Epilogue

EPILOGUE

I t’s been six months since my return, and a lot has happened. On Christmas Day, Evangeline and I escaped all the questions from her family and took a walk. Out there, among the growing trees, I presented her with the signed contract to purchase the farm, including the house, the outbuildings, farm equipment and house. At first, she didn’t believe it and thought it was some weird joke—not sure who jokes about something like this—and seemed confused until she read the entire document and it all set it. She now owned her family farm, and it wasn’t going anywhere. Buying this for her was the least I could after what I put her through.

I finish with my last client for the day and head back to the office. Since January, I have been working for Evangeline, focusing on real estate transactions, which are easy work. Ever since she added this service to her website, business picked up. I find that I like this much better. The research is less, the money is good, and once I’m done with the closing, I can move on to the next. There doesn’t need to be any follow-up and I don’t have to spend hours and days putting my clients through depositions. Those will come later when Evangeline has a trial and needs me for second chair. I’m perfectly happy sitting second chair and supporting her.

On my way home, I stop at the store, check on my dad, and pick up a bottle of wine I ordered for the evening.

“How are things today?” I ask my dad when I find him behind the register.

“Slow, but good. A couple of the boys from the high school came in to apply for a job.”

“That’s good,” I tell him. “We have capital for two or three.”

My dad shakes his head. In the time I’ve been back, I have somehow turned things around for the store. I renegotiated some very old contracts, found some new vendors, and started slowly remodeling the interior. We’re still the same store but now we offer a gourmet selection of food, wine, and cheese. These additions have been a positive addition and the people of Deer Ridge love the options. They no longer have to order online or travel out of town to feel fancy.

The store is also clean, reorganized for a better shopping experience, and we’ve added a gift section, as well as a meat butcher. Now hunters can bring their game here to have it butchered and wrapped—saving our neighbors time and money.

All in all, everything is on the upswing and my dad couldn’t be happier. Evangeline tells me he’s lost ten years, in a good way. That my return is giving my dad life again.

“What about if I hire them for part-time work?”

“Whatever you want,” I tell him. “Honestly, they might like it. I know I loved working in the mornings so I could go to the lake in the afternoon.”

Dad nods and steps around me to help a customer. The next remodel is going to be the cashier space. Right now, it’s a small space and if someone has more than five things, they have to stack them or wait for my dad to bag the items. He then has to carry the bag around the front because of the lack of space. We’re going to put in a new register space, giving staff more room.

“I’ll see you later,” I tell him as I take the bottle of wine and head toward the door. My next stop is the new Italian restaurant that opened two months ago. Da Vinci’s, yes named after the man himself, has been a popular go-to for Eve and me. We eat here at least twice a week, with one being take out.

“Good evening, Mr. Whitaker,” the young woman greets me at the door. “Here’s your order.”

“Thank you.” I sign the slip saying I’ve picked my order up and take the bag. Right away, my stomach growls. The aroma of marinara, basil, and roasted tomatoes drifts from the bag. I’m thankful the office and apartment are a few blocks away. I’d walk, but then I’d have to come back for my car later.

My car is new as well. When I was in New York, I didn’t have one. Didn’t need one. Once I decided to stay, buying one was at the top of my list. I didn’t want to leave my dad without transportation, and I couldn’t keep paying the rental fee. Once Caryn admitted to setting everything up, I wanted to get as far away from her devious hand as I could. This meant getting rid of the rental. I went with an economical Honda SUV Hybrid. I like it but love the gas mileage better.

I park next to Eve’s car and take the bottle of wine and dinner to the apartment, and then come back to the car to get my work files. Inside the office, I stop at Noelle’s desk and hand her the stack of files, letting her know about the new deeds to be filed at the clerk’s office in each town. She loves having out of town clients because it gets her out of the office every now and again.

“I’ll take care of them.”

“Thanks. Is Evangeline in?” I assume she is because she didn’t text me that she had to go anywhere, but I also don’t want to assume she’s not with a client or something.

