Page 110 of Pick Six
EPILOGUE
Harper
Six Months Later
“Oh, I see it. We’re getting so close! You see it?” I make a slight hop and immediately regret it because my feet are killing me, and I feel like I might collapse.
“Yeah, Saint. I see. Just distracted by all these restaurants and bakeries,” Alex answers me, looking around as we make our way down the street.
It’s off-season for him and while it definitely isn’t the best time of year to come, we’re walking the Camino together. It was a promise he made me shortly after I moved in with him, and I’d been looking forward to it all winter. Putting in time on the treadmill and walking whenever I could to try to build up my stamina. Now we’re finally here, just meters away from the cathedral, and I can hardly believe it.
“Yes. I’m excited about dinner. I could eat all the things.” I laugh a little because I’m giddy and a bit delirious from the whole, put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other-for-endless-miles thing.
It was a strange sensation to get up every day, just to walk across Spain. Meeting other people walking, hearing their stories, getting to see all the countryside, only to find yourself collapsing into a different hostel bed every night exhausted with aching feet.
“Yes,allthe things,” he agrees and then gives me a sly grin. “Also excited about the fact we’re going to have an actual hotel room tonight. Alone. With a door and everything.”
I elbow him gently in the side but can’t help the smile that forms.
“Me too.”
When we getto the square in front of the cathedral it seems surreal. Somehow impossible that we’re finally here after all those days of walking and at the same time all too real. I feel teary eyed, and I hug Alex. He pulls me close and kisses the top of my head.
“How’s it feel? You made it, Saint.”
“Freaking amazing.”
“Worth all the pain?”
“Definitely.” I pull away just far enough that I can smile up at him.
He leans down, his eyes searching mine. “So fucking proud of you, you know that?”
“And you. We did it! You want to go inside?”
“Yeah. We can. Just give me a second. I need to get some water out of my bag first. Getting dehydrated.”
“Okay. I’m gonna look up where we go to get our certificates for completing it.” I pull my phone out and start doing a search while he rifles through his bag. “I think we have to go down this way, but I’m not sure. I was so excited about getting here that I didn’t research this part.”
“Saint?” he says my name.
“Yeah?” I ask absently looking through my phone.
“Saint,” he repeats.
“Yes?” I answer, and when he still doesn’t talk after a beat I frown.
I look down and suddenly realize he’s stopped going through his bag because he’s down on one knee, looking up at me with a ring between his fingers. My chest goes so tight I feel like I can barely breathe. My heart feels like it might squeeze its way straight out of my ribs.
“I’m hoping you’re gonna let me be yours for good, Saint.”
“Yes,” I answer immediately. I don’t have to think. Because with him, I know. With him it’s always yes.
He grins at me, and I lean over to kiss him.
“Here, try it on. I did my best to guess the size but I’m not sure.”
I slip the ring on, and it fits perfectly, sparkling in the sun and looking fresh and gorgeous against my worn-out trail clothes and appearance. He stands up and kisses me again, pulling me close to him after, and the way he’s breathing I almost think he might be close to crying.
