EPILOGUE ONE
* James *
* Five Months Later *
Lying on the couch, I looked around at what had been a perfectly tidy living room this morning. Now there was a pile of planks stacked in the corner from the extra shelf I was building tomorrow, along with a dozen boxes labeled “books” and “knick-knacks”.
Even though my house was a temporary disaster, I was so unbelievably happy that Molly had moved in with me today.
Luckily, she loved my house and most of the furniture. We picked a few new pieces together, to replace some things that were getting worn down, but those were all delivered last week. Today we only moved the pieces of her giant bookshelf, and all of her boxes and clothes.
She insisted on helping since I refused to hire movers. There was nothing heavy, just many easy trips. But my sweet Molly
was still very protective of me.
It was just in her nature to care for others, and no matter how many times I told her I was fine, she babied me. I would never admit that I secretly loved it.
After the close call a few months ago, she took it upon herself to be in charge of the rest of my healing process. I am apparently now getting a scan done every three months whether I like it or not.
But since her version of a gold star for good behavior is now doled out in the bedroom, I’m absolutely fine with it.
Molly came back from fussing around in the kitchen with two small glasses of whiskey. “I’m too tired to cook, so why don’t I order pizza in a little while?” she asked.
“Good idea,” I said, clinking my glass with hers as we took a sip. “Interesting,” I said. “What’s this?”
“I have no idea. The bottle is in the kitchen. I just told the liquor store guy your three favorites, and he picked out this one.”
“Brilliant,” I chuckled. Setting my glass down, I sat back on the sofa, making a face as I stretched out my left leg.
“You’ve worn yourself out today,” she said, frowning. “See? I told you we should have gotten movers.”
“I’m fine,” I said, starting to get up.
“No, whatever it is, let me get it,” she said anxiously.
“I’m not going to let my darling girl wait on me hand and foot,” I said, trying to sound as grouchy as possible.
“Can I at least get you your cane?” she asked.
I sighed heavily. “Sure.” I pointed to the far corner of the room. “It’s by the window.”
Molly darted over to pick it up, bringing it to me with one of her sweet smiles. Then her eyes grew wide. “Why is it rattling?”
It was pure hell to keep my face blank and not grin from ear to ear. When my brother first gave me that silver-tipped cane, he showed me the hidden chamber inside the handle where you could hide a tiny test tube shaped flask. I’ve never had a reason to use the hidden compartment until today.
“Unscrew the top and check,” I said.
She came over to sit beside me, slowly unscrewing the silver handle of the cane until she found a light pink ribbon. Pulling it out slowly, she shrieked when she saw the diamond ring tied to the end.
Rolling off the couch, I dropped carefully to my good knee. “Molly, I’m so happy that you decided to move in with me, and blend our lives. But I want to make it permanent. I love you more than I knew it was even possible to love someone. Will you marry me, and make me the happiest soldier in the world?”
Her chin was nodding up and down quickly, but it took her a moment to be able to speak. “Yes,” she whispered as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
Taking it from her hand, I untied the ribbon and slipped the ring onto her finger. Then I tied the ribbon around her wrist in a sloppy bow.
“I love you so much, baby,” I murmured, getting up to sit beside her. I kissed her gently, then just rocked her so that she could catch her breath.
“I love you,” she said, her voice a bit stronger as she stared at the ring. “Thank you, it’s beautiful. I love it. And I love you.”