Page 80 of Final Goodbye
There would be an infinite amount of weekend mornings with French toast, nights by the fireplace and moments spent down by the creek.
Spring was here and Cherry Creek was flowing again, no longer frozen over and ready for more memories to be made. I couldn’t wait for the private moments spent skinny dipping with Paige and cool spring nights spent on the deck watching the sunset with a cold beer in my hand, her snuggled up to my side.
My lips curved up, forming a grin across my face. The thoughts of our future gave me hope that life could stay this way for quite some time.
“Thanks for being so happy for me bro but mind keeping the volume down a little bit? I’d hate for the surprise to be blown.” I chuckled and leaned my elbows back onto the wood railing that surrounded the deck down by the creek.
Myles turned around, looking at the surrounding area. “She’s up at the house, man. No need to worry.” He nudged my shoulder with his as we sat there in silence, appreciating the spring view.
“You’re different,” I said. “Not in a bad way though. You deserve to be happy too, you know.” My gaze drifted toward Myles as he acknowledged what I said.
My brother was in AA and hadn’t had a drop of alcohol in four months, sobriety looked good on him. He looked healthy.
He nodded as he said, “Yeah, I know, man. Life has thrown me some curveballs lately but I’m doing my best to turn it around.”
“You ready for Logan’s trial next week?” I asked hesitantly, knowing Myles probably hadn’t stopped thinking about it for months now.
“Ready as I can be. I’ve been attending meetings twice a week every week since everything came out and it’s been helpful. Almost like therapy in a way. The more I talk about it, the more I accept my actions that I was in the car that day. I still haven’t remembered a thing, and I’ve come to terms with the fact I probably never will.”
Shortly after Paige moved in with me, the ball began rolling on Logan’s case. The proof was all there with the recording and Logan didn’t deny what happened. He admitted he was guilty. He’d been in jail awaiting a trial the last few months while we’ve been anticipating the outcome that would happen in just a few days. I know Paige and her family had been anxious to see how long he would be put away.
We all just wanted closure at this point.
Myles’ name was obviously brought up within the phone recording that Paige took, and he knew it when he heard it himself. Even though he claimed to not remember anything, he still sat in the passenger seat and spent the whole night with Logan.
You could say Myles got lucky in this situation. He ended up taking a plea deal for some community service and to pay a fine that went to the Wilson family.
He could have gone to court and fought his case since he lost his memory during the incident, but he didn’t feel like that was the proper path to take. Myles wanted to make it right in any way that he could. Even if that meant time served.
It was an awakening for him to turn his act around. He still had some community service to complete, but on top of that, he’d been volunteering around town as well as attending his AA meetings, not missing a single one.
I no longer had to drive him to work in fear he would drink on the job. And the only times he returned toPeakswere for some dinner every now and then. It helped that Paige worked there because she spread the word and everyone refused to serve him alcohol now. As a town and friends and family, we all just wanted to make sure we did our part to help him stay sober.
I know he still had moments where he struggled with alcohol, but I could see all of the ways he had turned his life around. Each change reflected off of him in a way that gave me ease. I feel like everyone in the family had a weight lifted off their shoulders recently.
“Whether you remember anything one day or not, just know you’re doing right by yourself, our family and hers.” I slipped the soft black box in my back pocket and clapped him on the back, nodding my head in the direction of the path back up toward the house.
Paige was making dinner and all this talk about me proposing made me anxious for the night ahead. I didn’t want to give anything away by planning some grand gesture or crazy date where I asked her to dress up.
Instead, I planned a surprise here at home, something low key. Just the two of us, something intimate that was more our style.
More us.
Pulling Myles in close, I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. “Next time you see me, I’ll be an engaged man, bro.” We both chuckled and he gave me all the luck I needed before he hopped in his truck to head back home.
Normally, I worked great under pressure, but I’ve never asked the love of my life to marry me before. This was a whole different ball game when it came to my nerves and anxiety.
I walked up the steps to the front door and turned the handle letting myself in. The smell of cinnamon hit me in the face, and fuck, did it smell good, what could she be making for dinner?
“Smells good in here, baby girl. What are you cooking up?” I snuck up behind her and wrapped my arms around her while she stood at the stove flipping the bread over onto its other side.
“Breakfast for dinner.” She grinned sweetly as she leaned back just enough to graze my lips with hers.
“Mmm, my favorite. Want to take our dinner down to the deck and watch the sunset?” She had no idea, but she was making the perfect meal to eat the night I planned to put a ring on her finger.
The meal we ate when we told each other I love you for the first time.
“That sounds amazing. You mind finishing up here? I’ll go grab something warm to wear, I know it will get cold down there once the sun goes down.”
