“You fool. Do you really think my daughter will stick by you in a few months’ time when she sees what a deadbeat you are, when she sees just who you really are?”
Now my eyes were narrowing.
“With all due respect, that’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Pryce. As long as Alice is by my side, believing in me, I’m going to do my damnedest to make sure we’re well taken care of. It may not be much”—I waved my arm around—“and it certainly won’t be like this, but I won’t sleep until she’s well looked after.”
His whole face set into a sneer, Mr. Pryce stormed out.
When Alice came back, rosy and chatty after seeing her friend, I didn’t mention her father’s visit. I only enjoyed her renewed happy caresses and kept silent, wanting to enjoy this fleeting change, even though I knew it wouldn’t—couldn’t—last.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Alice
Today was the last day. I didn’t tell Jake that, but I knew it. Today, I was going to go back to the house, go to Papa, and plead for forgiveness one last time. One last time before I left with Jake for who knew where. All that was certain was that, with Jake by my side, there was nothing I couldn’t handle.
Even now, as I walked over the freshly cut grass toward my childhood home, toward the man who was going to decide my fate, I wasn’t afraid. No, the calmness that infused all my days was unbreakable. As I rang the doorbell, as the familiar melody flowed through me, I knew. Everything was going to be all right.
Simone looked puzzled when she opened the door.
“He already spoke to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your father left about five minutes ago. I thought he was going to see you.”
Suddenly, I understood.
I raced back to the guest house, but it was too late. The door was ajar and Papa was inside. Just outside the door, I paused.
Jake was talking.
“…And I’m sorry, Mr. Pryce, but I can’t accept your offer. Alice is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and after the happiness I’ve known with her, I couldn’t ever live with myself if I lost her. I love her. I love her, and I know that for you that’s not enough, but I won’t rest until she’s looked after, until I’ve done well by her.”
Silence, then Papa’s voice, quiet. It almost didn’t sound like him; it was so quiet and uncertain.
“I know. I…I’ve been watching you two. I hate to admit it, but I think whatever’s going on between you two, as impractical and crazy as it may be, is real. I would’ve followed through with my offer, but now…now I just don’t know.”
I opened the door, and both men gaped at me.
“How much did you hear?” my father asked.
“Enough,” I said, tears coming to my eyes.
“Well, he didn’t take it. He didn’t even for a second consider it,” my father said, a mixture of pride and despair in his gray eyes. “A million dollars, and he didn’t even consider it.”
I walked over to Jake, and he put his arms around me. Looking at us, Papa’s whole face trembled. I ran up to him, and we joined in one shaky, sputtering hug.
“I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you. All this time I wanted to tell you.”
“No. It’s me who should be sorry. I almost lost you twice because of my pigheadedness. I almost lost you twice…”
Our faces were wet, but whose tears they were, I couldn’t say.
“I’m not cutting you off, not when I just got you back. Please, you’ll stay a while, won’t you?” Papa said.
I glanced at Jake.
“I have to get back to the cabin soon, but you can come up later.”
I shook my head.
“We’ll stay another night, Papa, but I need to be with Jake right now. We can come up in another week.”
My father nodded and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, still shaking his head.
“This whole week, I’ve been thinking. These thoughts have been rolling around in my head, knocking and smacking into each other—like the wedding. How I almost had you marry a crook in my quest for more business, better business, more publicity, better publicity. How you majored in economics to please me. How I never saw you happier than when you came back from that Sierra Leone trip or…now. How all I ever wanted was for you to be happy and, in trying to control you, how very much I’ve failed.”
Rising, he took me in his arms.
“Can you forgive me, my darling daughter? Can you ever forgive a pigheaded old fool, Alice?”
I nodded and kissed him on the cheek.
“Of course, Papa. You’ve been so good to me over the years. And I know you only ever wanted what was best for me. We both didn’t know any better, the two of us.”
Drawing back, Papa was nodding, wiping at his eyes with an exasperated sigh.
“Only…I know your mother would be so very proud of the strong-willed woman you’ve become. So very proud.”
I nodded, and we hugged again.
“I’ll have Jake’s criminal charges disappear; if he testifies against Van Patten, it shouldn’t be hard at all. And I’ll sue anyone who dares say a word against either of you.”
I smiled ruefully.
“Thank you, Papa, though I don’t want you going on a campaign to clear our names. Let the dust settle a bit; soon we’ll be old news.”
“I will take you up on testifying against Van Patten,” Jake said, pipping in. “And I meant what I said, sir. I won’t rest until Alice is well cared for and happy.”
Papa turned to face Jake. A shy smile on his face, he said, “I know you will, my boy. I know you will.”
Then he stuck out his hand. His face glowing, Jake stepped forward, took his hand, shook it, and smiled. I took both their hands, looking from one to the other, a mischievous smile playing on my face, and asked, “So, can we have hot dogs?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jake
The drive to my cabin was one big celebration. We finished three bags of potato chips between us and had the windows down and the wind singing along with us to the van’s crackly radio.
