Epilogue
Sydney
“How do I look?” I asked Declan.
“Fabulous, Syd. You know, I’ve never seen you so happy.” Which wasn’t true. He’d been seeing me this happy all year, and even happier when I was with Owen.
“Focus, Declan! Are you sure?” I spun around, looking in the mirror.
“I’m sure! Come on already, it’s time!”
I took a deep breath, and then took his elbow. My brother led me out of the small room and down the hall, to tall white doors. I could hear Mendelssohn playing on the other side of them.
“Ready?” he asked.
“As I’ll ever be.”
The doors opened, and Declan led me down the aisle, as all the guests watched us with huge smiles on their faces. Julia was there as the maid of honor, winking at me and giving me thumbs up. Everybody held their breath. I saw Owen at the altar, in a tux and a sexy stubble, a red flower on his lapel.
I couldn’t hold back the tears, and even saw Owen’s eyes get wet, but when the time came, we both managed to say I do. The guests applauded, and we kissed like it was our first time, with more love and passion than I thought possible.
Julia didn’t catch the bouquet, but she met a nice guy at the bar after the ceremony, and that seemed to be good enough.
We had been living together for the past year, at Owen’s apartment in River North, which was now our apartment. He had distanced himself from his business, effectively retiring, and we had spent the past year traveling all over the world, doing all sorts of crazy stuff, from base-jumping to whitewater rafting. There was nothing in the world we couldn’t do when we were together.
We had fought off Declan’s cancer, and he had been in remission for nine months now. He had found a job and promised to return Owen the money he had spent, but we didn’t hold him to it. The important thing was that Declan and Owen had become good friends. There was a lot Declan could learn from Owen, both in business and in life. At first, I didn’t approve – the last thing I wanted was for my brother to get into some sketchy business with the likes of Lawson, but they both promised me that his work would be legit. Now that the sickness was no longer bothering him, Declan had adopted a more positive outlook on life. He had become ambitious and outgoing. He had started practicing yoga and meditation, learning to be at peace with himself.
For our honeymoon, we went to the island, naturally. It was fun to relive the memories of our first trip there – spontaneous and magical. We took the boat out, making love on the deck, and not only on the deck. We hiked and surfed, and at some point, Owen even wanted to teach me to fly the plane, but the pilot advised against it. I agreed.
We had truly started our life together. It was odd to think of the times when we’d not been together. It was as if that had happened to someone else. The more I got to know my husband, the more I loved and admired him, and the feeling was mutual.
I was lucky.
We were lucky.
A month after our honeymoon, we learned that Declan’s cancer had gone away for good. There was no trace of it left. He looked healthy and happy, finally. I even stopped joking about his gaining weight.
One evening, when we were cooking dinner, I said, “You know, had you asked me a year ago if this is where I saw myself, I would’ve laughed in your face!”
Owen smirked. “Tell me about it. I’d have told you I saw myself spending weekends at the Chicago Buyer’s Club!”
We always had a good laugh when someone mentioned the club.
“Whatever happened to it, by the way?”
“Oh you know,” Owen said, “it always seems to be there. Waiting to make its next match.”
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