“She’s in the conference room.”

I give her a smile and then head toward my office to drop my stuff off. Noelle’s really good about taking detailed messages and sending them to our emails. Thankfully, I don’t have to spend hours listening to voicemail. Evangeline was lucky when Noelle came into her life. I’m not sure we’d function as well as we do without her. Which is why I’m pushing Eve to promote Noelle to paralegal and hire another receptionist. Noelle’s more than earned it .

At the conference room door, I rap my knuckles on the doorjamb and lean in. “Okay to come in?”

Evangeline looks up and nods. “How’d the closing go?”

I go to her and pull her chair away from the table and capture her lips with mine. “I missed you.”

Evangeline smiles. “I missed you too.”

Walking to the other side of the table, I sit down and stretch my legs out. “The closing went well. I was a little nervous when I got over there, and the seller still had some things in the house. My client wasn’t happy. We gave them an hour.”

“Everything else go okay with it being a remote signing?”

I nod. “I’m not going to do them anymore or at least not without a bigger fee. Noelle’s good at her job but things can change on the fly, and I need to be able to print changes. The mobile printer isn’t as efficient.”

“Makes sense. We have the space here, might as well use it.”

My eyes travel to the mess she has spread out on the table. “What’s all this?”

“Medical records of a potential client in Adams. A wife believes her husband got cancer because of their water. She says it’s contaminated.”

Evangeline hands me a sheet of paper which looks like water testing. “What am I looking at?”

“PFAS levels are off the charts.”

“I don’t remember much from environmental law, but I’m assuming these are bad. ”

“Very. She says there are others in her area who have died. She’s going to set up a meeting so we can all talk.”

“This will end up being a class action lawsuit. Are you trying to become Erin Brockovich?”

Evangeline smiles. “If it helps people, why not.”

Who am I to argue?

“Let me know what you need me to do.”

“I will. But right now, I’m done with work.”

“Perfect timing. I have dinner and a bottle of red upstairs waiting for us.”

We tell Noelle to have a good evening and head up to the apartment. We wash up and then I pour two glasses of wine while Eve carries our dinners into the living room. She sits down in her normal seat and glances at the roses I bought her yesterday. I watch her every move.

“Zane, what’s in the flowers?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Evangeline leans forward and plucks a ring from one of the rose buds. She holds it by its delicate gold band.

“Zane?”

I move closer, taking it from her fingers and reach for her left hand, third finger. “I know it’s only been six months since we have found our way back to each other. Maybe it’s too soon, but I don’t want to waste any more time not letting you know how important you are to me.” I set the ring before her first knuckle and look at her.

“As much as I would love for this to be an engagement ring only, it can be a promise as well. I’m going to let you?—”

“Yes,” she says, interrupting me. While my heart beats wildly, I didn’t ask her anything.

“Yes?”

“The first part,” she says.

“Ah.” I push the ring a bit farther. “Evangeline, will you marry me?”

“Yes!”

Before I can pull her into my arms, I push the ring the rest of the way down her finger, then pull her to me. “I love you.” My lips are on hers and we both deepen the kiss in the moment. She pulls back and holds her hand up, the early evening sun catching just right on the diamond.

“I’ve seen this ring before.”

I lace my hand with hers and continue holding her hand with the sunlight. “It was my mother’s.”

She looks at me, with unshed tears. “If you want something different, we can go pick something out.”

Evangeline shakes her head. “Wearing her ring will be an honor.” She cups my face, the cool metal grazing my cheek. “I love you.”

“Thank you for giving me this second chance at proving myself.”

“It's the best decision I have ever made, except for one.”

“Which is?” I look at her questioningly.

“I want to get married this Christmas, on the farm.”

“As if we’d get married anywhere else.” I pull her to my chest and hold Evangeline, thankful for this second chance at the life I could’ve had years ago.

The End

Continue reading for That Christmas - the one where Zane messes up!