I held her hand—my wife’s, my Mrs. Harker’s, my darling Alice’s. The drive was winding and the trees were endless, but we were in no rush. We were in love, and every minute was a smile and a laugh for no reason. The sun was endless, the sky more so, and when we finally did pull up to the cabin, we took a good few minutes to make out in front of the familiar place I knew and loved so well.
“Ew, gross!” a voice cried.
A furious drumming on the hood of the van sounded, and I looked up to find Tom and Dalia at the window, giving us the finger.
Laughing, we gave them the finger back, while Alice showed off the cheap ring I’d bought her at a convenience store on the way.
“Just married, motherfuckers!” I roared to their shocked expressions.
As shock changed to glee, I corrected, “Actually, like a week ago, but yeah.”
While I climbed out of the car, Tom fired off questions.
“What the fuck—seriously? When? Where? Why wasn’t I invited? What the fuck kinda ring is that? Did you guys listen to a single thing I said last time?”
Taking Alice’s hand as we walked to the shed, I fired back answers.
“Yes. A little over a week ago in a beautiful Las Vegas chapel. We’re having a big ceremony later. Alice likes it. And no.”
A quick glance in the shed revealed that the animals were all alive and well, rustling eagerly at my return.
“Hey, you didn’t kill them,” I remarked with a supportive pat on Tom’s shoulder.
He gave me a big toothy smile, followed by a punch to the arm.
“You should see the toad.”
Inside the cabin, at the sight of our now ridiculously fat toad friend, Alice and I burst out laughing.
“Seriously?”
Tom shrugged while Dalia explained. “Turns out he likes Sexy Pizza.”
I hugged them, thanked them, and invited them to stay f
or dinner.
“Okay,” Tom said. “On one condition: that it’s not Sexy Pizza. We’ve had barely nothing else since we’ve been here.”
I nodded, promised that it wouldn’t be, and then went outside to call Sexy Pizza.
When it arrived half an hour later, everyone was too starved to do anything other than half-heartedly swear at me before digging in.
As the night wound down and the pizza diminished to a few paltry pieces, Tom cast an approving look at Alice and me curled up together.
“You know…you two, you’re all right.”
I blew him a kiss.
“Thanks, bro.”
But he wasn’t smiling.
“Naw. I’m being serious. I thought you two were toast, truth be told. But seeing you here, like this, I don’t know. You work in some strange, fucked-up way. You really work.”
We all laughed, and then Tom and Dalia rose.
“Thanks for letting us stay.”
“You sure you wanna go now? It’s, like, 9—kinda late.”
Tom nodded. “It’s 80s night at Babylon, man. Can’t miss it.”
So we all threw ourselves into another group hug. The gesture was so very different this time. There was nothing desperate or doomed or scary about it. No, this time there was only a triumphant sort of joy. This time everything was settled; everything was perfect.
This time when we said good-bye, we knew we’d see them again, and we were the ones on the porch waving.
When they were gone, Alice and I microwaved the final pizza slices, fed them to each other, and then retreated to the bed as a draft blew in from the windows.
It was cold until we made it to the bed. After only a few seconds curled together amid the maroon swathes of sheets, we were warm all right. Everything was all right.
“Every day I think I can’t get happier,” Alice murmured, “and then I do.”
I smoothed her hair down and kissed the top of her head.
“Me too. I just can’t believe—”
“Everything that’s happened,” she finished, staring off into the dark, her face strangely expressionless, clearly unaware that she’d somehow said exactly what I’d been thinking.
“It’s like everything I ever wanted is all coming together at once,” she said. “It’s like everything I ever asked for. It’s like impossibility is kissing me on the lips every morning, cuddling up to me every night. It’s like…”
“I couldn’t be happier,” I finished for her.
And then we kissed and wrapped ourselves around each other tighter and said nothing, because words would only ruin it, this quiet perfection of a moment.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Alice
The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and today was the first day of the rest of my life.
Funny, how things came full circle. This time just over six months ago, I had been sitting in a chair before my wedding, hoping to escape. This time just over six months ago, I had been about to be kidnapped by the man I was going to marry instead.
“You sure the bright pink is okay?” Lux asked for the fifth time.
“Yes. I love it,” I said for the sixth.
“But Melinda said—”
“I fired Melinda last week,” I reminded Lux.
She grinned and ran her fingers through her now purple hair.
“Really, you’re a saint for keeping her on that long.”
I shrugged.
“Had to appease Papa for not having it in the Ritz-Carlton somehow.”
Barking joyously, Randolph scampered up to me and licked my hand, Pip not far behind.
I would have been the last to believe that the two would get along. But ever since we’d introduced them five months ago, the pair had been inseparable.
I gazed out the window at the beautiful spring day I’d be going out into soon enough. “Inseparable” was not unlike Jake and me these past few months—these past six months, I reminded myself. It was still hard to believe that the swirl of job hunting (a ranger position for Jake, the foundation of my charity for me), forest walking (us and the dogs), and love-making that had felt like one glorious month had actually been six.
