EPILOGUE
WEST
THE FOLLOWING YEAR…
I’M SEATED IN THE FRONT ROW. I’VE BEEN HERE SINCE DORIS STARTED setting up in the school gymnasium. She and Skylar started a charity that brings arts education to underprivileged children, and today is the fundraising talent show.
Guests begin to filter in. My parents take seats beside me. Ford and Rosie on the other side. Cora flits around onstage and backstage, wearing her signature black from head to toe and getting everything set up.
She recently told Ford she wants to be a roadie, traveling with bands, and
he looked like he wanted to die.
It was the best.
Before long, people from town pack the entire gym. The same people who’ve accepted Skylar since her retirement—protected Skylar since her retirement. In the beginning, a few paparazzi tried snooping for a shot, but they soon discovered the hotels were full and the restaurants were fresh out of food and drinks.
They didn’t last long. And now, we live peacefully on the farm together.
Or at least as peacefully as Emmy will allow now that she’s dead set on learning to play the guitar.
Ollie, though still quiet, has started to stretch his wings and talk to new people. A slow, steady evolution. He told me once he wanted to be just as
brave as Skylar.
To me, he’s always been brave. But watching him flourish has been one of life’s greatest gifts.
As I reflect on how incredible the last year has been—how my life feels full to the point of overflowing while also feeling like it’s just getting started —the lights dim and Doris takes the stage.
“Right, well, good of you all to come out and bring your wallets. I’ll be honest, some of these performances are worth the ticket price and some just aren’t. But you have to clap anyway. All right?”
Laughter echoes through the gym. The acoustics are terrible, but it doesn’t matter. Everyone is here for a good cause. A small community coming together. I’ve always loved living in Rose Hill, but I’m not sure I fully appreciated it until I got to see it through Skylar’s eyes.
“But,” Doris continues, “this first group is pretty damn good. Apparently, one member is well-known in some circles. In others, she’ll always be the girl with the broken nose who decided to stick around.”
I’m laughing when I hold my hands up on either side of my mouth and call out, “It wasn’t broken!”
“Weston, sit your ass down and enjoy the show. Everyone else too.”
And with that, Doris stomps off the stage.
Within moments, Skylar walks out, wearing that pretty summer dress with oranges on it. Emmy and Ollie tag along on either side of her. She helps them get situated. Ollie at the piano and Emmy in the open space beside the
mic.
“Ready?” she whispers to them.
Emmy grins almost maniacally and whisper-shouts back, “Yes!”
Ollie blushes and nods his head while looking down at the piano keys.
I’m choked up watching them prepare to play the song she and Oliver wrote. And they haven’t even started yet.
Skylar tosses me a wink and they start.
Ollie plays.
Emmy dances.
Skylar sings.
And I fall in love with her all over again.
Wild Eyes by Skylar Stone
It all started on a backroad When I didn’t need saving
When I didn’t need saving
Just a new road for me to take
I’m a soul with no home
No place that I belong Until you chased my clouds away
City lights don’t shine
As bright as the window
Where I watch your life at bay
I’d give up every bit of fame
For moonlights by the water And the way you whisper my name
Your arms keep me from falling
Your heart’s held my own,
Since the start
And I need you to know
My dreams have all come true Since all I dream of is you
You’re all the orange skittles
Every lyric in a love song
A safe place to rest my weary bones
A shelter from the storm,
I have never flown this high And my smile has a truthful tone
Everything’s easier with you Everything now
Until you, it felt so wrong
All my life, traveling alone
My love got lost in the crossroads I was a long, long way from home
I can’t stop the fighting now, No more lonely nights in hopeless towns,
No more empty promises or lies Just the way you love my wild eyes
It’s the only thing that matters
Only home I need to know If we’re better together
Take my hand, let’s end the show
I’m finally home,
You’re my forever home.
We’re finally home, It’s a forever home.
“Where are we going?” Skylar bounces on the spot as she looks out the window of my truck.
My fingers twist on the steering wheel as we navigate the winding backroad that heads out of Rose Hill. “I can’t tell you.”
“Whatever it is, it’s too bad the kids couldn’t come. It’s such a nice day.”
I nod. It is a nice day. The sun is shining. The roads are quiet and… “Do you know what today is, Skylar?” I ask as we round a rocky corner.
“Saturday,” she replies, grinning proudly.
I scoff. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
Then I pull the truck over onto the side of the road, put it in park, and turn in my seat to face her.
“Oh, is this a road-head thing? I could do it while you drive.”
I groan and scrub a hand over my face. “Listen, I might take you up on that later. But right now…” I open my door and jog around the truck to open hers.
“Is hitchhiking on your bucket list or something?”
My eyes roll as I reach my hand up to hers. “That fucking mouth, Sky.
Hop out.”
She does, with a laugh that sounds like music to my ears.
“Do you know where we were one year ago today?”
She stops, fingers slipping from mine as she turns in a slow circle to take in her surroundings. “I… We… Is this the spot we met?”
I clamp down on my grin, feeling pretty damn excited to be here all over again a year later. “Yes.”
Her eyes widen and a softness takes over her features. Eyes tracing the path we took. Where she parked. Where I parked. Where I walked.
“How did you remember?” she murmurs as I walk her toward the spot
where I threw myself over her.
“I put it on my calendar.”
Her steps falter. “What? Why?”
I shrug. “I’m not entirely sure why I did it then. I just did. Something about the moment felt important.”
We walk a few more paces, until we’re right on the spot.
And then I turn. Pulling the velvet box from my back pocket as I drop to one knee.
“Now I know I did it because it was the day I met the woman I’d marry.”
Her hands fly up over her mouth, a squeal echoing behind them. “West!”
“Skylar Stone. I met you in this exact spot one year ago. I knew it then, and I know it now: You are my person. Everything is better when we do it together. You’re home to me. Would you do me the incredible honor of being my wife?”
“Yes!” She practically knocks me over with her enthusiasm.
“After this, I’m taking you to the Calgary Zoo, where I will take all that social media footage of you with bears that I promised you one year ago —”
She cuts me off when she drops to her knees to kiss me. Right here on the warm asphalt, we make a promise to be in this together. Always.
And just like that day… Everything works out the way it was meant to.
Listen to Skylar Stone’s original songs here (https://geni.us/WEbonus)!
Need more? Keep reading for an exclusive sneak peek of Wild Side, book three in the Rose Hill Series.