Epilogue

Subject: I wish...

I wish you could see this view, from here. It's pretty amazing.

Joshua

Subject: Re: I wish...

Well, let me finish up this page and I'll be right out.

Shannon

He set the light notebook down on the patio table next to him and picked up his beer, stretching his legs out in front of him. He was tired. But the good kind of tired. The work-his-ass-off-day-and-night-for-months-and-finally-got-a-good-break kind of tired. The closing on the house was perfect timing, though, right as his tour ended. They were lucky to find it, and fell in love with it as soon as they pulled into the driveway. Now he sat on the porch outside their new house, with a great view of the lushest green forest he had ever seen, and downtown Portland as a backdrop. It made for a nice getaway, when he was tired of the world and the routine and the business. It seemed like he wasn't even really living unless he was there, with her.

He heard the door slide open behind him, and the tinkle of Bruno's dog tags as they bounced against each other, then felt soft, sweet lips on his cheek and the faint scent of green apple.

“Mail for you,” she said, dropping a stack of envelopes in his lap. “And my ring is ready. Can we go get it?”

“Thanks. Sure, whenever you're ready.”

“Okay. I want to enjoy this view you raved about first,” she said, swinging her feet up and sitting cross legged in her chair.

He flipped through his mail, mostly junk, and set it on the table between them.

“Do you ever think about what it would be like if you hadn't sent me that email? The one you sent a couple weeks after I told you had the wrong address?”

“Nope.” 

He glanced over at her, studying her. She was serious, it seemed. “Never?”

“Never. I figure things happen for a reason. No sense wasting my time wondering what would have happened if I did something else. And it worked out. Right?” She leaned her head against the back of her chair, her face tilted toward him. Her pretty face, with big brown eyes and lashes that curled up and full, pink lips with the cupids bow that he loved to--- Whoa. Down boy. At least until later.

“We'd better go pick up your ring or we're not leaving the house today,” he said, standing and stretching his arms out, marveling at how well he could breathe and how clear the sky was.

“I don't mind not leaving the house today,” she said. “We still have a lot of time to make up for.”

“Don't tempt me. Come on, Bruno.”

The ring fit perfectly, now, after having it sized. The platinum band had been polished to a lustrous shine and the classic princess cut diamond glinted in the sunlight whenever she moved her hand-- to drive, to eat, to stroke the stubble on his cheek whenever the urge arose, which was often.

“It was awesome of Edie to let you have your grandma's wedding set.”

“Yeah, I always did love it,” she said, smiling and staring at it, moving her hand around so the light bounced off of the many facets.

“It's practically antique. They cleaned it up nice for you. Edie said she wouldn't give her blessing unless you would be wearing it.”

“Well, my mom knows what's good for me. She's looking forward to meeting your parents next weekend.”

“Yeah, they're looking forward to it, too. They've never been to Oregon. Should be fun.”

“So, earlier you asked me something. If I ever thought about where we'd be if I hadn't sent that email. Do you wonder about that?”

“All the time. Everyday,” he admitted. “It's a little bit of a waking nightmare to think about going back to how my life was, before I met you. I love this. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“I was thinking... we should invite Jake and his wife and uh... Saucy Rossy to the wedding. If it wasn't for him, we'd have never met.”

Shannon burst into laughter, smiling wide, so her eyes disappeared. “Oh. Oh Gawd. Yeah, he and Bruno will get along really well, I bet.”

The small, quiet, simple, but beautiful ceremony would be held the following year at the quaint and elegant Columbia Gorge Hotel. The outdoor, early evening gathering offered a perfect view of the frothy white waterfalls, coupled with the changing trees in vivid explosions of bright color. The setting sun behind them, he recited his hand written vows to her; she recited her hand written vows to him. The rings were exchanged, the prayer said, the candles lit and when, in front of family and friends, they were pronounced man and wife and he kissed her, long and sweet, as if he was kissing her for the first time, it became the second singular most wonderful moment of his life, so far.

Amid the applause and cheer and confetti and well wishes, he curled an arm around her waist and tucked her close to him. She looked up, into his face, noting how happy he looked. He looked down at her, noting how happy he was. He knew, then he'd never live the waking nightmare he used to have, about having never met her, his life never changed by her, stuck in the monotony and droll of the day being like like any other day, which were mostly all the same.