Epilogue

Lincoln

A little later. . .

Chemistry isn’t just about the composition of substance structure and properties; it’s about how those substances interact and change to make something new. It’s what I’ve always found fascinating, what I thrived off when it came to making bourbon. But there was more. It’s complex and emotional. My chemistry with Faye Calloway defies reason, because it didn’t make things more complex. It turned out to be very simple: she was my catalyst. My entire life had become about my two girls and Faye. There’s also a dog, a cow, as well as six baby chicks. And the chicks, surprisingly, I actually knew about this time. A lot of women who made my life feel always slightly out of control, but undoubtedly complete.

“Dad, do you want to practice?” Lily asks, perched on the counter.

“No, I don’t want to practice,” I say to her in the mirror as I button up my black shirt.

“You do look kind of nervous—” Lark says as she leans against the ledge of the tub. She holds up the newest bath bombs I bought, and her eyes widen. “Dad, these smell like vanilla and cherries. Lily, smell this one."

Lily holds my glasses for me and says, “Are you worried she won’t say yes?”

But instead of being able to answer, Faye pops her head into the bathroom, catching all of us off guard. Out of breath, she says, “Worried about who not saying yes to what?”

Her eyes move from both the girls and then back to me, all of us having an oh-shit moment because she’s not supposed to be here. Hadley and Laney were supposed to keep her out for at least another hour until I had set everything up.

Lark’s wide eyes meet mine as she glances to the counter and toward the small red velvet pouch.

“I told Hadley and Laney I needed to change quickly after class. You’d think teaching the book club ladies how to dance with feather fans would be less intense, but it’s not.” She laughs and shakes her head, walking into our bathroom off the master suite.

With the growing roster of animals, we decided to move into the Calloway Farmhouse and completed some renovations that made it feel like ours instead of Maggie’s. I was more than happy to sell our home—there were too many harsh memories that lingered there. I wanted my girls to remember their mother, but that didn’t have to mean staying in a place that didn’t feel good anymore.

Faye smiles, giving both the girls a high-five combination that they’ve decided is much cooler than mine and Hadley’s. She wraps her arms around my shoulders. “Hi,” she says sweetly against my lips. I run my hands down her back, but the wrap on my arm catches her attention, making her brow pinch. “What happened?”

I smile to myself, because it really doesn’t matter how we do this. There isn’t a single thing about the two of us that ever went according to any plans—why would that be different now?

“Dad, should we?” Lark, catching on, asks, gesturing to the door.

I give her a shake of my head. “Stay. It’s okay.”

Faye looks between all of us as I peel off the wrap that covered the tattoo I had just gotten finished. It didn’t take much thought to decide how I wanted to fill the blank space of that third windowpane. Faye’s gaze drops from mine to my arm, and her breath catches as she takes it in. The splash of color and shape of a perfect peach. “Everything that makes my life feel good is there now.”

She wipes beneath each eye as she looks up at me. “Are you kidding me? I don’t know what to say–”

“Alright.” I move back slightly, giving myself space to do this right. My knee moves to the floor, and I palm the little velvet bag. “Then just say yes.”

She searches my face, jaw dropping slightly and eyes widening. “Foxx...” she exhales.

“It’s a great last name, Peach. I’d very much like it if you’d make it yours. But no pressure.” With a wink, I give her an easy smile. I glance at my girls, who are holding each other in a hug, tears brimming as I ask the woman I love if she’ll marry me.

I reach for her to pull her closer, but she doesn’t need coaxing. She props her ass right on my bent knee.

“I had a whole big idea for this—planned to wear a tux, bought you a dress.” I pull out the rose gold band with an oval diamond in the center. Around it are smaller diamonds that look like they’ve been dusted pink. The moment I saw it, it felt like something she would love. “The dress matched this.”

She covers her mouth, muffling my name as more tears trail down her flushed cheeks. “Lincoln?—”

“I want to do this life with you. You’re everything I could ever ask for in a partner, friend, lover. I’m obsessed with every part of you, from your perfect lips to your big, protective heart.” My eyes water, but only because I can’t contain how much this moment means to me. To be here with her and feeling so ready to make her mine. “You are so many things, Faye, but the only thing I'm really hoping that you never want to stop being is ours.”

Her breath hitches as my daughters sniff from just a few feet away. She glances at the girls and asks, “Are you both okay with this?”

They both smile at her. “More than okay, Faye,” Lily says. Lark just nods, trying to keep her tears from turning into an all-out cry.

Faye smiles and focuses back on me. “I couldn’t remember what home felt like. I missed the idea of it, but I couldn’t remember how it felt. The warmth of it and care. That fierce protectiveness of it. You’re my home, Lincoln Foxx. You’re the love of the life I’m choosing, and I’m so fucking lucky to have all of you. Yes. Absolutely, yes,” she says as she wraps her arms around my neck.

I hold on to her so tightly and try to never forget this moment—the way she feels in my arms during one of the happiest moments of my life. When she pulls back, we both look at Lark and Lily, giving them the nod to get over here.

Lily whispers, “See, Dad, we were right. And Faye, don’t worry, curse purse doesn’t apply today.”

We both laugh through our happy tears, looking at each other and then the girls as they hustle out of the bathroom. She stands, and I follow, holding her left hand out and sliding on the ring.

“So beautiful,” she says, looking up at me. The smile that she has is one that I’ll do everything I can to keep there.

I lean forward, and just before her lips find mine, I tell her one last secret. “I never planned on loving you, Peach. But now, I never plan on stopping.”

THE END

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