Honestly, I was surprised she wasn’t angrier. She was my friend, but not a close enough friend where I could trust her not to run immediately to her boyfriend with the details of our investigation if I’d shared them with her.
So I’d lied. I’d told her I was going to help her make absolutely sure Kevin wasn’t having an affair and wouldn’t have an affair even if someone stunning (e.g., me) came on to him, and that she had to remove the bullets in his gun in case he got really, really angry at me. I’d made her send me a video of it just in case she rolled her eyes at the thought he might shoot someone over an affair and told me she’d done it when she really hadn’t.
I told her, “I’m glad I’m okay, too, and also sorry that it all happened. I’m especially sorry that I had to lie to you. This must come as a major shock.”
She sighed. “At least he wasn’t cheating on me, right?”
She’d be okay.
The group of us joined back up as we began heading out of the park, Kevin already gone. Gabe slipped his hand into mine. “This moment, actually,” he said. “It’s a triumphant one. A memorable one. But…” He knelt forward, slipping his hand out of mine and turning himself around to face me. On one knee. “Do you know what would make it more memorable?”
My jaw dropped open. Oh God. No. Not here. Not now. “Gabe—”
“Making sure your shoelace is tied so that you don’t trip and fall flat on your face.” Gabe ducked his head, but I could still see the smirk on his lips as he knotted my laces. He knewexactlywhat he was doing.
I shoved him gently on one shoulder once he’d stood. “Funny guy.”
“I try.”
I inhaled deeply as we neared Fifth Avenue, tilting my head back and regarding the sky. It was partially washed out from thecity’s light pollution, but you could still see a nice scattering of stars. Central Park was one of my favorite places. It was also free to spend time in. “I do love Central Park, though. You know. For future reference.”
Gabe flashed me a lopsided smile. “I’ll keep the future in mind.”
And off we went into the night, leaving the past behind.
EPILOGUE
Two weeks later
It was an early summer Sunday, the weather warm enough where I didn’t need a coat but cool enough where I wouldn’t immediately be drowning in sweat upon stepping outside. I’d gone to the spa with Vienna the day before and had a fresh, pearly pink coat of polish on my nails. Gabe had hinted that I should wear something cute on our usual walk in the park.
In other words: It was happening, people.
Nerves danced in my stomach as we laced up our shoes (I went with my glittery sneakers, in case the photographer wanted a full-body shot). “You ready? You got everything?” I asked.
Gabe gave me a bemused smile from the floor, where he was lacing up his own sneakers. Running shoes. Okay. We could always photoshop them out. “I think so?”
To be absolutely fair in the telling: I’d decided it was happening three times already. Once when it had just finished pouring and a misty rainbow stretched high overhead; twice when Gabe suggested we take a walk by Belvedere Castle, which we never did.
But today. My hopes rose as I saw he wasn’t wearing the smelly running shorts he sometimes did but real jeans with deep pockets, where he could easily be storing a ring box. Even one big enough to house the four-carat diamond ring I’d told him was an heirloom from my grandma but was actually sourced bymoiintop secret from the family jeweler (Gabe might have too much pride to admit it, but he knew perfectly well that Pomona Afton couldn’t walk around in the small ring he’d be able to buy me himself). “Ready?”
I tossed my hair, hoping it looked as bouncy on the outside as it did in my head. “So ready.”
My excitement climbed as he steered us toward Belvedere Castle again. Third time was the charm, right? Together, we climbed up the steep stone steps to the very top of the building, where only a couple of people hung out on the platform. Gabe walked me to the edge, where Central Park sprawled around us green and golden and bright: the Shakespeare Garden, where my friends and I would study in high school to feel smarter; the ancient Egyptian obelisk stabbing the sky beside the great glass walls of the Met; Turtle Pond and its adorable shelled inhabitants I’d named in middle school. Turtles lived a long time, didn’t they? Hopefully Shelldon and Mishell were still around.
And, of course, on the other side stretched the Ramble, its dense and thorny tangles hiding where I’d made Kevin confess. I didn’t face that way, though. I chose to look the other way, at the good things.
“Pom,” Gabe said. I squinted at the pair of people regarding the landscape several feet away from us. They were the perfect distance away for a photo. One held a fancy digital camera by his side, the other a phone. And their angle? Ideal in lighting terms for where we were standing.
“Yes?” I turned to Gabe to find him down on one knee.
Oh.
Okay.
This was actually happening.
My face split into such a wide smile, theoh my God oh my God oh my Godon repeat in my head drowning out the first part of his speech. Which was fine; the videographer was absolutely catching it right now and I’d be able to watch it later.
