Epilogue Liana

Two years later

"Liana!" Tori screamed from across the parking lot, running across a line of cars to wrap Liana in a hug as if the two of them hadn't seen each other hours before. Tori narrowed her eyes as she gave Liana a once-over. "Is that a new dress? I've never seen that one before."

Liana rolled her eyes in what she hoped was a loving way. "You can borrow it, Tor. It's not super new. You just don't know everything in my closet anymore."

Tori harrumphed. "Not my fault you don't live around the corner anymore."

Liana laughed. "We both moved, Tor! Or did you somehow forget your fancy penthouse apartment in Coconut Grove?"

"Oh, that. The ‘making up for years of lost family time' guilt condo that my dad reserved for me in his building? It's nice, I guess. But you're so far away!"

Liana scoffed. "Fifteen whole minutes."

"Girls!" James called out from a few feet ahead of them. "You ready? Let's go in!"

"Look at you, in a rush to go back to high school," Liana called back jokingly. "I seem to recall you saying you'd never set foot in this place again, not even to go to our ten-year reunion."

James sauntered back to Liana and wrapped her in his arms. "That's because I didn't know I'd have you with me." She let out a sigh as he kissed her, and she melted into him.

Behind them, Tori made a barfing noise. "You two are so cute you're disgusting."

"Just a sec, Tori," Liana giggled between James' kisses.

"I never kissed in our high school parking lot before," James murmured in Liana's ear. "This whole high school experience is already a whole lot better than it was ten years ago."

"Did you ever have sex on this campus?" Liana asked in his ear. James pulled back slightly, a half-surprised, half-bemused look on his face.

"Oh, Abrams," he whispered in her ear. "I love when your mind is in the gutter. No, never have I ever had sex on my high school campus. I'd ask you if you did, but I know the answer to that one."

"Rude!" Liana mimed slapping his arm.

"Hey!" He chuckled playfully. "I was about to say, I would very much like to rectify that fact for both of us tonight. I have never had library sex before. I hear it's a thing. Think we can sneak away for a minute?"

Liana felt her core tighten. But before she could reply, Tori gagged loudly. Liana cleared her mind. She'd almost forgotten they were in public.

"Okay," Tori said. "That's it. I'm going in without you. Have a good night, ya filthy animals."

James took a deep breath before releasing Liana, grabbing her hand as he led Liana into the school auditorium. "We're coming, Tor." At Tor's puking noise, James hastily clarified, "Not like that."

James held the door open for Liana and Tori, and Liana took in the sights of their high school gym, its ceiling criss-crossed with twinkling lights, colorful balloon arches creating a bridge across the basketball half-court line.

"James! My man!" said a guy Liana didn't recognize. The guy launched into a conversation about a former tennis teammate Liana didn't know. James kept trying to interrupt to introduce Liana, but the other guy didn't stop talking for a second.

"Li-Li!" someone shrieked, and Liana turned around to see her old friend Lucas, standing with Ruth of Forbes 30-under-30 fame.

"Lucas!" Liana shrieked, and James inclined his head, urging her to go talk to her friends. Liana gratefully extricated her hand from James' and ran over, hugging Lucas and Ruth.

"Girl!" Lucas yelled appreciatively. "You look fantastic!"

"Thank you," said Liana, and she realized this was the first time in years that she hadn't felt self-conscious accepting the compliment. Despite having some bad days and a few Crohn's disease flares over the past two years, Liana's health had improved dramatically overall. She'd slowly been learning to accept her new body in all of its ups and downs. James had helped a lot in Liana's journey toward self-acceptance. Liana knew she should be ashamed that she let a man's opinion influence her feelings about herself, but it was hard not to get a confidence boost when James couldn't seem to get enough of her body.

"Ruth!" said Liana. "Congrats on the Forbes list! I know it's like, two years late, but it was so great to see. How's life?"

Ruth shrugged. "Eh, you know. Life is lifing. It's stressful."

"Sorry to hear that," Liana said.

Ruth shrugged again. "I don't want to talk about me. I want to hear about you. What are you doing these days?"

Ruth was always no-nonsense, and Liana wasn't surprised that her first question was about work. "I'm a product manager at SunStack. It's a tech company here in Miami."

