Page 60 of On Broken Wings

We sat there in the café just talking for hours about nothing really. Jenni told me stories of her competition days. I told her about my academy days. We were like old friends reminiscing together. We were learning more this way than I ever thought we would and I couldn’t help but wish we’d met like this the first time. Jenni was special. I knew that much. I wasn’t sure where life would take us, but I knew that we were going to fly there together.

Epilogue

7 months later

Jenni

“You ready for this?” Evan was leaning against the doorway to my room.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I ran my fingers through my hair one last time before standing to grab my things. Today was graduation day. I’d worked too hard and too long to miss it.

Mason had gotten married last fall and I’d been living alone since. Evan had talked about moving in together, but I wasn’t ready for that yet.

“You look great.” He smiled as I looped my arm through his.

Mason was planning to meet us at the stadium, so Evan had come to my place. His car was waiting by the curb in a No Parking zone.

“Really?” I rolled my eyes as he chuckled.

“I know the guy that works this beat. We’re cool.” He opened the passenger door for me to climb in. “Besides, I would have paid the ticket if he was dumb enough to write me one.” He jogged around to his side, hopped in and headed toward campus.

It didn’t take long to get there and Evan was able to get pretty close without pulling rank. I gave him a quick hug and made my way to where the graduates were supposed to meet. Today couldn’t get any better than this. I found out last week that the job I’d applied for was mine and after today, the world was mine for the taking.

ooooooooo

Evan

She looked gorgeous today and I think she knew. Jenni was smiling ear to ear when I picked her up and happiness has always looked good on her. Over the past several months I’ve worked really hard to make her happy. We’ve been taking things slow and getting to know each other on a much deeper level. I’ve asked her a couple of times to move in with me, but she’s turned me down. I’m hoping that after today, she might say yes.

“You ready?” Mason elbowed me in the side as I shifted in my seat. We’d met up after I dropped Jenni off and were now just waiting for everything to start.

“Yep.” I patted my pocket. “You really think this is what she’d want?”

“I don’t think she’s ever considered it.” Mason shrugged. “I think you gotta good shot though.”

“Good? I was hoping for something better, like great.” I grimaced.

“You gotta stop worrying. I know my sister.” He turned away from me as music began to pour through the speakers and students filed in from the tunnels.

Ooooooooo

Jenni

Finally. I was finally finished. The leather case to my diploma felt foreign in my hands. We were currently sitting at a large table in the back of The Rusty Nail. Mason had planned a party here before the bar opened just for me.

“Wanna dance?” Evan stood and held out his hand.

“Sure.” I rose and followed him over to the dance floor. Someone cranked up the music and Evan spun us around. I’d never seen him dance like this and it reminded me of the way my dad used to dance with my mom in the kitchen.

“I’m so proud of you.” Evan smiled down at me. “You’ve come so far in the short time that I’ve known you. I hope you know your parents would be really proud of you.”

“I know.” I nodded a few times. If I was being honest, I’ve thought about them a lot over the last couple of months. I’ve wondered if they could see me and hoped that I’d become the daughter that they always knew I’d be. I’d tried not to dwell on the fact that I wouldn’t have a bunch of family at my graduation, but Mason reminded me that it wasn’t true. I had a huge family at the ceremony. Just because we weren’t related by blood didn’t mean that we weren’t family. All of our friends had come and when I walked across the stage, I could hear them all shouting for me.

The music changed to a softer song and Evan paused in his movements. “I know you said that you wanted to wait to move in, but I wanted to ask you something else.” He stepped back slightly and held both my hands in his. “I love you, Jenni Stone. I think I’ve loved you since the first time you rejected my coffee offering. I knew you were special back then. You’re smart, funny and stronger than you will ever believe. We’ve survived a lot together in this last year, but I’d like to make it lifetime.” My eyes widened as he dropped down in front of me. “Jenni Stone, will you marry me?”

Tears fell faster than I could wipe them away as he pulled a small black box from his pocket. His hands shook as he opened it and a round diamond appeared. “Evan.” I gasped.

“We can get something else, but I thought this would mean more.” He removed the ring from the box. “It is a yes?” He held the ring at the end of my finger.

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