Epilogue - Reed

EPILOGUE - REED

“OVER THE RAINBOW” – ISRAEL KAMAKAWIKO’OLE

A few hours later, Luna comes out of the gas station in Terre Haute, Indiana with a batch of square donuts. I’m leaning against the van, gassing it up.

She’s got on this flowy, floral dress with different stripes in shades of red and yellow, flip flops, and big sunglasses. The whole outfit puts a giant smile on my face, and leaves me wondering how I got so lucky as to meet her.

“I’m so thankful it turned out you’re not a square,” she jokes as she hands me a donut.

“Mmm… Looking delicious.” I lick my lips.

“Yeah. We’ll always have to stop here when we pass this area. They’re so yummy.”

“I wasn’t talking about the donuts,” I say, eyeing her up and down to make it obvious.

“Oh. Ohhh.”

Pressing her up against the van, I give her another kiss. She’s sweet and sugary.

So are the donuts.

When the tank is full, Luna jumps into the passenger seat since I’m driving this leg.

“Four hours and thirteen minutes to Nashville,” she announces.

“Man, we’re flying.” I kick the van into drive and return to the country roads of Indiana. “I’ve been thinking about this whole thing,” I tell her.

“What thing?”

“All of it. The blue horse painting. Me writing that song. It all seems a little too wild.”

“Kinda makes you think, doesn’t it?”

“Think about…?” I ask. I can see Luna’s mind running a mile a minute.

“Whether God is actually looking out for us. I used to get down about the bad stuff that happened in my life. Now I see it was all part of the journey that led me to where I needed to be.”

I nod, letting her words soak in, as we pass Boot City.

“How long would I have stayed stuck in a less-than-ideal situation if I’d never met you?”

She grins and puts her fingers together like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons . “You never know. I could be totally insane.”

“Well, even if you are, I’m glad you trusted me. What did make you trust me, by the way?”

“Just because I’ve been hurt before doesn’t mean I’ll be hurt again. It’s the leap of faith. And also?” She pauses like she’s thinking hard.

“Yeah?”

“I just trust you because I do. I don’t know why. It’s a feeling I get with you. And…” She drifts off for another moment before bringing her eyes back to me. “My gut says to trust you. So I am. If I don’t trust you…what do I have? Trusting you means I trust myself, if that makes sense.”

I swallow a big lump that forms in my throat. “I understand exactly what you mean.”

As the scenery passes, a distinct calm comes over me. I glance over at Luna’s profile, feeling utter certainty that this is where I’m meant to be. The smell of fresh air, donuts, and new beginnings overwhelms me as I consider how I’ve changed.

I sent an email to Hal saying I wouldn’t be back, and texted Jay to thank him for being a good coworker. My office-job era is over, for now, at least.

My 401k projection looks like shit, I have to say.

What routine am I going to have in Nashville? Where am I—where are we —going to live?

Honestly, I have no clue.

Maybe we post up in this crazy van for a little while on the outskirts of town. That’s all right with me. Because for the first time in my entire life, I can honestly say my soul is happy.

I wish I could find that woman from the plane and tell her how right she was.

I didn’t think my life could change because of ditching work to go to a concert with my best friend and some girl I didn’t know. But sometimes, God opens a small portal and asks, How are you doing? Is this really what you want? He asks that through the people who come into your life. Yeah, God speaks to you through people. God will talk to you through strangers, if you’ll listen.

But you have to be the one to make the big move. That’s on you. When that opportunity comes, you’ve got to be ready to take your swing.

I’m taking mine. And it feels incredible.

I still don’t know if I believe in destiny. But I believe that life is a lot more mysterious than we think it is. One day, you’re sailing along, thinking you’ve got every little thing figured out. Then you meet a trucker who laces your beer with LSD, and you end up singing on stage with a world-class band.

You quit your stable 401k job.

You break up with the girl you thought was the love of your life.

You fall in love with a new one.

The right one.

Music is magic. And if you just let it take you where it wants, it can change your life.

Before you know it, Iz Kamakawiko’ole’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is playing on your Spotify mix as you ride down to Nashville with your gorgeous new girl, and you don’t even know her?—

Name.

“Holy shit,” I remark.

Luna jumps. “What?”

“I just realized we’re moving to Nashville together, and I still don’t know your name.”

“Do you want to know?” She smirks. “Or do you like the mystery?”

“Have I earned it yet? And maybe a better question, if you tell me, does that mean you’ve finished your rebirth?”

She nods coyly. “I’d say yes to both questions.”

“Tell me.”

She takes a deep breath, but then when I glance over, her eyes have filled with tears. “Sorry. I’m a wet blanket sometimes. And there’s something about this song.”

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m just happy.” She pauses. “I’m really, really happy.”

Then she puts her hand on my shoulder, leans close to my ear, and whispers her name.

I feel a rush come over me that I get to run my mouth over its syllables, over and over, until my dying day.

“It’s the most beautiful name in the world,” I tell her. “It’s got some Oo-La-La.”

“Oo-la-la? What is O0-la-la?”

“I don’t know,” I laugh. “I just made it up. Maybe my next song? ‘She’s got the Oo-La-La.”

“I think some girls might think you’re insane and totally weird, saying something like that.”

“Well, I am insane and weird.”

She giggles, takes hold of my wrist, and pulls out a pen.

“What are you doing?” I ask her.

Carefully, with her artistic hand, she starts to draw something on my forearm, right as the song changes to Chris Stapleton’s “Starting Over.”

“I was just going to write our initials in a heart,” she says. “Corny, I know. Is that okay?”

It’s all I can do to keep my eyes on the road and not stare at her glimmering, dark eyes.

“Absolutely. Mark me up, Carissa.”

THE END