Epilogue

Two months later…

"Are you sure they're in their seventies?" Mike questioned as they continued up the West Bluff Trail toward what Joe had told him was a large, balancing rock. He and Joe were staying with her uncles for a three-day weekend, and after giving him an interrogation worthy of any body of intelligence with which he was familiar, they'd finally told Joe that Mike had their approval.

Now, the pair had gone on ahead on the trail, eating up the terrain like they were forty years younger and on a mission.

Which Mike supposed they were; a mission to give him and Joe the privacy that Mike had requested.

"They always do this," she told Mike. "Make it an endurance drill." She laughed delightedly, a carefree sound Mike would never get used to or take for granted.

Since she'd started working with both the Portland DEA's office and the SWAT team as a detective, she'd grown happier and happier every day.

There were several reasons for that, or so she said, that had nothing to do with her jobs.

First and foremost, she was beyond joyful that Mike loved her to the depths of his soul, and never missed an opportunity to tell her so.

She also marveled at how perfect a fit she was with his children, his friends, and his colleagues, already doing things solo with them when Mike wasn't available to play.

Mike's parents also treasured her, and Joe and his Mom had taken to each other in a way that warmed Mike's heart. Joe had never had a mother figure before, and the pair were forging a closeness that Joe clearly cherished.

But it was Dill and Tim who'd really stepped up to make Joe's integration into their lives, seamless. They'd adapted so easily to her becoming part of their day-to-day existence, that they treated her like every other grown-up in their close-knit world whom they loved; with a healthy mixture of puppy-dog adoration and teenage disdain.

Which made Joe feel like she truly belonged.

She no longer had any shadows in her eyes, and Mike vowed to make that be the case for the rest of her life.

"Here it is," she said from just in front of him. "Balancing rock." She waved a hand at the monolith in front of them.

"Nice," Mike said, looking at the ten-foot rocky outcropping, behind which was a stunning view of the lake far below.

It was a perfect spot.

"Aren't you going to come join me?" Joe coaxed from the ledge she'd edged onto. "You're not afraid of heights, are you?" she teased.

"Not even close," Mike told her, but waited until she'd turned to look at the scenery below before he approached.

He dug in his pocket, came up behind her, and quietly got down on one knee.

She turned, however, sensing his move. "Wha?—"

Joe's hand went to her mouth and her eyes got wide. "You're not...?"

Mike couldn't help but grin. "I most certainly am," he confirmed, opening up the box he'd withdrawn to show her the round-cut emerald, surrounded by a constellation of small diamonds. A ring he'd picked out with the help of several of the teams' women who wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Joelle Pikens, love of my life, bringer of everything good, will?—"

"Oh! I'm so sorry," a female voice gasped from the trail behind Mike, cutting him off. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but… Oh dear. I have to take a moment to catch my breath before I move on. I hope that's okay." Her hands fluttered in front of her chest.

Mike eyed the pretty fifty-or sixty-year-old woman who was huffing a bit, and realized he didn't for a moment begrudge her need to rest.

As a matter of fact, she might…

"No problem at all," he assured her. "I'm Mike, and this lovely lady who I hope is going to say yes to my proposal, is Joelle."

"I'm Lori," the woman responded with a smile. "Lori Brenner. And… This may sound presumptuous, but… Would you like me to take your phone and record the moment? For posterity? It's so beautiful here, and you two seem…so in love." She sighed happily. "Unless, of course, you don't want an intruder?—"

"Lori, you and I are on the same wavelength," Mike approved with a grin. "I was just thinking the same thing."

He extracted his phone from his shirt pocket and held it out to her. "I was wondering how we could memorialize the moment. You coming along was serendipitous, and we'd love to have you take a video."

Lori smiled widely. "That's wonderful! This is my favorite hike, and I do the loop at least once a year, enjoying every mile. But from now on, because of you two, this will be my most treasured spot along the way." She reached out and took Mike's phone which he'd unlocked, and pressed a few buttons.

"Okay." She pointed it at them. "Whenever you're ready."

Throughout the exchange, Joe had simply regarded Mike joyfully, and as if on cue, turned back to him where he still perched on one knee, smiling broadly.

He started again.

"Joe. Alongside my kids, you are, by far, the best thing that's ever happened to me. Before you, I was just going through the motions of living my life; happy, but not completely fulfilled. Doing things for my family and friends, while ignoring my own, deepest needs. Then you came along. Now I'm not only living, I'm thriving. And I want that feeling to last forever. Joelle Pikens, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

Mike ignored her tears, and concentrated on Joe's watery smile, waiting not so patiently for her answer. When it didn't come right away…

"Joe?" he finally prodded hopefully.

She shook from her trance, and beamed. "Yes, Mike. Yes, yes, yes!" She stepped toward him, but caught her foot in a rocky crevice and tripped instead, knocking both of them to the ground.

Mike rolled them away from the edge, and once on safe ground, he convulsed with laughter and surrounded her with his arms.

"I love you, Joe," he said with all his heart.

"And I love you, Mike." She looked around. "We didn't… You didn't lose the ring, did you?"

"Right here." He let go of her with one arm, and raised his hand where he'd managed to keep hold of the box.

"Thank God," she murmured. "I would have hated ruining things."

Mike withdrew the ring, then dropped the box and picked up her hand to slip the gem on her finger.

"There. You are officially mine."

"And you belong to me," she answered dreamily.

Their kiss, which followed, was sweet, melting?—

"Got it," their new friend Lori cut in gleefully. "Now, I'll just put this here and be on my way."

She laid the phone on a nearby rock, then with a wink, headed off down the trail.

Neither Mike nor Joe noticed.

They had eyes, only for each other.