Ruth nodded. "Yes, of course. I've heard of it. You are about to have your IPO, right?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about it, but yes. I mean, I'm not really involved in it personally, but yes, the CEO is working on the IPO."

Ruth waved her hand dismissively. "Oh please. It's a huge deal for everyone when a company goes public. It's a big milestone. How long have you been there?"

"I just had my two-year work anniversary."

"Nice. Do you like it?"

"I really do," Liana said honestly.

"Our girl is on top of the world right now," Lucas said. Lucas and Liana talked frequently, and Liana had gone to visit her friend in New York the previous month. A couple of other friends from high school had met up with them, too. Slowly, Liana was becoming social again, taking trips and putting herself out into the world.

"Liana is not only winning the job game right now," said Lucas, "but she's also with the hottest man from our high school class."

Ruth's mouth dropped open. "Who?"

Lucas indicated a spot over Liana's shoulder. Liana felt James' warmth as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "That one," Lucas said to Ruth. "James Alonso."

"No way!" Ruth enthused. "James! How are you? Not sure if you remember me."

"Of course I do, Ruth," James replied in that easy way of his. "Ruth like the Supreme Court justice, you used to tell everyone. And now you're out there, saving the world with tech. We're all very proud."

Ruth glowed. "Thank you. You look well. Are you doing well?"

"Oh, very," James confirmed. "Although I have to say, I'll do better when I can wear one of these in public. James lifted Liana's hand and indicated the engagement ring on her finger. He ran his hand over the diamond and then pressed Liana's hand to his mouth. "Mari over there would not stop hitting on me, even after I said I was taken. I honestly wish I were wearing a ring." Sure enough, Liana saw a pretty girl looking at her like she wanted to shoot laser beams out of her eyes.

Liana rolled her eyes at James. "Oh, the terrible trials and tribulations of being attractive."

"Stop it, you two!" Lucas said. "Are we just going to glance over the giant elephant in the room? The fact that you two are freaking engaged! When did this happen?"

Liana blushed. "Yesterday, actually. We haven't posted about it yet or anything. Wanted to tell our friends and family in person first." She shot James a look. "I wasn't really intending to draw attention to it. Just trying to catch up with a couple of people here."

"Oh, honey," said Lucas. "Look at that rock! You absolutely must draw all of the attention to it. Besides, we're your friends! You said you wanted to tell your friends in person; James is just giving you a little nudge."

"That's right, babe. I was making sure we told everyone in person." James kissed the top of her head, and her annoyance melted away. To Lucas and Ruth, James said, "We're really happy. At least, I'm really happy. Liana… not so sure. She has to spend the rest of her life dealing with my horrible puns and generally terrible personality."

Liana beamed at him. "When's the wedding?" Lucas asked.

Liana laughed. "We haven't set a date yet. We did literally get engaged 24 hours ago."

"You got engaged?!" someone shouted, and Liana turned to see Jessica Barnes ogling her.

"Yes," said Liana, smiling.

"To me," James cut in, "in case it wasn't obvious."

"But —" Jessica stammered, staring at Liana, "the last time I saw you, two years ago, you said you had just moved back into town. And you didn't mention a boyfriend. In fact, you seemed very single. Almost forlorn."

"Gee, thanks, Jessica," said Liana sarcastically, glancing down at Jessica's hand and noticing it was free of any rings. Hadn't Jessica gotten engaged to some crypto bro named John? Johnny? Well, it didn't seem like they were together anymore. Liana decided not to ask Jessica about him. Despite Jessica's rudeness, Liana didn't like kicking people when they were down.

"Liana, darling," came a new voice. Liana never thought she'd ever be happy to see Mary Grace, but here she was, happy to be rescued from Jessica by her erstwhile self-proclaimed rival.

Mary Grace looked Jessica up and down and wrinkled her nose almost imperceptibly. "Julia. Nice to see you. I'm going to steal Liana and James for a second."

The next thing Liana knew, she was being dragged through the crowd, desperately trying to hold onto James' hand as they fought their way through couples taking selfies with the balloon arches. "Ah, here we are," said Mary Grace, stopping in front of a couple. The woman looked vaguely familiar.

