Epilogue
Gabriel
Two months later
The clock tells me it’s nearly six in the evening. We have plans for dinner and to see a show. I’ve been here for ten minutes, since I arrived early.
The fountains beat out a watery rhythm behind me. A chill seeps through the air as the shorter days and longer nights bear down on New York City.
I wait for her. Briefly, I flash back to how she must have felt waiting and think how hard it must have been for her.
I know how hard it was for me to be on the other side of the world.
When I spot her walking up the steps, I stop rewinding to the past. Tonight, we write a new story.
My gorgeous Penny wears a short, black jacket, cinched at the waist. And heels, always heels. And does she ever look stunning with her lovely legs on display. Her hair falls long and loose, and my mind forms a fantastic image of curling those strands around my fist later.
But now is not the time for such thoughts.
As she nears me, she grins. I cross the final distance to her and take her in my arms. I say nothing—I simply kiss her. I can’t resist. She melts against me, and that’s what I want. Always and forever.
When we separate, she gives me a breathy hello.
“Good evening to you,” I say as my hand travels up the front of her jacket to her collar, where a splash of red fabric shows. “Red dress?”
She shrugs sexily. “Seemed fitting since you asked me to meet you here,” she says, tipping her head toward the fountain.
I take a breath. “I wanted us to have a chance to do this part over, too. The fountain part. To have what we didn’t have here the first time,” I say, my eyes locked with hers. Her lips part slightly. “Now that we’re together again, I believe it was meant to be this way, and we were meant to meet a second time. I believe if we’d been here ten years ago, we’d have messed up our chances somehow. Made mistakes. Been too young and foolish.”
A smile spreads across her face. “Maybe we’d each have done things to push the other away. Maybe we’d have lost each other.”
My heart lifts, knowing she understands me. She gets me. “What if we needed those years apart so we could get it right the second time around?”
Her eyes shine with happiness, and I’m sure mine do, too. “I think we’re getting it right. Don’t you?”
Taking her hands in mine, I drop to one knee. Her eyes widen, and she whispers my name. It sounds heavenly on her lips and I’m hopeful—so damn hopeful—she wants this as much as I do. I take the ring from my pocket and hold up a brilliant, emerald-cut diamond.
“Let’s get it right for always. Forever. Will you marry me?”
Tears fall from her eyes, and she drops to her knees, too, wrapping her arms around me. “Yes, yes, yes.”
Penny
Sometimes heartbreak happens for a reason. Sometimes hurt does make us stronger. At the time, I couldn’t have imagined that this place—the most romantic spot in all of Manhattan—could be anything but the epicenter of all my regret. Now, as a gem sparkles brightly on my finger and the lights twinkle around us while the fountains spray merrily in the twilight sky, we start a brand new tale. A happily ever after that unfolds in front of us.
“I always hoped somehow I’d see you again,” I tell him through my tears.
“My love, you’re going to do more than see me. You’ll see me every day now.”
“That sounds like fate to me.”
Yes, some things were meant to be.
THE END