BONUS EPILOGUE
DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING EITHER
Daphne
This life is my favorite.
It’s a rare warm day in mid-October, and I’m curled up against Oliver in the hammock in his backyard.
Ourbackyard.
The house he bought for us is a little bigger than what he originally wanted, but the trade-off was the privacy that comes with a gated estate. We’re essentially neighbors with Bea and Simon, and we see them all the time.
Bea more often—Simon’s travel schedule this fall has been a little brutal—but both of them together as regularly as possible.
The sun is dipping low in the sky, and Feather, the timid rescue mutt that Oliver won over at the shelter after three straight weeks of visits, is snoring softly on the grass beneath us.
I’d say I helped with Feather, but mostly I watched Oliver coax her out of her shell.
He’s the best.
The absolute best.
We’ve gone camping a couple times. We’re planning a road trip to go visit his cabin in Pennsylvania before the snow sets in—we do, after all, have a lottery ticket that we have to do something with. We’re also going with Bea to see one of Griff’s games soon since he’s in the playoffs.
Oliver’s learning to cook, and he’s started doing the work himself to restore the gardens around the house—both vegetable and flower—and he’s napping a lot.
Like now.
Here in the hammock.
Which is where I found him when I got home from one of my last days at Beeslieve.
Leaving is bittersweet, so I’ve been dragging it out, working as much as I can through the days while I can be outside. I’m staying on a little into the winter too, but more so I can train the new staff on best fundraising practices.
The wind rustles above us, a slight chill in it that makes me snuggle closer to Oliver, which makes the hammock sway gently.
“I love this life,” he murmurs against my hair.
“I was just thinking that.”
It’s odd to be happy while I’m still, but I am.
Fully happy. At peace, as Oliver likes to say.
Feather whimpers a little beneath us.
“All good, girl,” Oliver says.
But all is not entirely good.
The backyard gate swings shut with a clank, and then?—
“Oliver!You areon my shit list.”
I barely move as I start to smile. “Oliver.”
“Yes, my beautiful chaos fairy?” he replies.
