Page 114 of Beautiful Chaos
“We can put the bed and swing right here,” he says, pointing to a small alcove.
I’m so overwhelmed that I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or…
“Will you take me to bed?” I ask, then kiss his cheek.
“I will. Now, and, if I’m lucky, for the rest of my life.”
I swear, this man is going to make me murder someone tonight.
I can’t wait.
EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
OAKLEY
“Are you all set to host your first official Wimberley card game night?” Hedy asks, grinning.
“Yes. And you seem awfully excited about it,” I say, gathering my paperwork.
“Game nights are sort of sentimental for me,” she says, blushing under a field of freckles. “My first kiss with Edison was after one of our card games.”
“Yeah? And y’all have been together ever since?”
She chuckles. “It was a bit more complicated than that, but…yeah. We figured it out eventually.”
“You know, I never fully understood how y’all work. You’re so…you. And he’s so…him.”
Something awfully close to sentimentality crosses her face. “I think we work because he’s somebody I’d recognize in any lifetime,” she says softly.
I’ve never heard her talk that way about Uncle Eddie, and I realize there’s probably a large part of their relationship I don’tknow anything about. And there’s something really romantic about that.
I nod along with the sentiment. “I have a feeling Sy and I are the same way.”
I’m not particularly into the metaphysical, but I can easily imagine a different version of Silas in another timeline, like an old-timey tin-type photograph.
I pop my brows. “Maybe this isn’t even the first lifetime we’ve spent together.”
“Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll remember your past lives.” She holds up a finger. “Don’t get too caught up in the gender of it all though.”
“Good point,” I say, still smiling as I head toward the door and she heads back to her office.
As I walk the path to our house, I realize I’ve been looking forward to this card game for over a month. As I’ve gotten to know the entire Wimberley crew, it’s clear they’re as much of a family as the Wildlings are.
I spent a lot of my initiation phase wondering if I made the right choice to come here. I had to have a few hard conversations with Hedy, and she’s shifted from aunt to trusted mentor and friend.
She didn’t even give me too much shit when I finally digitized all the testing.
The other thing I did as soon as Silas and I established our public relationship was to ask people to stop calling him a psycho, even jokingly. Hedy seemed to realize that had come from her and immediately apologized.
Having worked at Wimberley for a bit longer now, Maverick and I have a lot more insight into what a tough spot our fathers and siblings had been in. We do believe they should have been more forthcoming, but some of the cases we’veworked on in our short time here have been enough to give any parent pause.
I’m finding that I wouldn’t want to do anything else. I’m so grateful that I get to help these operatives work through their heavy moments. I also sometimes get to work with victims, which is an unexpected joy.
More than that, Hedy’s made good on getting me into the rooms I need to be in. Actually, it’s Rami, as a state representative, who’s started making headway with mental healthcare reforms. He’s considering whether or not to run for mayor, and I can’t think of anything more Austin than a murderous mayor with a tattooed barber for a husband.
By the way, those two did elope, which, as it turns out, is kind of a family tradition. Maverick and Boone have a big wedding planned, mostly because Bailey will be the cutest flower girl ever.