“He’s gonna pass out when he sees you, I bet,” Lux said confidently, running her hands over the folds of my dress affectionately.
I did a twirl in the mirror, smiling at my reflection, who finally looked just as happy as I felt. The simple, flowy gown had felt right the moment I’d put it on. All of this, Jake popping the question after he’d filled our pond with roses, slipping the turquoise-flowered ring on my finger in the moonlight, being him every day and night—all of it had felt so right.
I smiled at the girl in the mirror who knew the same secret I did: I was the luckiest girl in the world.
Today, I would renew my vows with the man who had already transformed my life so much that it was nearly unrecognizable.
“Hey, Alice, check this out.”
From a window on the opposite side of the room, Lux’s highlighter pink nails waved me over.
Kneeling beside her, I peered out. The Denver botanic garden was in its full, lush glory—all the plants so green they looked fake, all the flowers so vibrant they looked painted. The sky was a spectacular bright blue, while all the guests milling about looked like flowers themselves, draped in dazzling frocks as they were.
“You ready?” she whispered.
I grinned.
“Hell yeah.”
And so, out we walked.
The air was clear and warm, with just the slightest kiss of wind. Birds were rejoicing in the ceremony already, basking and fluttering and twittering in the ornate stone bird baths.
The guests had all sat down on their white metal seats, while at the end, my father waited for me.
Dressed to the nines in a striped black Armani suit, Papa beamed when he saw me and Lux.
The small orchestra set off to the side began its music, and Lux walked up alongside Tom, whose long hair was done up in a neat ponytail.
The sweet flute melody bid my legs to walk, and so Papa and I went, my eyes floating over the rainbow of flowers and flower-like guests, over to the man at the end of the aisle who was waiting for me. My husband. My Jake.
He was perfectly handsome in his tight navy suit, looking terrified and excited and delighted and, just as Lux had said, about to pass out.
When I reached the end, we clasped hands, and the minister, Dmitri—a family friend with a bowling-ball-shaped bald head—began talking.
“Thank you all for coming here today to celebrate Jake and Alice’s wedding.”
He smiled, which was even shinier than his head, and then continued. “We offer thanks this day for those who are gathered here, for Alice and Jake, and for their marriage which we are here to rejoice in.”
Then it was Jake’s turn, who, his hand clasped in mind, turned to the crowd and said, “Thank you everyone for coming and being here with us for this joyous event. We really appreciate your support and are happy to have you.”
Then it was my turn.
“Dad, thanks for being here and for supporting me all these years. And thanks to Lux and Simone for always being there.”
Dimitri turned to Jake.
“Jake, will you have Alice to be your wife, to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor her, keep her in sickness and in health, and be faithful to her? Do you promise to do this?”
Jake’s eyes were shining as he spoke.
“I do.”
Dimitri turned to me.
“Alice, will you have Jake to be your husband, to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor him, keep him in sickness and in health, and be faithful to him? Will you also promise to do this?"
“I do,” I said.
Dimitri turned to the crowd.
“Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage
? Will you do this? If so, answer ‘we will.’"
“We will,” the crowd chorused.
Dimitri turned to both of us with a smile.
“You may now make what promises you’d like to each other.”
And, just like that, Jake was turning to me once more with eyes that were somehow shining even more than before.
“Alice, oh, Alice. Finally, this day has come. It seems like just yesterday I was spilling out my soul to you in that Las Vegas chapel. I was scared then, but I’m not scared anymore. No, I know now that this tidal wave of feeling is not something to fear, not something that will hurt me, but something to celebrate, something that lifts me up each and every day.
“I keep waiting for these feelings to dull, to experience what everyone says has to happen—a settling—and yet, Alice, something tells me that I’ll die waiting, that I’ll never stop loving you with this body-aching, mind-crushing, soul-stretching feeling that swallows everything. No, Alice, for love like this, true love, there is no diminishing. Not when I see how, every day, you lift me up. Every day you are considerate, compassionate, and funny.
“You are my best friend and my dearest lover, and, Alice, you’re making me the happiest man in the world today. I could stand up here for hours and list out all the ways I’m a new man because of you, but instead I’ll say this: I will love you as long as there is breath in my body, and I will be happy as long as your hand is in mine. Thank you. Thank you with all my heart, my dear, sweet, Alice. Thank you.”
Then it was my turn, except my throat was choked up and I could barely see through my tears of happiness. But the words came anyway.
“It’s not fair that you get to go first. That you render me so overwhelmed that half of what I prepared rolls down my face with these heartfelt tears. I’ve said everything already, but I’ll try to do it again, try to explain just what you mean to me, just what transformation I’ve undergone thanks to you.
“Everyone around me sees it: the smile that comes from the inside, the light skip in my step. Everyone keeps asking me what’s changed. And always, always, the answer is the same: I haven’t made any change but you. And yet, that change has sparked a thousand others. Your support, your unconditional rock of love, has given me the strength to make a thousand other changes, to stumble closer to the life I’ve always wanted.
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