Fragile by A.K. Evans

Epilogue

Demi

Today was my last day.

I was no longer going to be working at Granite.

It was the beginning of November, and I’d just recently gotten back to New Hampshire with Cash.

After I made the trip with him to Florida, I never came back home. He wanted me to stay on the tour with him, and it was where I wanted to be. So, I worked for Cal from the road and kept things going for him.

But as the My Violent Heart tour started to wind down, Cash started talking to me.

“I want to work on this new material I’ve written when the tour is over,” he said one day a few weeks ago.

“Okay? Why can’t you?” I asked.

“It’s not that I can’t. It’s that I don’t know where you stand,” he responded.

“What do you mean?”

His eyes searched my face a long time. Then he answered, “I don’t want to do the long-distance relationship with you, Demi. I want us together. I want you to move to Pennsylvania and live with me.”

“Are you serious?” I shot back.

He nodded. “Yes. I love you, and I’m not going to be states away from you ever again,” he declared.

“What about work?” I questioned him.

“Your job?” he asked before he shrugged. “It’s up to you. You’ve been doing it on the road for a while now. If you want to continue to do it from my place, I’m fine with that.”

“Cal probably needs someone who can be there on the nights that a band is playing, though,” I explained.

“So, am I moving to New Hampshire with you then?”

He couldn’t do that. He wanted to make more music. I wanted to hear his new music. So, there was absolutely no way I was going to put him in a position to be unable to make that music.

I shook my head.

“I’ll talk to Cal now,” I told him. “I’ll let him know that I’m going to be leaving to move to Pennsylvania with you. I’ll work with him until he finds someone to take over for me, and then I’ll find something to do in my new hometown.”

Cash grinned. “Okay, that’s one thing down,” he announced.

My brows pulled together. “Is there more?”

“I talked to everyone else in the band, and we’ve all agreed that we want you to be our new swag and merchandise manager,” he said. As my eyes nearly popped out of my head, he added, “If you want to do it, of course. There’s no pressure. But since your best friend is going to be in charge of designing all of our new apparel, I thought it would be a great way for you to continue to stay in touch with her on a regular basis.”

Needless to say, I didn’t turn him down.

And because I’d contacted Cal about it right away, he managed to find someone rather quickly. Of course, having had My Violent Heart play at Granite meant that when he put the word out that he was hiring for my position, there was no shortage of interest.

So, this was it.

I was here at Granite for the last time for the foreseeable future, and I was here with Cash, the band, Cal, and Sam.

I was in love and blissfully happy. And tomorrow morning, I’d be leaving my life in New Hampshire behind and starting a new one with Cash in Pennsylvania.

I couldn’t wait.

It was a few minutes before the band was set to take the stage, and the place was packed. But as packed as it was, it didn’t compare to the number of people at the venues I’d seen them play at.

So, for the band, this was an intimate setting, and they didn’t seem to mind mingling with the crowd and their fans.

Cash was by my side and had said, “I think I should head back there.”

“Okay,” I answered. But then something caught my eye. “Hey, isn’t that the woman from the hotel?”

Cash’s body went solid. “What?”

I jerked my chin in the opposite direction. “Over there with Beck,” I told him. “That’s the woman whose husband cheated on her at the hotel I used to work at. It was the woman there the day you guys arrived the first time.”

The tension left his body, and I belatedly realized he must have thought I was talking about the woman from the hotel in Texas. That wasn’t even a thought in my mind anymore.

Cash looked to where I had indicated and said, “I think it is.”

“Do you think he’s interested in her?” I asked. “A woman like that deserves a good man in her life.”

Cash returned his attention to me and replied, “I can’t say I disagree with you on that. As for Beck… I don’t know. What I do know is that he’s got a soft spot for single moms, so maybe there’s something there for him.”

“That would be amazing if they could work it out,” I declared.

“Yeah,” Cash agreed.

I smiled and said, “Okay. Go get yourself ready to take the stage.”

He leaned down, kissed me, and said, “I love you.”

With my lips still brushing up against his, I returned, “I love you, too.”

A few minutes later, My Violent Heart took the stage. I sat back with my best friend, my cousin, and the rest of the crowd and enjoyed the show.

Cash

“I have something for you.”

Demi looked up at me from where she was sitting on the couch.

We’d been living together at my house for several months now, and life had never been better. It was my hope that things were about to improve, though.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Can you turn that down?” I asked, jerking my head in the direction of the television.

Demi didn’t hesitate to not only turn the volume down but also pause whatever she was watching.

A moment later, the sound of Roscoe playing the bass guitar filled the room. Walker came in with the drums next, and Beck followed with the synthesizer. After the slower, seductive instrumental introduction, my voice entered the song. Killian came in on the guitar later as did Holland with some vocals.

I’d heard the song a million times already.

This was Demi’s first time hearing it, so I kept my focus on her. She listened intently, and I could tell she was focused on the words.

She didn’t react.

She didn’t give me any indication of what she was thinking.

Or, at least, she didn’t until it was over. That’s when she allowed two tears to stream down her face.

She looked up at me and rasped, “I love it.”

“It’s yours,” I told her. “That’s the song I wrote for you. The first of many.”

Her head moved back and forth as she bit her lip and fought back the emotions. Then, with her voice just a touch over a whisper, she asked, “What did I do to deserve you?”

I grinned and answered, “I am pretty spectacular, aren’t I?”

Demi rolled her eyes. “Boy, do you know how to ruin the moment.”

“You love it.”

She laughed and leaned into me. “Yeah, I do.”

“That’s why you should probably make sure you hang on to me,” I noted.

“I planned on it,” she replied.

“Permanently.”

“What?”

I reached behind me on the couch and closed my hand around the box before I lifted it between us.

“Marry me, Demi.”

Her eyes darted back and forth between the ring and my face. There was no question she was in absolute shock.

But the shock quickly wore off.

The next thing I knew, she buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.

I wrapped my arms around her and teased, “That wasn’t exactly the reaction I was hoping for.”

“You’ve made me so happy, Cash,” she cried. “I don’t even know how to tell you.”

“You could say you’ll marry me,” I suggested.

She looked up at me again through shining eyes and said, “I’ll marry you.”

With that, I didn’t waste another second. I took the ring from the box, slipped it on her finger, and kissed her.

When she pulled her mouth from mine, she marveled at the ring. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “I never thought I’d have this.”

“Well, it was custom made for you,” I told her. “So it’s the only one like it.”

“Oh. Um, I… wow. I wasn’t referring to the ring, but that’s amazing.”

“What were you talking about?”

She moved her hand between the two of us. “I was talking about this. Us. I never thought I’d have a romantic relationship at all. And now I’m sitting here on the couch in my man’s house wearing the ring he just slipped on my finger. I’m getting married, Cash. I can’t even tell you how happy you’ve made me.”

“I feel the same, firecracker,” I told her. “That’s why I’m making it official. There’s nobody else out there better than you.”

Silence stretched between us a moment before she said, “I can’t believe we’re engaged.”

“Believe it because it’s real.”

She looked at her ring one last time. Then she tucked her feet up underneath her ass and curled her body into mine. “Will you watch the movie with me?” she asked. “I just started it.”

“What are we watching?”

“10 Things I Hate About You,” she answered.

“Once a cynic…” I trailed off. She giggled. “Do you want any snacks before we start it again?”

“Snacks would be good,” she said. “Surprise me.”

“Okay.”

At that, I kissed her once more and got up to get some snacks and drinks. Then I joined her on the couch to watch a movie that was going to make her happy. And as I sat there beside her, I realized that life had just gotten a little bit better.