the place it all began.
“I was hoping you’d make it, brother,” I say, hugging the old man close. “I know how much you hate this hike.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You put your life on the line for me. The least I can do is be there for the most important day of yours,” Mitch laughs. He looks good all cleaned up. He looks like he’s standing a lot taller too since he parted ways with the old clan and started working at the shelter and rehab center for veterans that Molly opened downtown.
I look over my shoulder. Everyone is here, I think. There’s Cheryl, who’s going to officiate our ceremony, Molly’s awesome parents, my parents and sisters, Max, and Mitch. I look anxiously over my shoulder, expecting Molly to come walking out of the woods in a white sundress.
Instead, the air vibrates. The tops of the trees begin swaying, and we all shield our eyes looking up at the sky at the helicopter hovering overhead.
“She hates that damn thing,” I say, nudging Max. I haven’t been able to talk her into getting into the helicopter since she came to the hospital a year ago with Max. She said it makes her throw up.
“Yeah, well, she’s been practicing,” he chuckles. “It only makes her sick when she’s the passenger. Flying it’s a completely different story.”
“What?” I scream, unable to make out his words over the loud sound of the propellers as the helicopter touches down in the clearing nearby.
She hops out of the pilot’s side of the cockpit in a huge poofy white gown, Dolly following closely on her heels. I can’t help but laugh. She looks gorgeous as hell, but nothing about this is anything I’d expect from her.
It’s perfect. It’s us. Every day we learn something new about each other, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Every day we learn something about ourselves together.
She likes escargot but hates Dom Perignon. She’s an amazing hunter, and can drag a deer hundreds of yards on her back, but the thought of skinning one makes her ill.
I am good at drawing, but even better at writing. The book we are working on together is going to be a masterpiece. I like wearing expensive suits, but my favorite days are the ones we spend wearing nothing at all, lounging around with nowhere to go, eating cheap takeout pizza.
Sometimes it takes a head injury to realize how very little you know about yourself, and sometimes it just takes finding the right person who’s willing to navigate the unknown with you. The kind of person who makes you feel like, even when nothing makes sense, it’s ok, because you have each other.
The kind of person who’s walking straight towards me, the most beautiful and loving smile across her face.
She’s not paying attention to anything but me, like I am the only thing that exists in this world.
She stumbles, grasping for her leg as she hits the ground. Everyone gasps, and my jaw drops.
“It’s ok!” she says softly. “I think I just rolled my ankle. I’m just gonna walk it off.”
I rush to her side, scooping her up in my arms and throwing her over my shoulder just like the first day we met, her giant white dress nearly swallowing me whole.
I don’t care if have to hold her like this for the whole ceremony. She’s not getting away this time.
“Put me down,” she laughs. “You know how crazy you make me when you go all mountain man on me. We have a wedding and a reception to get through.”
“And a private cave one floor down for our honeymoon suite.” I smile, raising my eyebrows.
“Are we doing this or what?” Max asks impatiently.
Cheryl clears her throat. “On behalf of Jesse and Molly, I want to thank you all for making the long and rocky journey…”
Molly’s squeezing my hand tight, and I don’t need to hear another word to know that this is how our lives are meant to be, and no matter where we go in the world, as long as we’re breathing the same air, as long as she’s holding onto me, I’m right where I belong.