“Good point.”
We reluctantly separate, but he takes hold of my hand and doesn’t let go.
I hope he never lets go.
Epilogue
DEE
We’re moving into our gorgeous new home today, and the entire family has come to help us. Wyatt had his first week at Miami-Dade and loves his new coworkers and patients. He thinks he’s going to be very happy there, which is a huge relief to me. I want him to be happy in his new hometown. I want him to be as happy as I am since we came home to Miami to stay.
Ever since the night in the desert, when the universe sent us a sign, Wyatt hasn’t once mentioned any worries about the future. We’re too busy loving the present to spend any of our precious time being concerned about things we can’t control.
Maria told me Marcus is making progress in rehab, which is good news. Despite what happened between us, I want only good things for him.
When my parents come to help us move in, my mom hands me a letter sent to their house. I can tell it’s from Marcus, but I haven’t opened it yet. Today is about new beginnings, and I don’t want to bring my painful past into it. I’ll read it later.
“Where do you want this box?” Milo asks, carrying one of the many boxes my cousin Domenic sent from my former apartment in New York.
“In the kitchen, please.”
“You got it.”
Jason and Austin help Wyatt and Nico move the sofa from Phoenix to three different locations in the great room before I find the perfect spot.
“Thank God,” Nico says, scowling at me.
“What? I wanted to get it right while we have the help.” I’m worried about Wyatt doing too much, but I’d never say that to him. He wouldn’t appreciate it.
We arrange the furniture from his place in Phoenix, put away the items we’ve purchased locally in the last week and unpack boxes from my New York apartment. Nona and Abuela take over the kitchen, and I happily defer to the experts. My mom and Aunt V make our bed while Uncle V and my dad put together Wyatt’s desk from Phoenix in the room we’re planning to use as an office.
My mom is feeling much better since she ended her course of antibiotics. She insisted on coming to help today, and I’m thankful she felt up to it.
Carmen and Maria help me set up the master bathroom and put away the towels from his house and my apartment.
“It’s cool that your towels match his,” Maria says, noting that the pattern in mine complements the navy in his.
“Is it normal to be so happy that you feel like you’re going to burst?” I ask them.
“Entirely normal,” Maria replies. “I still feel that way with Austin. Like it’s too much to contain inside one heart.”
I’m relieved to have her put it into words for me. “Yes, it’s just like that.”
“For me, too,” Carmen says. “When I’m with Jason and even when I’m not. That’s how I knew at the beginning that he was special.”
“Are you going to read the letter from Marcus?” Maria asks.
I had to tell them about it. “Eventually. I’m sure it’s another apology, which is nice, but it’s all in the past now.”
“I heard Bianca’s friend Tara has been to see him a few times.”
“I remember her! She’s a nice girl.”
“I suppose he deserves a nice girl after being married to the skank,” Maria says begrudgingly.
We share a good laugh, and it amazes me that a conversation that would’ve hurt so much not that long ago has no impact on me whatsoever. I’ve found my happily ever after with Wyatt, and I want Marcus to find his. Despite the pain he caused me, I’m rooting for him and his sobriety.
It’s a long day, but we make a considerable dent in turning our house into a home.
At dinnertime, Wyatt passes his phone around for a massive takeout order for all our helpers. We eat Mexican outside by the pool, sitting on furniture he put together last night after it arrived in six different boxes.
I’m thrilled to have my family at my house for dinner. That they seem to love Wyatt as much as I do makes the first day in our new home one of the best of my life.
“We should all do a weekend away somewhere,” Carmen says as she sips her second margarita. She and Jason brought the drink mix and tequila along with a super fancy blender as a housewarming gift.
“Oh, we should,” Maria says. “Before Austin’s season starts.”
“My season has already started, babe,” Austin says.
They left Everly with his parents today so they could help us.
“I know, but not the regular season. You’ll have at least one weekend free between now and the official start, won’t you?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Where should we go?” Jason asks.
“Key West,” Carmen says. “Or Islamorada. Either would be awesome.”
“I’m down with that,” Wyatt says. “We need a vacation after moving.”
“I wanna go,” Milo says.
“Me, too,” Nico adds. “I’ll bring Sofia and Mateo. He’d love to play with Everly.”
I can’t believe Nico drops that so casually, as if him bringing Sofia and Mateo on a getaway wouldn’t be a big deal.
“Just when we thought we’d hired our way out of working all the time, she’s already planning a vacation,” Vincent says with a teasing smile.
“Jeez, I never even thought of work,” I tell him.
“It’s so hard to get good help these days,” Vivian says, and we all share a laugh.
“I promise I’d make sure everything is fully covered if I took off for a weekend,” I tell my new “bosses.”
“We’re not worried about it, honey,” Vincent says. “It’ll take a while for us to get used to not working all the time. We’re around.”
“You guys are taking the trip to Italy this fall, though, right?” Carmen asks her dad.
Her parents and mine booked the trip for September, with everyone hoping my mom’s treatments will be completed by then. They need something to look forward to, other than Maria and Austin’s wedding in November, and we couldn’t be more excited for them.
“Hell yes. It’s on. Two weeks in Tuscany, a week at Amalfi and another week in Sicily.”
“I’m so jealous,” Wyatt says. “That sounds amazing.”
I decide right then and there to start saving up to take him to Italy as soon as possible.
“I have big news.” When Nona has everyone’s attention, she smiles as big as I’ve ever seen her smile. “I start my flying lessons tomorrow afternoon.”
“That’s great, Nona,” Carmen says. “We’re so proud of you.”
“I don’t know about this.” My dad glances at Vincent. “Are you sure about this, Mother?”
“I’m very sure,” Nona says. “I can’t wait.”
“Leave her alone and be happy for her, Lorenzo,” Abuela says. “She’s wanted to do this for as long as I’ve known her.”
“How do you know that, but her sons don’t?” Vincent asks.