Page 125 of Teach Me Your Ways

EPILOGUE

CECE

We stood at the top of the pyramid, wind teasing at my braid as I turned slowly to take in the view. The jungle below looked like a green ocean, thick and endless in every direction. It was dark and I wasn’t going to lie; it was a little spooky being in a Guatemalan jungle at night. We spent a few late nights working, but that had always been with flood lights and a team. Grady assured me it was safe and he had a gun in case some nocturnal creature decided to have a late-night snack.

I turned and shot Grady a glare over my shoulder. “I cannot believe you made me climb an ancient pyramid in the pitch black.”

“It’s not that dark,” he countered. “And we have flashlights.”

“You said we had to be somewhere special.”

“We do,” he said.

“You failed to mention I’d be doing vertical cardio at five in the morning,” I said, rubbing my calves. “This is how I die. Not from decompression sickness or pirate ghosts. From pyramid hiking. In. A. Jungle. Do you know what kind of things live in a jungle?”

“You’re not going to die,” he said. “This is living. You said you wanted to experience everything the world had to offer.”

I couldn’t argue. It was pretty exciting. It was just before sunrise and the rational part of my mind knew most nocturnal creatures had found their beds. There were slashes of pink and orange on the horizon. I was looking forward to seeing the sunrise. Although I would have been perfectly happy looking at pictures of it. But whatever. It was an experience. One I would definitely remember.

“Okay,” I said. “It is kinda beautiful. I’ll give you that.”

“Kinda?” He gave me a look.

“I’d appreciate it more with a thermos of coffee.”

Grady chuckled, pulling off his pack and putting it down near the edge once we reached the top. “Come here.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gestured around us. “Look at this.”

I took a deep breath, smelling the jungle. Damp earth and foliage permeated my senses. We had been climbing up and down the pyramid for a week. When Grady told me I got the position on the dig, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I had to earn the job. It wasn’t given. After finally finishing my degree, I thought I might never get the chance to use it. For now, I was working at a museum, which was fine, but I wanted to be in the field.

Grady’s professor job kept him pretty tied down, but when he got the invitation to return to Guatemala, he put in for a leave of absence. That had been the longest three weeks of my life. He was in Guatemala and I was dusting shelves.

But then I got the chance to join him. Mom and Sophie were back home. I did feel a twinge of guilt about being away for two weeks, but they both insisted I take the opportunity. I couldn’t have imagined anything better.

“See,” he said.

“I don’t have words,” I whispered.

“Good because you’ve been bitching since I woke you up.”

I giggled softly. “You know I’m not a morning person.”

“I woke you up with sex. I thought that might help get your morning started on the right foot.”

I grinned. “It definitely helped.”

I loved waking up with him. Sophie and I had moved into his little house on the beach. We were actively looking for something bigger, but we couldn’t decide where to put down roots just yet. Mom was up for anything. I felt untethered in the best way. We were a family. The four of us could live anywhere and it would be fine as long as we were together.

He kissed my cheek, his muscled arm holding me close against him. The sunrise was slow, making sure we could enjoy every second. Like the sun wanted to make sure it got the proper recognition for the stunning display it was putting on.

Soft light flooded the area. Grady reached into his bag and pulled something out. It was a small, velvet-covered box. Not a ring box.

“For you,” he said.

“What is it?”

“Open it.”

My fingers hesitated, pulse speeding up. I looked at him, then at the box. “Oh my God. Grady—if you’re about to propose to me on top of a Mayan ruin, at sunrise with my hair a mess, I swear⁠—”