Page 44 of Going Overboard

TWO YEARS LATER

The floor beneath my boots is dusty and covered with rogue screws and bits of plasterboard.

It smells like concrete and cuts of wood and outdoors.

And like home, because it is, it’s my home.

My dream home – well, almost. It’s the bones of it, the walls, the best part of the roof, some rooms plastered, some not.

But it’s coming along and, when I’m in here, my imagination runs away with me.

Not only thinking about how I’ll style it, but how I’ll live in it.

It’s almost like I can see my life playing out in front of my eyes, but in the best possible way.

I can picture the living room, where the sun will pour in through the windows on lazy Sundays, the two of us curled up on the sofa with cups of tea and something easy to watch on the TV.

Or in the kitchen, where I’ll attempt overly ambitious dishes, emboldened by all the fancy appliances I’m going to have.

And then there’s the upstairs – not that we have the stairs to get up there yet, but I’m already getting excited about having a big bedroom, and en suite, the dressing room of my dreams.

But for now it’s still a shell, and a dark one at that, because it’s late and dark and the only light is coming from the work lights dotted around the place.

‘I hate watching you walk down that thing,’ I say, watching Brody navigate the ladder back to the ground floor.

‘I just wanted to see the roof,’ he replies. ‘You worry too much. Here, listen to some music, chill out. We’re home.’

I can’t help but laugh as he scrolls through his music library, eventually settling on an REO Speedwagon song.

‘You have the music taste of your dad,’ I tell him.

‘Thanks,’ he replies. ‘I suppose you would prefer a boy band…’

‘Don’t tempt me,’ I tease him.

He holds out his hand, a glimmer of something cheeky in his eye.

‘May I have this dance, princess?’

I roll my eyes, unable to stifle a grin as I take his hand anyway.

‘Because it’s a perfectly normal thing, to slow dance in your partially built house, late at night, to music playing out of a phone,’ I reply.

‘Stranger things have happened,’ he says.

‘Yeah, usually when I’m around you,’ I remind him.

‘And yet,’ he says, twirling me on the spot, ‘you’re in love with me.’

I laugh, stepping closer until there’s hardly any space left between us. We start to sway gently to the music, our bodies casting our shadows on the concrete floor. I’m sure I look more graceful in silhouette.

‘Okay, I’ll give it to you, this is kind of a perfect moment,’ I whisper into his chest.

‘I thought so,’ he says with a grin. ‘Because one day, when the house is finished, we’ll remember tonight, we’ll remember it was like this, and how far we’ve come. That we did all of this together.’

‘We’ve done a great job,’ I say with a sigh. ‘Or rather, we’ve had tradespeople do really great jobs for us.’

‘You always said you’d build your own home one day,’ he reminds me. ‘I just feel lucky I get to do it with you.’

He pulls back just enough to look into my eyes, suddenly more serious.

‘In the interest of remembering the house like this, and remembering this night, I’ve got an idea,’ he says. ‘I thought this might help.’

And then he stops moving altogether. He lets go of my waist and drops to one knee. And there’s a small green box in his hands…

Surely everyone in the world knows what this means and yet my brain just can’t compute it. Surely not? Brody Ryan? Proposing?

‘Jessa,’ he says, as chill as ever. ‘Will you marry me?’

My jaw is on the floor. This is the last thing I was expecting tonight. Not that I’m disappointed, I’m over the moon but… wow!

‘I’m sure it’s only been a second or two but it feels like you’ve been frozen and silent for an hour,’ he says with a laugh. ‘Am I going to get an answer?’

‘Oh my God, yes,’ I say quickly. ‘The most certain yes of my life.’

He scoops me up in his big arms, a laugh escaping him as he buries his face against my neck.

‘You had me going for a split second,’ he tells me. ‘I was sure you would say yes but… I’m glad it’s over with now.’

‘Just what every girl wants to hear,’ I reply. ‘So, what are you thinking for the wedding – cruise ship or island?’

‘It’s got to be both, surely?’ he jokes .

‘Oh, of course,’ I reply.

He pulls me close and kisses me and there isn’t a doubt in my mind that I’m now exactly where I’m supposed to be.

I don’t know if I believe that everything happens for a reason.

I suppose, by that logic, sometimes you have to go through bad times to get to good ones.

If Todd and I hadn’t broken up, would Brody and I have ever met?

Sure, we would have kept crossing paths at the same parties, but would we have caught each other’s eye?

Maybe we did need to break up at the same time, to be hurt at the same time, to find ourselves trapped at sea together but…

I don’t know. I like to think we would have found our way here eventually.

Anyway, who cares, life is what you make it.

Fate decides nothing. We make a million decisions a day, whether it’s something small like what’s for dinner or the decision to not cheat on our partners, even if it seems like you might get away with it, or be happier with someone else.

If there is something magical that keeps us on track then it’s love, as corny as it sounds.

Brody and I aren’t together because of fate, we’re together because of love.

Without it our fake relationship wouldn’t have worked, or it would have fizzled out – like normal relationships do, I guess, when you’re not in love.

But now Brody and I are exactly where we’re supposed to be, and we plan to keep it that way.