"Liana, James," said Mary Grace. "You may remember Gigi. And this is her partner, Connor."

"Hey, Gigi!" James said. "Great to see you. And it's good to meet you, Connor, man." Liana was glad James was taking the lead with introductions, since she couldn't say she remembered Gigi.

"Gigi and Connor just moved to Miami," Mary Grace said. "Well, Gigi just moved back, obviously. But they'd been living in LA for the past few years. And I thought you two girls would have a lot in common — not just the LA thing. I pictured you all being couples friends, and I wanted to make sure you connected."

"Thanks, Gracie," said Gigi and threw a warm smile Liana's way. "Can I get your number?"

As Liana typed her number into Gigi's phone, Mary Grace studied the group like a proud mother hen. "Gigi was friends with me when I was in my mean-girl era, but I promise she was never a mean girl." Gigi laughed nervously. Liana threw an arm around Mary Grace's shoulder and joked, "You mean, you're talking about your mean-girl era in the past tense? It's over?"

Mary Grace rolled her eyes. "Very funny."

While Mary Grace and Liana weren't best friends, they were more than acquaintances. True to her word, Mary Grace had put in a lot of work on herself. She was being nicer to Tori, and Tori and Liana had started inviting her to hang out occasionally. Mary Grace wasn't in a huge hurry to hang out with James, though, a situation Liana could understand but which meant Liana didn't see Mary Grace too often.

"I love your ring," said Gigi to Liana with genuine warmth. "If you don't mind my asking, did you have any input into the design?" She glanced at Connor and blushed. "It's just, we've been thinking about taking that next step, and I told Connor I should have some say in the ring, since I'll be the one wearing it."

"A girl after my own heart," said Liana, and James laughed. "Yes, we went ring shopping together a couple of months ago. I didn't know the exact one James was getting, but he knew which designs I liked."

"See!" Gigi elbowed Connor. "And, if you don't mind my asking, did you know when he was going to propose?"

Liana grinned. "Not at all. It's kind of hard to surprise me, since we live together and all, but I was completely surprised."

"Oh, amazing!" Gigi gushed. "How did he do it?"

"He told me he had a party to go to at the Faena Hotel, on Miami Beach. He asked if I would go with him. I said sure. I genuinely thought it was a party James was throwing."

James still had three jobs. He was still a pickleball instructor twice a week, but he now had a full-time job as Head of Partnerships for a large video game company. James' role was to network with athletes and negotiate featuring the athletes in sports video games. There was even a new pickleball video game James had a heavy hand in producing. The other part of James' job was hosting large parties and launch events for new video games. James was thriving in his role.

And in an unpaid position, he was now vice president of their synagogue, a position that James loved because he led the volunteer programming. He had expanded their congregation's partnerships with the homeless shelter and a number of other charities and had added focus groups for political action and for discussions with the previously incarcerated. James worked hard but at least for now, James was happy having a hand in three different pies.

Continuing the story of their engagement, Liana said, "I still wasn't suspicious when James took me to the hotel wing, rather than the residential wing, of the Faena. I was too busy ogling all the art. I love the Faena. If you haven't been, Connor, I highly recommend going to see the art in the lobby. Anyway, James had somehow already secured a key to our hotel room."

James nodded. "I drove to the Beach early that morning and got the key so we wouldn't have to wait for hotel check-in. I got stuck in thirty minutes of traffic on the bridge on the way back to get Liana. It was worth it."

Liana felt a shiver of warmth run through her as she recalled the hotel room setup. "When we walked into the hotel room, I kind of realized what was going on. First of all, nobody else was there, so I knew it wasn't a party."

Gigi laughed. "What did James say about that?"

"He tried to pretend we were early. He even pretended to yell ‘Hello?' to see if our host was there. But then, our cat came into the room and ruined the ruse."

"Your cat?"

"In Harry's defense," said James, "it wasn't his fault. He just heard his mama's voice and got excited."

"Did it ruin the surprise, though?" Connor asked.

James shrugged. "We had the room for the night, and I thought Liana would want him there. She loves that cat. We technically have joint cat custody with my friend Kelsey, but Kelsey said Harry should be there for the proposal since he'd been there at the beginning of our relationship."

