Epilogue

Boone

There was the ache in my chest, a pang of pride that took over watching Aspen sign book after book. I was so damn proud of her and she amazed me more each day.

It’s been 6 months since the release of her debut novel, The Story We Wrote, and she was already on the bestseller list.

Aspen’s book took the internet by storm, I guess people really did love a romance story. The comments she’d shown me about the male character were unhinged and unfiltered. I couldn’t help but laugh knowing they were also about me . I’d never seen the word “daddy” be used in a raunchy context so many times before, or my favorite comment about how someone would “thank me for breaking their back.” Whatever that means. Social media was a wild place, but it brought the love of my life so much joy.

She sat behind a pink-decorated table with stickers and printed-out pictures of the characters that she created. Some bracelets mimicking the one I’d bought her that day at the farmers market and recipe cards for her famous blueberry muffins sat for people to take after they got their picture taken and books autographed.

Aspen’s eyes met mine, and she smiled sheepishly as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Whenever she did that, I always knew what she was thinking; she was nervous. That image of her brought back a distant memory in my mind when I saw her one day after school sitting on the park bench. The soft look on her face reminded me of the girl that caught my eye all those years ago.

The countdown was in full effect. I was eagerly waiting for the start of summer, so I could spend my days doing anything other than being cooped up in a classroom forced to learn about shit that I didn’t care about. The only thing I gained this year was a deeper voice and some muscles from spending my afternoons on the ranch instead of doing homework.

The muscles also brought around the girls, which I wasn’t complaining about. This summer after my sophomore year was going to be the best one yet. Getting my permit was the biggest plus, which meant by December, I’d have my license. The possibilities it would open for me were endless.

Tossing my bag over my shoulder, I adjusted the cowboy hat on my head as I stood against the tree in front of the middle school. Every day after school, I’d walk to meet my little sister Ellie so we could then head to the elementary school for our mom. Until I got my own form of transportation, this was the routine I was given. Once I could drive, I’d be able to pick Ellie up and bring her straight home.

I took in my surroundings; the streets were pretty empty and the oak trees lining the road blew with the slight breeze that was rolling in. My gaze turned towards the park. People were walking the track, probably as their after-work exercise.

That’s when I noticed her, sitting on a bench on the gravel path. She had a book in her hands, focused solely on the pages in front of her. The girl’s hair was just past her shoulders and held a blonde hue that matched the sun.

Aspen Westgrove always intrigued me. She’d grown this year, looking less like the scared girl everyone thought her to be. Something was alluring about her, how she could sit for hours and get lost in the words in front of her, something I never could imagine doing. I hated reading, school, and anything that forced me to be quiet or still. I was chaos in my cowboy hat, as my parents would describe me. I sometimes wondered what it would be like to feel content like that. I also wondered what it would take to make her a bit wild like me. I bet she’d be pretty under the stars.

Aspen never paid any attention to me, not even when I would go out of my way to try and make her notice. She seemed to be completely unaware and unaffected by me, which threw me for a loop, because the girls at school would write me love letters or put sticky notes on my locker.

“What are you doing, creep.” Ellie’s sweet voice pulled me from my thoughts. She must’ve tracked my gaze because she let out a loud laugh. I’d been staring for way too long. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. “Just ask her out already.” She shook her head and walked away from me, leading towards the elementary school.

Shooting my shot with Aspen had crossed my mind, but what would a girl like that want with a boy like me?

Shaking my head to bring myself back to the present, I reflected on how far we’d both come. I wasn’t the boy who thrived on attention and chaos anymore. Aspen wasn’t the timid little girl on the bench, but her nose was still always buried in a book. Some things would never change.

Now, she was an accomplished woman, and I was the man who she decided was worth the chance. That boy in high school wouldn’t believe it if I told him one day we’d be standing in a bookstore in the city to support that blonde who we never had the balls to ask out. I thanked my lucky stars every night on that porch swing that she was mine.