"Anyway," Liana continued, "I was glad Harry was there, even though I suspected what was going on. Then I saw this beautiful setup on the balcony of the suite. Big bouquets of roses arranged in vases with pickleball paddles coming out of the top."

"Pickleball paddles?" Gigi asked incredulously.

"It's how we met," Liana explained. "Well, how we reconnected two years ago. James was my pickleball coach."

"And by pickleball, you mean… playing with a pickle and balls?" Connor waggled his brows suggestively.

"Oh my God, stop it!" Gigi chastised. To Liana and James, she said, "Ignore him. He has the mind of a middle schooler."

James laughed. "Believe it or not, I actually mean the sport of pickleball. Though I can't say we also haven't had our fair share of playing with my —" At Liana's death glare, James stopped talking and held up his hands. "Okay, okay. Anyway, I had a whole setup on the balcony of the hotel room, which was right on the beach, overlooking the water. Liana's and my first real conversation many years ago was on a balcony, though not one as beautiful as the Faena, so I wanted a little balcony upgrade for our proposal. In fact, I chose yesterday to propose because it was the ten-year anniversary of our first conversation."

"It was perfect," Liana beamed. "The whole proposal."

She wasn't exaggerating. It had been absolutely perfect, down to every detail. James had proposed in the early afternoon, and they'd spent most of the rest of the day tangled up in bed, finally emerging in the waning daylight of the summer evening to swim at the pool and then eat dinner in one of Miami Beach's best restaurants. They'd stayed up almost the whole night talking, drifting off to sleep in a state of pure bliss, and had only woken up at 11:00 am for brunch. To Liana's surprise, both her parents and James' parents were in the hotel restaurant waiting to meet them for brunch.

Apparently, James had told Liana's parents in advance about the planned proposal. He had asked each of Liana's parents separately for permission to marry their daughter. James' parents had only been told to meet James and Liana for brunch, unaware of the occasion. "I didn't trust them to keep a secret," James told Liana later.

Liana had to admit she enjoyed the moment Daniella first saw the engagement ring. She'd screamed and hadn't stopped sobbing for the entire brunch, repeatedly thanking Liana's parents for raising such a beautiful daughter for her baby boy.

Even Peter, in a rare show of emotion, had wiped a tear from his cheek as he'd embraced his son. "I'm so proud of you, James," he said. "I knew Liana was a keeper."

"You did not," James had scoffed. "When I first told you about her, you tried to get me back with my ex."

Peter winced. "Still a bit too soon to be making jokes about that, in my opinion."

"Oh, stop, Peter," Daniella admonished. "If the boy never lets us live it down, we'll deserve it. Besides, we didn't know Liana back then. Now that we know her, we love her. And what's more important, our son loves her."

James looked at Liana, his eyes glistening. "I really do."

Liana smiled. "I love you, too."

To Liana's surprise, all four of their parents had seemed to get along well at the brunch. Liana's mom had met James' parents before, but it was her dad's first time meeting them. The meal was pleasant, but then it was time to leave the hotel and get ready for their high school reunion. "We can come back soon," James assured her as Liana eyed their hotel room with longing.

Liana was still slightly nervous about traveling with her chronic illness. She and James had gone on a few vacations across the Florida coasts, but more often than not they'd done staycations in hotels near home, and she loved their little getaways. She certainly wouldn't mind returning to the Faena for another stay.

On the way back home, they'd stopped at Tori's apartment to share their news. Liana knew Tori would want to have a long talk about their engagement, and she needed that talk to happen before the high school reunion. As anticipated, Tori had screamed and cried happy tears, calling James her new brother no fewer than four times.

Now, at the reunion, Liana kept feeling little waves of happiness every time that she recalled she and James were engaged. She certainly could never have pictured this scenario the last time she was here in this gym.

Seeming to know what she was thinking, James drew her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "You just never know where life will take you, hmm?"

She nodded. "Sometimes life just dinks the pickleball in a direction you never expected."

He snorted. "That one was trying a bit too hard, but it's okay. I'll take you, puns and all."